Classic Cars and Coffee - Sunday 2nd March 2025

Dear classic car and bike tragic! We are back this Sunday with our regular UWA event expected to be full of and octane fuelled passion. It will be a big one with last year's March event one of the biggest of the year.

One of the best motorcycles in show - BMW R60/2

Well, maybe outshone a little by this magnificent ex-LA Police Moto Guzzi Eldorado with all the extras

Another BMW classic - R75/7

A very interesting custom based on a Jawa 250. A very impressive piece of work

1934 Singer Le Mans

1934 Lagonda Sedanca Lancefield de Ville

1935 Rolls Royce 20/25 - for sale

Porsche 356 replica. A very nice example with a lot of real Porsche parts.

Auburn Roadster replica

Vauxhall row

MG A

Aussie classic Holden FJ

Pontiac

Jaguar

1956 AC - unmolested

A spectacular pair of early model Chevrolet Corvairs. A most under-rated US car.

The Corvair's captured by DJ Ferraz Photography



Jaguar IV

Earlier this year I said I would only ride to Classic Cars and Coffee, but I decided this time to take Molly the Karmann Ghia.



Model T Ford by DJ Ferraz

The unique Olgivy Special

Behind the Scenes of RAC "In My Garage Episode 1"

In September 2024 I recieved a call from Alex Forrest, former motoring editor of The West Australian newspaper and now working at the RAC. Alex had written a feature about my Tatra for The West shortly after I had purchased the car in 2014. The West, like so many newspapers, later dropped all local reporters in favour internet 'reporting' and puff. It's crap but its cheap. Alex moved on. He had pitched to the RAC a new series of print articles and video features showcasing interesting vehicles in Perth. The series was called "In my garage" and he asked if me and my Tatra agree to be the first feature. "Well, hell yes!"

It certainly sounds like a simple premise. Alex and I (and other owners later) would have a chat about our vehicles and go for a drive. It isn't easy however. When I do my driving videos it's just me talking off the cuff and enjoying a drive. It's easy enough to edit out some of the guff if I go off on a tangent or forget what I'm talking about. There have been many times I've looked back at the video and thought - straight to the bin with that. If I don't publish a video, who cares? I'll do another one when I feel I have something to say. But working on a professional video requires a degree of professionalism. "Maybe do that one again." is something that was said a lot. Another thing, it's hard to have a normal, natural conversation when you are being filmed. Alex would say something, I would mess up my reply. The director would step in and tell us what he wanted. Neither of us would be comfortable and it would show. "Let's do that again but more naturally." It was an interesting experience.

"Let's do that again..."

That all said, it was a brilliant experience and, while it took a while to get into the swing, both Alex and I had our groove on by the time we finished filming. It only took four hours, which is pretty quick as far as these things go. The team at RAC have turned those four hours into an excellent fourteen minute video. Enjoy!

Check out the RAC article here: https://rac.com.au/car-motoring/info/in-my-garage-ep-1



Alex Forrest's first article about the Tatra: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2020/09/tatra-epitome-of-rear-engine-cool.html

Subi Spritz - Euro Classic Cars and Coffee - Sunday 16th March 2025

1935 Mercedes-Benz 150 H

Engineer and editor of Motor Kritik magazine, Josef Ganz, drafted a stinging critique of Mercedes-Benz' new rear-engine 130 model shortly after its exhibition at the Berlin Motor Show in 1934. Daimler-Benz were probably unprepared for his criticisms as Ganz had been engaged as a consulting engineer to improve the new car's tail-heavy handling. His critique was technically correct - the car suffered from over-steer due the weight and rear placement of its engine - but his acerbic commentary won him no favors. Daimler-Benz became another of the growing list of companies Ganz considered personal enemies. This would, of course, come back to bite him.

Daimler-Benz fully understood that the 130 had a handling problem and strenuous efforts were underway to address this. Lead engineer, Hans Nibel, engaged ex Daimler-Benz engineer Ferdinand Porsche, to assist. Porsche made some suggestions but despite three generations of improvements, the car was never able to fully resolve its tail-heaviness.

