We had a great turn out on the night.  I think it was largely due to the terrible weather we’ve had in Sydney over the last month.  Now it seems to be past us, everyone was quite keen to get their classics out for a drive.   In winter, numbers are generally lower, but not this time.  On the drive we had:

• 108:  280SE 3.5
• 107: 450SLC, 380SLC, 500SL
• 116: 280SE
• 126: 380SEC
• 124: 300E, 300CE, 300TE
• Modern: E400

It was an impressive line up, and was probably only missing a W123 to complete some of the most popular classics in the club.    I took my 1990 300TE.  I don’t use the 124 on that many club events because it gets a lot of use via the logbook as a family car.  However, the car was hit in the rear last week by a careless P-plater, so I had it out to do the insurance assessment earlier in the day.

It seems it is the season for destroying W124 rear bumper bars, as the owner of the E400 suffered a similar fate earlier this week on his 300E.  A Harley Davidson in his case.  The 450SLC was a new acquisition for one of our regulars and what a nice car it is.  It is in Icon Gold – one of the best colours from the 70s, and the interior is immaculate.  The 380SLC also made its debut on one of these drives, quite a rare car in Australia.

Our route started at Windsor McDonalds.  From there, we drove North along the first section of the Putty Road, before turning onto Bull Ridge Road.  This took us down to the Sackville Ferry.  We manage to fill the Ferry, along with a single Range Rover.

After the Sackville Ferry, we headed up towards Wisemans Ferry Road and then down the Old Northern Road to Dural McDonalds.  These roads are all great to drive on, and being night time were deserted.

At Dural McDonalds, most of us were keen to get a snack or a Sundae, but McDonalds have changed their police and their so called open 24 hour locations seem to be drive through only.  Since none of our party were savages that eat in the car, McDonalds lost out on around $100 worth of sales.

It was a good drive and great to get out after all the bad weather.   The owner of the 280SE 3.5 had recently had his drivers seat re-done and fitted a new compensating spring to his rear axle.  He remarked how much better the handling was and more comfortable his car was to drive.  That sounds like a win.

We also tried some new more powerful walkie talkies.  A few of us plan to use these for an upcoming road trip.  While our last set gave us an effective range of 1km on flat ground, we seem to be able to get 2km out of the new ones, which is great.  It means the person at the back can communicate with the person at the front without a relay.

Next month is old Pacific Highway.

The post MBCNSW May 2025 Night Drive – Sackville Ferry appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

Generally the roads are in good order, except for the section of Pitt Town Dural road which is quite rough.   Most of these roads were all repaired after the floods a year or so ago.

On the day of the drive we had eight people registered.   It had been a very hot day in Sydney at 39 degrees.   The meeting point was KFC Asquith.   Since we were meeting there at 9:30PM, and it was fairly close to closing time, I figured it would be fairly quiet.   It was actually incredibly busy with a long line for the drive through.   Not being a fan of KFC, I was rather surprised.

It was before the drive even started that the hot weather claimed its first victim.   We had a Lotus 7 on the drive.  However, when it arrived at the meeting point it was running very hot and missing.   After it was reluctant to start the owner decided to bail out on the drive.

Aside from the lotus, we had a good mix of cars.    I took my 1965 250SE Cabriolet.   It’s finally running very well the 123 ignition.   It also has nice cold A/C.    In addition to that, my old 280SE made an appearance.   The new owner has sorted out the A/C, fitted new shocks and continued to improve the car.   Last time we did this route, I was behind the wheel of the 280SE, so it was great to see it make an appearance at the night drive.  We also had a 450SLC, a R107 500SL as well as three W124s.

From KFC Asquith, we set off and regrouped before going through Galston Gorge.    Galston gorge has a series of hairpin turns, followed by a faster uphill section.   From there, it was some of the tight corners of Cattai Ridge road followed by faster sections.

We finished the drive at McDonalds and a few of us went in for something to eat.

