Old Midland Workshops and Powerhouse Museum

The Midland Railway yards were demolished and sold off for commerical and residential real-estate many years ago, but one section around the powerhouse was preserved. Some of the warehouses are vacant, some have been converted into office space and one section is used by the Machinery Preservation Society to store and display their machinery. They have an open about twice a year and several classic motoring clubs attend and put on displays.

The Vintage Automobile Association put on a display

Landrover club

1904 Clayton and Shuttleworth steam traction engine





Ford Deluxe

Ford

1948 Singer Roadster

Factory runabout

Time for laundry

Oh yeah!

Stationary engines

Douglas stationary motor. Douglas was an English motorcycle company and after the Second World War built a version of the famous BMW boxer-engined motorcycle and a licensed version of the Piaggio Vespa. This stationary motor was obviously based on the BMW motor.

Machinery Preservation Club WA https://www.machinerypreservationwa.com/

Vintage Motorcycle Club of WA display https://vmccwa.com/visitors/

Shelly's favourite - BSA Bantam

Moto Guzzi

Vintage motorcycles

Harley-Davidson

Great industrial architecture

And what else do you need at a machinery preservation event? A Dalek!!

Tractor Museum of WA https://www.whitemanpark.com.au/trains-trams-museums/tractor-museum

Land Rover Mk 1

1958 Fordson Dexta

Miniature steam traction engine

Kiddie rides



Norton motorcycle

Dennis fire-engine

Molly and Austin

After the workshop we drove up into the hills for coffee at the Carmel Tea Rooms.

It is a lovely spot. https://experienceperthhills.com.au/things-to-do/carmel-tea-rooms/

Nice scones!

A lovely way to spend a fine spring day.


Next day we visited the Army Museum in Fremantle. Photos here: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2024/10/army-museum-fremantle-open-day-2024.html

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/

The Autocar January 1949 - Survey of German Car Production

After the complete destruction of German industry in the Second World War, Germany had to rebuild its auto industry from the ground up. The terrible state of affairs in 1945 has been reported in detail in this survey by German engineers: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2022/07/state-of-german-motor-industry-1945.html

Of all the companies, Volkswagen was in the best shape and despite being earmarked for destruction by the British authorities, the company would survive and thrive, becoming one to the biggest automakers in the world. https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-death-and-resurrection-of-volkswagen.html

This report on the state of affairs in Germany was published in the British motoring magazine, The Autocar on 21 January 1994.