Classic Cars and Coffee - Sunday 3rd April 2022

After the March Cars and Coffee was cancelled by our dance-hating premier, he felt it was 'safe' enough for us to stand in the fresh air in a carpark and drink coffee in April.

I rode my newly acquired DKW RT250-H. It was my first longish ride.

This month there was a Swedish car them. That means Volvos and Saabs basically. These two - Volvo 144BV and Saab 96 Monte Carlo Sport by far stole the show.

Thunderstorms had been forecast but the weather turned out to be fine.

A very nice Cadillac Eldorado

Citroen CX

Rover

The Carry Crew

1915 Ford Model T. It was great to see a real oldtimer out and about. We watched the owner start her up with the hand crank. She fired straight up. No shoulder ache there!

I've never really understood the high-lo rider thing

Another photo of the DKW paired with a 1960 BMW

Triumph Cub

Bentley Boys

Aston Martin DB6

A Jag escapes


Next event

New addition - 1954 DKW RT250-H motorcycle

Just recently I published a post about getting my 1957 DKW Hummel moped running again. Before I started down this 'DKW journey' I was interested in getting myself on a DKW motorcycle, but every time I found one it slipped through my fingers. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2022/02/my-1956-dkw-hummel.html

Although my wife has constantly warned me "no more bikes or cars!", periodically I would check the market to see if anything had popped up, but I was constantly disappointed. Last year my wife and I visited the Bunbury-Geograph Motor Museum on our way back from a trip through the South West of Western Australia. The BGMM is a fine volunteer run local museum (photos here: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2021/07/bunbury-geographe-motor-museum.html) which has a particularly fine collection of Jawa motorcycles. As we admired the machines, Shelly said, "would you not want a motorcycle that looks more...like a motorcycle?" I admitted I did and we both picked a motorcycle we liked. Both turned out to be 1950s Jawas. https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2022/07/1950-jawa-350-motorcycle.html

A week or so ago someone was selling a couple of Jawa motorcycles on Facebook marketplace. One was a basketcase, one was 1970s scrambler, but the third was one of the models that Shelly and I had selected from the BMM display. The bike was running, with spares, but not registered. It was in Victoria. I was busy working at the time so saved the posted so I could go back and check it out in detail later. I didn't get to look at it again until Sunday night and to my disappointment, it had gone. But in its place Facebook had popped up another advert 'You may like.... - 1954 DKW Motorcycle.' It was here in Western Australia and a reasonable price. I did not delay this time and messaged the seller on Monday morning.

I inspected the bike later that afternoon and the deal was done. The seller had owned the bike for about 10 years. He'd done some minor restoration work to keep it running - new silencer, some new cables, new tyres, new brakes, but the bike was otherwise left 'as is.' The bike had been used in the wheat belt and was in a farmer's shed when he found it. He had been visiting the farmer to buy another bike when the farmer asked him if he wanted to have a look at another old bike he had. The bike was covered by a sheet in a corner of the shed, surrounded by junk. He took one look at it and bought it as well.

The bike is running and only needs a little carb tuning. I look forward to enjoying it.

Down in Fremantle for a coffee run.

A later brochure for the RT250-S. My model is of the older style with prewar style plunger rear suspension. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2019/08/1957-dkw-rt250.html

Very first start up.

User manual for the RT200, which is basically the same https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2022/03/1954-dkw-rt2002-owners-manual.html
Engine repair manual in English: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2022/05/dkw-works-manual-for-rt200rt250.html

Tinsmith Garage and Cafe

Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, hates dancing and classic cars apparently. Last Sunday's ever popular Classic Cars and Coffee event was forced to cancel due to the premier's ever changing Covid restrictions. Apparently having an open-air event in a public car park in the lovely West Australian sunshine is too risky. Apparently.

But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy classic cars and bikes and coffee, so a group of us decided to check out Tinsmith Garage and Cafe in Fremantle. Tinsmith is a mechanics shop and panel beater, specialising in vintage Volkswagens. It also has a cafe and seating so people can sit down, relax and talk.

For a last minute call, we had a good turnout. About a dozen cars and dozen bikes. This Saab 96 is a new acquisition by a club member. Saabs - and Volvos - are extremely popular with enthusiasts. Must be that Swedish quality.