After the drive, I had about a forty minute drive home.   About 10 minutes in, all of a sudden I heard a terrible noise from the engine bay of my car.  It sounded like somebody had put a handful of nails in a paint tin and was rattling it up and down vigorously.   The steering also had a terrible feel to it, like it was partly assisted and partly not.   I figured that I had an issue with my power steering pump.

I pulled over to have a look.   There was plenty of fluid in the system.   The noise seemed to be from the general area of the pump.   The pully didn’t seem to be quite on straight either.   There wasn’t much I could do by the side of the road, so I called for a tow truck.    I didn’t want the pump to completely grenade and fill the steering box with shrapnel.   In addition, I didn’t think the car would be all that safe to drive.

I called the tow truck at about 12:10AM.  Originally I was told it was not going to come for four hours.   I wasn’t enthusiastic about that timeframe.  However, after the operator looked at the address more, because I was stopped on a main road, I qualified for a priority tow, so the time was cut down to two hours.   It turned out to be a fairly reasonable estimate.

By the time I dropped the car off at the storage unit where I keep my cars, it was 3AM before I got home.    The 250SE is booked in already for some other work in March, so it is probably off the road until then unfortunately.

I’ve actually been pretty lucky.   I’ve been driving exclusively classic cars for 20 years and over 200,000km.   This is only the third time i’ve needed to be flat bedded.

The post MBCNSW December 2023 Night Drive – Galston Gorge appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

We started at McDonalds Windsor.    On the night we had four W124s (My 300TE, two 300Es and a 230E), three W126s (a 380SEC, 380SEL Limo and a 300SEL) , an R107 500SL and a Series 3 Jaguar XJ6.   W124s and W126s are generally the mainstay of these drives.   It was nice to have the XJ6 along as well.  It was a nice example and fresh from a new pair of fuel tanks.

We started out and were able to keep the group together fairly well getting out of Windsor. Most of this road was good driving roads with a few bends rated around 80km/h. Great for a night time cruise.

The first waypoint was Sackville ferry, one of the five car ferries operating in Sydney. Our group of 9 was able to fit onto one ferry, even with a stretched limo.  We’ve taken the Berowra ferry a few times on Night Drives.  This was our first time on the Sackville Ferry.

After the ferry, the route took us on some of the sweeping corners of Sackville Ferry Road, then Wisemans Ferry road.   The 300TE is very nimble on roads like these.       On this drive, I had also been trying out some walkie talkies from Ali Express that I plan to use for a longer road trip later in the year.    These proved invaluable, as not far down the Old Northern Road, one of the cars broke down.

Even though I was a few Km ahead, the walkie talkies allowed me to turn the first half of the convoy around and go back and see what was going on.   The 300SEL had stopped dead.   And it hadn’t chosen a very good place to do so.   It was in a section just after a corner on the 90km/h section of the Old Northern Road.  This section didn’t have a proper shoulder either.     We positioned a few cars behind it with hazard lights on, but the big rigs roar through here at night, so it wasn’t an ideal place to be.

The 300SEL would turn over, but the engine would not run.    We quickly tried the obvious, such as to bypass the fuel pump relay, with no effect.   Somebody had a multi-meter and there was power getting to the fuel pumps, but they didn’t seem to be priming.

At that point, a good Samaritan in a ute stopped.  He had a tow strap and offered to take the car to a safer place.    We got everything hooked up, and he pulled the 300SEL about two kilometers down the road where there was a very wide shoulder.   This was a much safer spot, especially as we expected the car would probably need to be left overnight.    Luckily the owner of the 300SEL had come with the owner of the Limo, so a ride home was possible in the limo.

This was our first real breakdown on one of the night drives.   We’ve had a few cars pull out due to various issues, but this was the first time a car required a tow.   And we expected it would be first time a car would need to be flat-bedded away.

