Sunday 22nd September 2019 was a mighty fine spring day - perfect car show weather. Some four hundred vehicles attended Classic Cars and Coffee.
Durkopp Diana. A German scooter from the golden age of scooters.
The Patron Citroen H Van
MG A and B
Baby Austin Seven. Such a cute little budget car from the 1920s and 30s.
Little Sweden - not so little in fact. There were probably ten Volvos and Saabs together. A Volvo 122 Amazon and Volvo P1800 sportster.
Two magnificent Swedes. 1949 Volvo PV544 and Saab 96 GT Sports.
Honda S600
Plymouth Road King Coupe
Ford Thunderbird
American 1959 Ford Fairlane. These cars were considerably larger than the Australian Fairlane model.
Striker. A home built concept vehicle designed and built by one of the engineers of the Orbital Engine Company. It is powered by a Ford Fiesta engine in the back. Certainly interesting.
Riley RMB
Audi R8. A mid-engined supercar https://www.drive.com.au/new-car-reviews/2019-audi-r8-v10-plus-first-drive-120107
Czechoslovakian row - 1960 Skoda Octavia, 1952 Tatraplan and 1974 Tatra 603-2.
Skoda sold reasonably well in Australia in the late 1950s and 60s due to their rugged reliability. As with all no frills cars of the period, they were run to death and thrown away. Few survive even in Czechoslovakia.
Rear engines in a row. The two Tatras certainly drew a crowd of puzzled onlookers, parked by a group of Volkswagens.
They make a fine pair
Another rear engine legend, the Porsche 356. This is a C model I think.
A pair of Morgans and a fine Porsche 356 in Meissen Blue.
A second Citroen H van coffee van
BMW i8 hybrid-electric sports car. https://www.bmw.com.au/en/all-models/bmw-i/i8/2014/introduction.html
Bertoni bodied Abarth spider
Chevrolet Impalas. The brown car is a station wagen model. Quite rare.
A fine pair of Renault Alpines. There were three Alpines attending.
1969 Jaguar E-Type setting out
Mavis the pink 1958 Ford Customline
Volkswagen beetle
The third Alpine and Singer
A rare car in Perth, a 1925 French Delage. Behind it is a Marcos.
Jaguar and Bristol
The wonderful Bristol 402
Citroen Traction Avant
Mazda. This was quite a common car in the 1980s when I was growing up but like so many of the cars of that period is very hard to find these days. Great to see one on the road and unmolested.
Richard G setting off on this Durkopp
Rudge motorcycle draws a crowd of admirers.
Porsche 356
The back end of the Tatras are particularly distinctive.
The Saab 96 sets off. It sounds terrific.
The Jensen-Volvo P1800 heads out
Mercury sedan
The Striker looks like a lot of fun
Jaguar and Citroen Traction Avant
Chrysler racer back from Lake Perkolilli Red Dust Revival https://www.facebook.com/reddustrevival2019/
Who'd have thought Jay Leno would show up at Classic Cars and Coffee?
And number 27 is away
A big Rolls-Royce Phantom limousine with great patina.
All up a very lovely day and lots of great cars on show.
After leaving the CCC, Peter G and drove down to the foreshore and tried each other's vehicles. What I can say about the Tatra 603 is that is surprisingly light and responsive for such a large, heavy car. The column gear shift is light, acceleration good and the brakes are responsive. The gearbox operates similarly to the Tatraplan's, in that you can easily crunch into reverse if you're not careful. Transitions to second gear can be a little slow.
I think you can feel the continuity between the Tatraplan and the 603. The Tatrplan feels older, simpler and less sophisticated in comparison to its successor. Still modern for its time though. Interestingly, the Tatraplan's engine is a 2 litre flat four generating 44 horsepower. The 603 has a 2.5 litre V8 generating a little over double the horsepower. In comparison, the prewar T87 had a 3 litre V8 generating only a third more power than the Tatraplans. Engines came quite a long way after the war.
The next Classic Cars and Coffee is Sunday 20th October 2019
https://www.classiccarsandcoffee.com/
