Due to the W123 event and the Australia Day long weekend, we had the drive a couple of weeks earlier than normal.  January can be quite hit and miss when it comes to attendance.  Some people are still away but on the other hand people who are around are generally less busy.

However, it had rained quite heavily the day before and it was a very overcast day, which kept numbers down.   In the end the rain mostly held off, and we experienced only occasional light showers.  It was possible to see the big storms in the distance over the ocean, it looked like the scene out of Lord of the Rings where the huge storms over Mordor can be seen from Minas Tirith.

We had three cars on the day, a pair of SECs, my Nautical Blue 560SEC and a Lapis Blue 380SEC.   We also had a late model VW golf, primarily so the owners son could build up his hours on his L plates, not ideal for his pristine W124.

Due to the time of the year and the threat of rain, there was almost no traffic.  It turned out to be quite a cruisy drive.  The route took us up the Old Pacific Highway from our meeting point at McDonalds Mount Colah.   Instead of turning into the section that goes down into Gosford, we turned up along Peats Ridge Road, and did the loop with its long sweeping turns, back towards Gosford that way.  We had originally meant to take all back roads, but I got a turn wrong so we did one exit on the motorway.

Meeting point was McDonalds Gosford West.  Unlike some McDonalds which advertise being open 24 hours, but actually only have the drive through open, this one was properly open.  That meant we could get a snack before the drive home.  Even with the smaller numbers it was a good drive.  I was home by almost exactly midnight.

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This means there is a Day 0 where everyone makes their own way to the starting point and stays overnight.   Most of the group had a full work day, so most people arrived between 7:30 and 8:30pm into Maitland.

In the spirit of trying to avoid motorways for this entire trip, I met up with a few of the guys in Berowra at around 5:15pm and we took the scenic way up towards Maitland.   This involved taking the Old Pacific Highway, Peats Ridge Road, George Downes Road and Wollombi road through the national park up towards the Hunter.    In a sense it was a lot like a night drive up the old Pacific Highway.

This is a much better way to get to Maitand than the boring M1 motorway.

I started the drive with 342,537km on the odometer of my 560SEL.   By the end of our first leg we had covered a little under 200km.    We met up with most of the rest of the group in Maitland.   This was an opportunity to get our trip merch.   We’ve all got magnets for our cars, and I’ve also got a hat, a poster and two polo shirts.   I think its a bit of fun and provides some souvenirs from the trip.

I went with #117.  For this trip, I planned to take my 560SEL.  However, If I hadn’t been able to get the coolant leak fixed before the trip I would have taken a different car, which also has a M117 engine.

We then met at the local club for dinner.   Tomorrow morning is a very early start due to having to re-route the trip around a landslide on Thunderbolts way.

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At some point, the most egregious of them have been filled in.  Therefore, it was finally possible to put it on the schedule.   In order to make the length of the drive somewhat manageable, we started at Hawkins lookout.   This isn’t the most ideal starting spot, as there is no lighting, but starting in Glenorie would have added too much time to the route.   Hawkins lookout was the destination point of the second ever night drive, where we managed to disturb an amorous couple in a Ute.  Luckily, this time the place was empty.

From Hawkins lookout, we crossed the Ferry and kept going along Wisemans Ferry Road.   This road winds along the bank of the lower Hawkesbury River.    At night the road was practically deserted, which made it an easy cruise.   There are still some areas of perpetual road works, but nothing that is not obvious in the dark.    The winding road is good to cruise along, especially with no traffic.    At Central Mangrove, we turned off Wisemans Ferry road to head to Peats Ridge Road, which has some great fast sweeping bends, and again, no traffic at night.   We lost a couple of people in the dark, and since there is no mobile phone reception it wasn’t easy to find the rest of the group, but they eventually did.

After Peats ridge road, there is the very windy section of the Old Pacific Highway as it goes down through Mount White towards Mooney Mooney.  This area is busy and has a very low speed limit which is aggressively enforced.    We finished up at a long demolished service station just north of the bridge.   This is probably one of my top 5 routes we’ve done on the night drives.  I’m keen to schedule it again in a year or two.

The weather was excellent and we had a pretty decent turn out.    Four W124s – a 230E, two 300Es and a 320CE cabriolet, two W126s – a 380SEC and my 560SEC and a W116, my old 280SE which is continuing the tradition of coming on night drives.    It was a pretty good number for a drive like this.  While it was a late night, I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

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The idea was to find some good roads for the classic car driver who wants to get out and explore the area a couple of hours around Sydney.