At this point with nothing much else we could do on the side of the Old Northern Road, the rest of the group went to the final destination at McDonalds.      Due to the breakdown, it turned out to be quite a late night.  When I got home at about 1:30AM, there was a message waiting for me from the driver of the limo.  After about 30-40 minutes, the 300SEL had sprung into life, and was driven home without incident.   Not only was this great news, but it preserved our record that no car has yet been flat-bedded away from one of the night drives.  Despite the breakdown, it was an enjoyable night.

The post MBCNSW August 2023 Night Drive – Sackville Ferry appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The planned route was a variation on a previous drive before the night drives became official.    The main change was adding Galston Gorge.    The meeting point was in Hornsby Heights, near the oval.   For future drives, perhaps not the best spot as it was very dark.     From there, we went through Galston Gorge, and then took Cattai Ridge road to Halcrows road.    We had originally planned to stay on Cattai ridge road until Wisemans Ferry road, but that part of Catti ridge road floods easily and it had been very rainy of late.

Once we got on to Wisemans Ferry road, we continued northwards until we hit the Old Northern Road, before returning back south to our end point at McDonalds Dural.

I really enjoy this route.   Its one I’ve done many times before we started the official night drives.    The roads are quiet, the speed limits are reasonable for the road, and its a great drive on a summer night with the windows down or the roof off.

I took my 560SEC again on this drive.   Originally, I hoped to take the 250SE.   I had recently had some work done to fix some poor running.   A good drive would have been good to check it out.   However, it has been a very rainy summer, and that continued this week.   The rain was clearing, so instead of the 300SE, I went and got the 560SEC for its first drive of the year.    It was probably a good choice as we had some minor rain at various times, but otherwise good weather.

The 560SEC performed really well on the drive.   I really enjoy driving the car and the extra power is noticable when you put your foot down.    Its was nice to cruise around in a pillarless coupe on a warm summer night.

The post MBCNSW January 2022 Night Drive to Cattai appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

Not only is driving at night more convenient for me, but the traffic is greatly reduced, especially cyclists.   Obviously you have to be more aware, particularly of wildlife.   Many petrol stations are closed too.

The first one was in late July and the route was up the old Pacific Highway to the outskirts of Gosford.

On that inaugural drive, we had a 380SEC, a 420SEL, my 450SLC and a 280CE.   The old pacific highway is quite a twisty road and is a lot of fun even at the legal speed limit.   It was also a good run for the 420SLC with its new injectors.   That drive was pretty uneventful and we came back via the motorway.

This months night drive was around the back-roads between Dural and Wisemans Ferry.    That route is not as demanding as the Old Pacific Highway, so it was a good night to take my 250SE Cabriolet.

The weather was almost warm enough for top down motoring with the heater on, gloves and a hat.   On that drive we had a 280SE 3.5 (above) and a W211 E55 AMG, Audi S3 and CLA250.

This months was also a lot of fun, but perhaps a bit more eventful.   At the final meeting point we disturbed an amorous couple in a Ute who had to quickly get their clothes on and drive angrily away.    Secondly, on the drive back the charging light on my 250SE started to flicker on and got brighter and brighter on the way home.   After a while, I turned off the radio, but figured headlights were pretty important.

Luckily for me it was failing slowly so I was able to drive home without incident.  When I arrived back, I tested the voltages with a multi-meter.  With the engine running and headlights on I had only 11.6 volts at the battery.   With the engine and headlights off, I had 12.2.   Thankfully the 250SE does not have any sensitive ECUs etc that would not have enjoyed running with low voltage.

The post July and August Night Drives appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The run started in Glenorie (I took Galston Gorge which is a far nicer drive in an E than the M2) and proceeded along the Old Northern Road to Webbs Creek Ferry (adjacent to Wisemans Ferry), and then up the river to St. Albans.    It was a lovely drive and one I had not known about before – I knew of Webbs Creek ferry, but didn’t know where the road went – only that I had seen the other end of it far north and it was unsealed.   The road is sealed, at least to St. Albans and it is worth a drive as there is a very nice pub and a gently meandering road to get there.

While the run was organised by the E-Type register, there were a few XKs, MK2s, a Mk1, XJs and some modern Jags too.

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