Australian Drive Day - pictures!

[Adam]

Well, we had a great old time. Met up at 7:00 for a 7:30am start.



We started off through the hills, with the weather pretty overcast and there was a little low cloud over Mt Donna Buang.



As the sun came out, we started to push on, at the delight of StuartJ, Victor and DDR964...



The pace picked up and we encountered some much slower traffic!

[pwd72s]

ARRGH! What did I do wrong? Saw no pics..just little white boxes with red X's....

[Adam]

Sorry, Paul... there's more coming! Should be fixed by now!


We then stopped in Healesville for some breakfast about an hour or so after we left the start point. Hot Croissants and orange juice... mmmm.



Paul and Matthew discuss the merits of the "Pendulum Effect"...



... while StuartJ, DDR964 (Brett) and Victor patiently wait the next stretch of unsuspecting road... these guys were our Trailblazers!



We pressed on and had a go at the Black Spur... lots of fun usually, but it seemed that today was "NATIONAL TOW YOUR BOAT DAY", and the elected route was the Black Spur... we dawdled along behind blissfully ignorant (or decidedly impudent) tow-ers, who refused to make room for us...

(These pics were stills taken from my in-car Digital Video Camera, sorry for the drop in quality)



Once the road cleared, we picked up the pace again and spied this sign, signalling good times ahead!

[Adam]

and finally...

Confidence, and superior suspension on the later cars, left me behind a little, but I got a chance to throw the 911 around a bit on those amazing roads...



At the end of it all, we stopped for a Coffee in Warburton, where we had a chance to relax and to relive the journey. Most of us parted ways there, but that didn't mean the fun was over...



There's more to follow, I just need the time to polish off a website and it'll be more comprehensive... I'll let you all know when it's done!

[89Targa]

Way- cool Adam. Looks like you all had a grand time.
Next time you are in San Francisco let me know and I will buy you a beer in North Beach...

[pwd72s]

This time, the pics worked Adam.... Looks like a great run! But everybody drives on the wrong side of the road there. Love the red early car, BTW! Tom? North Beach may be cool, but there's nothing there you can't see on a good Aussie beach! Please don't tell me Carol Doda still works in North Beach.... I mean, she'd be how old these days? Really Adam...great run! Hope you had as much fun as it looks like you did...

[89Targa]

pwd2s- Carol Doda went bye- bye about 25 years ago. North Beach is a fun spot for good Italian food, cocktails and nightlife.

Regards,

[Jack Olsen]

Wow.

Great pictures. I'm in Southern California, the mecca of Porsches, and I'm jealous.

[Matt Holcomb]

Adam,

Feel free to post those 'other' pictures.

I'm now ready to talk about it!


Matt Holcomb
1974 911 Carrera 2.7 Euro
1975 Mercedes-Benz 280SE
Dedicated Homepage
Engine Rebuild Homepage
Porsche Owners Gallery Profile
Pelican Gallery Profile

[Fishcop]

Thanks for the great photos guys, brings back memories from when I was a Victorian.....over-cast skies, Big M's (flavoured milk), and that beautiful Black Spur road (my old Ducati and I once knew it very well ).

PaulW....love your car, particularly those old chrome wheels!

[Matt Holcomb]

Originally posted by Fishcop
PaulW....love your car, particularly those old chrome wheels!

It was love at first sight when I pulled into the Shoppingtown car park and spotted Paul's car. It epitomises the 911; there's nothing gaudy or fussy about it. And those wheels! Gorgeous car. Oh, and it's quick, too!

Well, it was a great day, although it very nearly turned into a disastrous one! But I'll let Adam fill everyone in! Let's just say two people, and one Porsche, were very lucky ...

What else can I say about it? Actually, quite a bit more! With the exception of those boat-towing heroes, we had a pretty clean -- and fast -- run to Warburton. Victor, Brett and Stuart benefited from well-sorted suspensions, while Adam, Paul and I did our best to drive around some suspension-related issues.

