Rotary Club of Como Classic Car Show - Sunday 29th September 2024

The Como Rotary Car Show is held annually in October at Wesley College and attracts over 200 cars of all makes and ages. It's a pleasant and relaxing show and one of my favorites on the motoring calendar.

Six members of our KBG club attended the show covering a wide variety of unusual vehicles. Attending were a 1965 Saab Monte Carlo, 1959 DKW F94, 1964 Panhard 24CT, 1965 Skoda Octavia and 1944 KdF Kubelwagen.

And the sixth vehicle - a 1969 BMW R69

The Saab 96 Monte Carlo was a sports tuned version of the Saab 96. It is powered by a three cylinder 850cc two-stroke with triple carburetors. Saab enjoyed a particularly successful rallying history.

Saab and DKW continued with two-stroke powerplants long after it was dropped by other European manufacturers. The advantage of two-strokes was their simplicity of construction and maintenance (no need for tuning, valve timing, oil changes, less things to go wrong) and with excellent power to weight ratios, but by the mid-1960s they were definitely seen as a 'poor man's motor'. Emission control legislation in Europe spelt the death knell for the engine.

My DKW F94 is powered by an 886cc three-cylinder two-stroke

Another small-engine, high-performance motor car is this 1965 Panhard 24CT from France. Powered by a 750cc air-cooled boxer engine, highly tuned to squeeze every last horsepower out of its small engine. Like the Saab and DKW, Panhards performed well in rallying.

1965 Skoda Octavia was powered by a sturdy four-cylinder four-stroke motor of 1200cc.

The military version of the KdF Volkswagen served in all European theatres, from the deserts of North Afrika (as this example is painted) to the frozen Russian front. Ferdinand Porsche's incredibly robust low-compression four-cylinder air-cooled boxer was able to perform in all conditions. 

A magnificently restored BMW R69.

Jaguar Kougar

Renault 4CVs

Fiat 500C Topolina

Ferrari

Ford Thunderbird

Replica 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500

Austin Healey Sprite

Porsche 356 Roadster

Morgan Plus Eights

Aston Martin DB5

1930 Ford A

Chevrolet Blitz

Studebaker Lark



Bedford van

Vauxhall Club

Holden FX

For more information check out the website: https://comorotary.org/como-rotary-car-show/