Mudgee via Bells Line of Road

The first drive I did was to Mudgee.   I took Cattai ridge road from Glenorie through Maraylya.  This is a drive I do quite a bit as it can be done in a couple of hours.   Instead of returning, I then took Bells line of road up through Lithgow and then up the road to Mudgee.

Bells line of road is always an enjoyable drive, especially during the week without much traffic.   The road up to Mudgee is a nice undulating road with some fast sections and some tighter sections.

I made the mistake of coming back via the Great Western Highway.   It really is a horrible road.   Congested, insanely low speed limits, speed cameras on every corner.   Next time I would go back via Bells Line of road again.

I took my DS.   On the way up the DS drove really well, but it was a bit unhappy on the way home and I had to nurse it back.  It felt like something was dragging on the motor, perhaps one of the accessories?    I did this drive first, before the hot summer weather came in.   The DS isn’t the best as a hot weather car.     It is really comfortable and soaks up the bumps on a rough road like few other cars.

I really enjoyed this drive and would do it again.

Putty road, returning via Wollombi

I did this drive as part of a mid week drive with the Mercedes Club.   This drive is already covered here.    I took my SLC.    The Putty road is so much better mid-week than on the weekend.  The return via Wollombi is much nicer than going on the M1.   This drive is on most Sydney Scenic drives list.

Bylong Valley

This one was a surprise because I just started looking at google maps to find roads that might be interesting.   The self-leveling rear suspension had just been re-installed in my 560SEL and I wanted a good drive to give it a work out and make sure my used struts were not leaking.    Not only was this a good drive, but it fulfiled that requirement as the road was quite rough.   The car was transformed.   The horrible old ute feel was gone and it was back to driving like an S-Class again.

I started by driving up to Singleton where I had lunch.   I then took the Golden Highway to Bylong Vally Way.     The Bylong Valley Way is a really enjoyable road.   A bit rough in times, but scenic and twisty as you cross the mountains.

Return was via Lithgow and Bells Line of Road.  You pop out very close to Mudgee  so the return is very similar to the drive above.   The SEL is better than most people would expect on twisty roads.   It also has plenty of power to accelerate up hilly roads.      This drive really cemented my decision to put the SLS back in.

You could probably make this drive even better by taking the Putty road up to the Hunter and then continuing the drive from there.  Large sections of this route have no phone reception.

Oberon to Goulburn

I’ve been wanting to do the Oberon to Goulburn drive for years.   I’ve always heard it was good but never got a chance to try it.    After I got the cooling system working again, I took my 560SEC.   I figured of the cars I own, the SEC with its 220KW engine or the E-Type are the most ideal cars for this drive, and given the weather was iffy at the start of the day, the SEC was the best choice.

I took Bells Line of Road to get to Oberon and then proceeded to Goulburn.   This road really lived up to expectations.    There are some long fast sections were I got to push the SEC along as well as some curvy bits decending down the mountains.     The road to Oberon from the Great Western Highway is really picturesque as you can see from the photo below.

The only real downside to this drive, is that the return journey on the freeway is a bit boring.

Goulburn to Oberon

I enjoyed the Goulburn drive so much I decided to do it again, but in reverse.   I just had the E-Type ready after its new fuel pump.      The E-Type drove really well and was really in its element on this drive.    I did this one as a pop up drive with the Mercedes Club.   It is kind of funny the one I did on my own, I did in a Mercedes, but the one I did with the Mercedes Club I did in a Jaguar.

I think its slightly better to do it in this direction.   Not because the drive is better, but it’s easier to manage traffic that way, especially if you live north of the Harbour like I do.

Grand Pacific Drive

I’ve done the Grand Pacific Drive through the Royal National park many times.   Both on club events and on my own.   Most recently I did two variants, one that took me inland to Berry and another over Macquarie pass through to Mittagong.   We didn’t have time, but the Berry drive would have probably been even better to return via Kangaroo Valley.   The drive through the Royal National Park is nicer during the week and very scenic, if a bit slow.   The speed limits are artificially slow and heavily policed.   There are also a lot of cyclists.

I took my 250SE on the drive through Berry and the 300SE on the other drive.   Like Putty road, this one is also on most of the Sydney scenic drives list.

Wollombi, returning via Wisemans Ferry

I had a bit less time this day so did a shorter drive.   I took the old Pacific highway to Peats Ridge, and followed the roads north to Wollombi.    On the way back, I turned off and went via Wisemans Ferry.   This is quite a nice drive if you don’t want to spend the full day.   The roads up to Wollombi are in decent shape although the one to Wisemans Ferry not as much.