In Ganz' critique, he had expressed the opinion that any vehicle with an 'outboard' engine placement (i.e., behind the rear axle), would be inherently unstable. Ganz instead expressed the view that the best placement of the engine was ahead of the axle, i.e., mid-engine. This suited Ganz' particular view of the ideal 'kleinstwagen' (small car), which was limited to only two seats. All other companies exploring the rear-engine, small car concept, rejected this idea as impractical. Ganz would press on with this view regardless right through into the 1950s, resulting in inevitable failure.

Josef Ganz' last throw of the two-seater volkswagen, the Swiss-built Rapid volkswagen of the late 1940s. In their 1933 review of the Standard Superior, the editors of Das Motorrad identified the two-seater small car as an automotive dead-end - in the first paragraph! https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2022/08/1933-standard-superior-road-test-das.html.

The two-seater small car may have been a dead-end, but Daimler-Benz believed a mid-engine two-seater sportscar could find a market. The 1.3 litre engine was bored out to 1.5 litres, fitted with overhead valves and twin carburetors, delivering 55 hp. The engine and transmission was turned 180 degrees and mounted on the tube chassis ahead of the rear axles, which improved the weight distribution.

Highly streamlined coupe bodies were modeled for the project. Several experimental bodies were ordered for trials.



This sleek streamlined body was trialed but would not go into production.

After finalizing the body styling, four bodies were ordered. The Mercedes works team successfully tested the new sports coupes in the 2000 Kilometer endurance race in July 1934, where they won four gold medals. One of the driving team would go on to great things on the race circuit - Hermann Lang - behind the wheel of the Auto Union Type C and D.

Despite competition success in the 2000 Kilometer Race, Mercedes-Benz opted not proceed with the Sports Coupe after only six cars were ever built. All would eventually end up being scrapped. Instead, the 150 H chassis was fitted with a streamlined roadster body and unveiled at the 1935 Berlin Motor Show.

The 150 H roadster never went into mass production and only four examples were ever built. One survives and is in the Mercedes Benz museum.

While the 150 Sports Coupe and Roadster proved to be dead-ends themselves, they did have one very important long-lasting impact. When Ferdinand Porsche was granted the contract to build three volkswagen (V3) prototypes for testing in 1935, Daimler-Benz was instructed to build the two sedans (Porsche would build the cabriolet). The 150 H Sports Coupes and the various test bodies were still in the Daimler-Benz yard and would be used as a template for the body that would eventually become the world beating Volkswagen.

The Origin of the Volkswagen: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2012/03/volkswagen-world-beating-peoples-car.html

Mercedes-Benz 130: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2025/02/1934-mercedes-benz-130.html
Mercedes-Benz 170H: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2025/02/1936-mercedes-benz-170-h.html
Mercedes Classics History: http://mercedesclasicos.com/19_mercedes_benz_130h-170h.html

1936 Mercedes-Benz 170 H

After the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz 130 model in 1934, Daimler-Benz engineers had been scrambling to improve its handling and reduce its tendency to over-steer in corners. The car's instability was the direct result of the choice of an upright water-cooled four-cylinder engine mounted behind the axles, when the car had originally been designed for a flat-four air-cooled motor. The 130 model went through three generations of suspension improvements before the model was retired in April 1936, after 4,298 cars had left the factory.

In February 1936, the completely redesigned Mercedes-Benz 170H was unveiled at the Berlin Motor Show. The new car benefited from the lessons learned from the 130, with redesigned suspension, double acting shock absorbers on the rear, a larger, better engine and overall better fittings. Streamlining was much improved over the somewhat angular 130. Motoring journalists praised the new car for its innovation and improved handling, but over-steer remained a problem for the unwary driver. Despite all the improvements, the 170H was never able to secure its market and only 1,507 cars were built before the model was withdrawn in October 1939.








1934 Mercedes-Benz 130 Brochure: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2025/02/1934-mercedes-benz-130.html
1935 Mercedes-Benz 150 H: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2025/02/1935-mercedes-benz-150-h.html
Mercedes Classics History: http://mercedesclasicos.com/19_mercedes_benz_130h-170h.html