Another new acquisition for one of our club members is this 1969 Rover. It purred like a kitten.

1958 Mercedes-Benz 250S

The trusty Skoda Octavia

Good to see this Renault Dauphine back on the road. It has been absent from events recently due to fuel issues.

Datsun 510 Coupe

Datsun 1600

Volkswagen and Lambretta

This wonderfully restored 1956 Lambretta LD is a real treat

Ron the Legend on his BSA Lightning Clubman

US "small cars"

Another debut at this event was my newly purchased 1954 DKW RT250. I picked it up on Friday.

Ducati

Moto Guzzi El Dorado, a former US police bike

Another debut is this Fiat 124. Its recommissioning was only finished on Saturday!

So, next month we hope for a good Classic Cars and Coffee event on Sunday 3rd April 2022. https://www.facebook.com/perthclassiccarsandcoffee

Tinsmith Garage serve very good coffee and is a great destination for car and bike clubs. Check them out on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tinsmithfreo/

Motor Museum of WA, Whiteman Park

On Sunday 23rd January 2022 I made a quick visit to the Motor Museum of WA to check out the collection for the last time before the State Government's discriminatory restrictions excluded me from public life. I had loaned my Tatra to the museum temporarily and wanted to see how she looked. 

Among the newer exhibits, this 1954 Kaiser Manhattan is one of the most interesting. Kaiser was a huge industrial concern which made their name and fortune building Liberty ships during the Second World War. In 1946 they decided to take on the big auto manufacturers. They build interesting cars but gave up the market in 1954.

One of my all time favourites - the 1934 Desoto Airflow. https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2016/03/1934-chrysler-airflow-first-modern-car.html

While the Ford company in the US was building massive cars covered in chrome trim, in Britain, this was all most people could afford. 1953 Ford Anglia.

Red Dog, Red Dust

1965 EH Holden. I used to own one of these. They are legendary car in Australia.

1958 Lloyd Hartnett. German austerity motoring for Australia.

Detroit Electric, formerly Percy Markham Collection

1898 Star, formerly Percy Markham Collection.

1899 Peugeot, formerly Percy Markham Collection and Morris Cowley Bullnose (but not Percy's. Percy's Morris Cowley is on display in the York Motor Museum - https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2019/06/york-motor-museum-visit-2019.html)

Like in the country is harsh

Ford Model T in St John's Ambulance livery

The courtyard between the two wings has been substantially redecorated since our last visit.

Wheels within a wheel...

The Ricciardo Hall features Daniel's Formula One Renault

And directly across from Daniel's race car, my 1952 Tatra T600 Tatraplan

She looks magnificent. More photos here: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2022/01/my-tatraplan-temporarily-on-display-at.html

I'm very pleased with the way they have displayed her.

A quite extraordinary example of 1980s excess - the 1988 Tiffany Classic

1945 Ford V8 Debonde Special. The 1945 Ford that was used a donor for this racer is completely unrecognizable.

1979 Mini Jem. A fibreglass bodied kit car conversion for a racing Mini

Triumph racer and Triumph TR2

The TR2 looks a little worse for wear but runs.

I was surprised to see this Berini M60 cyclemotor in the museum collection. I have recently picked up Berini cyclemotor and am slowly attempting to restore it. Annoyingly, after several weeks of effort I finally got the petrol cap off - it was gummed up with resinous petrol - and washing and filling the tank several times with thinners, the cap has reseized up again. Frustrating! https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2021/06/new-project-1954-berini-m13-and-bsa.html

My friend Perry's lovely 1951 Mercedes-Benz. As I've said before, this car is a year younger than my Tatra but looks like it belongs to a different era. Tatra came out with their ultra-modern streamliners in 1934 and would remain light years ahead of their competitors well into the 1950s. https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/2020/09/tatras-streamliners-yesterdays-car-of.html

The Motor Museum of WA is at Whiteman Park and is open every day of the year. I'm not sure how long my Tatra will be on display there so if you're interested and want to see one of these rare cars 'in the flesh', pop over and check out the collection.