I took my 560SEC.   The Old Northern Road after you cross Wisemans Ferry is a nice drive too.

Hunter Valley – Scone – Merriwa

On this drive, I took the freeway up to the Hunter Valley and then went up towards Scone, where I had lunch.   From Scone, I took the road to Merriwa, which was scenic and deserted.  I was able to push the 450SLC along a bit.    This was quite a nice drive once I got up to the Hunter but the freeway section was boring.   It could be combined with Putty road or Old Pacific Highway.    I think Bylong Valley was better though.

Barrington Tops

This one was a bit speculative.   There looked like there could be a nice road through the Barrington Tops national park from Barrington across to Scone.    And there is.   Problem is that its unsealed for about 80km.    I took my 560SEL, and while it could easily do an 80km unsealed road, I didn’t want to.   I drove on the unsealed bit for about 5KM until an information kiosk.   When the extent of the unsealed section was apparent, I turned back.

I had tried to get up there without using freeways.   Getting up to Peats Ridge via the Old Pacific Highway was good, and then I went towards the coast towards Alison.   From there I should have taken the motorway as I ended up driving through the Newcastle suburbs.      The other Alternative would have been Putty road and skip the whole area.

During my navigation, I discovered some key differences between Google maps and Waze.   When you avoid Motorways on Google Maps, it just avoids Motorways with an M prefix.   A roads that are built to almost motorway standards are OK.   Waze is stricter.    Major A roads that are dual carrigeways are also avoided.    Thus, Waze will tell you the only way to get up there without using Motorways is to drive up to Queensland and take the silly route around the top.   Google will take you on the A roads.

Waze has an option to avoid Dirt roads, but it doesn’t show them on the map.   Google doesn’t show them at all.   I wish it would.   Maybe I need to invest in a proper printed road atlas to explore more Sydney scenic drives.

It may be worth at some point exploring up Thunderbolts Way.  This takes up towards Tamworth which is too far, but there could be some good intermediate stops.

Future

If I get more time to explore more Sydney Scenic Drives, I may look at more roads on the other side of the great dividing range.   From Oberon, as an alternative to Goulburn, it looks like you can turn off earlier and go via Wollondilly.   There may also be some roads in the area between Bathurst, Mudgee and Lithgow.   I can probably explore further West too.

The post Sydney scenic drives 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.

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On this trip, the Devil was the weather – being around 35C, a bit too hot for old Ds.   Of the about 10 cars on the run, most people had brought a more modern car, apart from me in the DS and a 2CV.   Despite the conditions, the DS did pretty well.   The temperature was in the high range of the gauge most of the way up, but it never got out of the normal zone and I was able to cruise along the old Pacific highway at 80km/h with no problems.   Even up the hills, dropping down to 3rd gear provided more cooling capacity with higher RPM as there is no ram air effect with a 3rd nose DS, the air is sucked by the fan.   The Velour seats were a great change from the vinyl that I had last summer and made the trip fairly comfortable despite the weather.

As I had done the same drive in the 250SE just a few weeks before, the comparisons were quite interesting.   The 250SE being an overhead cam straight 6, likes to rev and does its best work in the high rev ranges.   The 250 also has shorter gearing so it feels a bit faster despite the additional weight (and being almost 50% more powerful).   The DS likes to waft along, ironing out the bumps and the motor is happier in the lower rev ranges.

On the way back, the temperature was up even more and there was more traffic on the road.   To keep the temperature down, I had to keep to about 70-80km/h on the motorway, and I had to stop and let the car relieve itself for a bit after some heavy traffic on Pacific highway.

Overall the cooling is much better than before the radiator was cleaned out and the new water pump fitted, but not perfect.   I need to check the heating valve, as I tried to turn the heater on to help the engine a little and wasn’t able to get any heat out.   It may even be worth trying something like water wetter to give the cooling system that little extra help.

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The 250SE was able to keep up with the more modern car on the twisties, I think to the slight surprise as some.   Of course, I had to employ full throttle a little more!  There was also a R107 350SL with a 5.0 M117 that was able to achieve such speeds on the road that If I mentioned it, you wouldn’t believe it.     As well as the 107s, there were a selection of other convertibles including modern SLs including a 600SL v12.

The ‘Topless drive’ is a nice concept because it leaves most of the day to do other things and you still get a good drive in.   It is an annual event for the MBCNSW and one that I attend if I can.

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