Classic Cars and Coffee November 2017

November's meet up was similarly well attended and I was early for once so got to have a good look around.

Lovely Mercedes-Benz 300 coupe

Two SIVA club stalwarts - NSU Prinz III and Paul Blank's Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, recently back from Bay to Birdwood.

Porsche 911

Later model Ford Capri drives in. I must admit I've not seen another of these British Fords in Perth.

Lovely Porsche 356 speedster

Two late model British classics - Morgan Plus Four and a JBA. Both are modern cars with classic styling.

MG Magnette

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

It's great to see another of these magnificent 'blower' Bentley's out and about. The Bentley owners should be commended for regularly getting their cars out on the road and driving them, not squirreling them away like museum pieces.

Peter Briggs was there again with another of his MG racers.

Probably my favourite car of the day. A Jensen built Volvo sports.

Yours truly snapped artistically by Tony Wong at the end of the morning. Since coming back from Adelaide the DKW has been plagued with performance issues. Idling has especially troublesome. For five years I've never had a single issue with the carburetor, but it seems like it needs cleaning out after every drive. Speaking with other drivers about this on Sunday I am now convinced the fuel has been contaminated with ethanol, which is damaging the fuel system. Western Australia doesn't have ethanol in its fuel but some eastern states do and although I always checked while we were away to avoid using any ethanol tainted fuel, I guess some did make it into the system. It's a damned pain!

As always, you know where to get your coffee!

The next Classic Cars and Coffee will be on 31 December.

To keep up to date with events, check out the website http://classiccarsandcoffee.com/

Remembrance Day Scooter Ride 2017

It's been several years since I've taken the Troll out for a run, but on 12 November there was a scooter run in Fremantle. The 12th was my birthday and that alone was good enough reason to pull the beast out of the shed and hit the road.

Despite not having been ridden in two years the Troll fired straight up and needed little more than a quick lube here and there.

The Remembrance Run was organized by South Side Scooters and they did a great job of spreading the word across the scootering community. The event even got a write up in the local paper. https://communitynews.com.au/fremantle-gazette/news/perth-scooter-gathering-and-poppy-run-to-see-south-side-scooterists-pay-remembrance-respects/

Several SIVA members and fellow travelers attended. Ron De Pannone on his Lambretta Li, Andy Montgomery on this Vespa 150, James Long on his Honda Spacey, Tony Wong on his Lambretta LD and Greg Eastwood on his Heinkel Tourist.

Tony's lovely Lambretta LD. The oldest scooter on the run.



The Troll - solid and reliable like a Soviet tractor and just as pretty.

Greg's Heinkel Tourist is a thing of beauty

While James' Honda Spacey is.... 'uniquely styled.' But it is way more powerful and reliable than the Vespas and Lambrettas.

124 scooters attended - a fantastic turnout!

The route took us along the coast to Cottesloe, then through Mosman Park and back to Fremantle.





Getting started ready for wind resistance



One of Tony Wong's cool photos. All the stylish photos in this post are his.

Great photos from Mark Nagle.

See link to his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pg/PhotographyByMarkNangle/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1125112197624289




The Troll ran extremely well, although I was at the back of the pack most of the run. Quite a few Lambrettas stalled along the way (probably weighed down with all the surplus mirrors). Old fuel was the common complaint.

Andy and James

Greg on the Heinkel. Gotta love the helmet.


I made it all the way back to Fremantle without incident but Greg's Heinkel stopped running about 100 metres from the end point while we were waiting for the stragglers to catch up. I stuck around for a while to help him out before I headed home. It was a great start to my birthday.

Greg pushes the Heinkel the last 100 metres. Lesson for the future - never switch off your engine!

Tony W as 'tail gun Charlie'

A brief video of the start.