I started getting into a nice rhythm through the Black Spur, although my front shockers (both shot), my front brakes, and a curious lack of courage, prevented me from fully exploiting my engine. Still, the back-end was very stable, and in conjunction with the tyres, provided me with all the rear traction I could ever want, and therein lies another reason why I was fighting the front-end of the car so much!

All in all, it was fun getting to grips (literally) with my car again, and it was especially fun being reminded (again!) how good these cars really are.

As Adam said when we parted ways at Warburton, "it was a very 911-affirming day."

Hear, hear!


Matt Holcomb
1974 911 Carrera 2.7 Euro
1975 Mercedes-Benz 280SE
Dedicated Homepage
Engine Rebuild Homepage
Porsche Owners Gallery Profile
Pelican Gallery Profile

[Adam]

89targa,

I'd be happy to drink that beer, if I ever manage to get over there for a vacation. I'm off to Hawaii next month, but I'm planning for mainland USA next year.

Yes..

The journey wasn't entirely without incident...

I didn't actually see this event, so if anyone would like to correct me, I'd appreciate it.

As you probably all know, here in Australia, we drive on the left hand side of the road. Whilst travelling through a very windy and slow section of the Marysville/Warburton Rd, there was a very lucky break for us. Due to the superb weather, an awful lot of motorcycles were out and enjoying the scenery (as we were).

We'd passed dozens of them coming the other way, with a closing speed (in some cases) of upto 150mph - ie, one 911 traveling at perhaps 70 mph and the bikes at 80 mph and sometimes much more.

There was a fairly curved section of flat road, where a guy riding a Kawasaki Ninja managed to lose control. When StuartJ passed him, he was out of control, but still on his side of the road. Seconds later, when Matthew rounded the bend, the Ninja was well and truly out of position and in the middle of Matt's lane.

The picture tells the tale...



Now, Matt's come around the bend, only to be face to face with this motorcyclist. Swift reflexes and instinct saw Matthew steer left, into the gravel (on a right hand corner) to avoid. The bike then continued past and crashed, damaging the fairing and god knows what else, leaving the rider in a state of shock.

Here's what happened to Matt.



He's skidded for about 60 feet, broadside before hitting the inside embankment, leaving him vulnerably sitting in the middle of the road on a blind corner. Mercifully, there was almost no damage at all. The indicator lens is smashed and the bumper has a few scratches on it, but it's remarkably intact. I expected far worse when I got to the scene.

It kind of put a dampner on the day and we were all a little bit more subdued than we were in the morning as we continued onto Warburton after staying with the rider (and his friends) until they were ready to leave. They left the bike behind with a coolant leak, while a friend of theirs (in a lovely 85 Carrera - coincidentally) collected the rider and they continued on.

Guys, correct me wherever the story needs straightening.

[Matt Holcomb]

Adam,

It seems pretty 'straight' to me!

Scary stuff.


Matt Holcomb
1974 911 Carrera 2.7 Euro
1975 Mercedes-Benz 280SE
Dedicated Homepage
Engine Rebuild Homepage
Porsche Owners Gallery Profile
Pelican Gallery Profile

[Adam]

Originally posted by pwd72s
Really Adam...great run! Hope you had as much fun as it looks like you did...

Paul, you'll just have to come over to Melbourne, to visit your cousin and ride shotgun on the next one of these trips we organize! There'll be plenty of drivers in need of a co-pilot.

btw, Matthew!

Looks like the good ole' impact bumpers saved the day!

[Leland Pate]

..................hmmmmm.... I can't see the pictures!

No white boxes with Xs in the middle....just NO photos!

[beepbeep]

Leland:

You may be sitting behind one of those "bandwidth-preserving, picture-stripping" proxy-servers...

[bell]

great pics! thanks
i'm glad no one was injured in the incident, that would've sucked.
it's moments like those that really test your reflexes and how well you know your porsche, although it may have a scratch on it, it looks like it could've been much worse by the way the embankment is.
looks like you guys had fun and i'm jealous

bell
85'911 targa
akron ohio

[Paul W]

It was a great drive. Many thanks to Adam and Matt for initiating and organising the morning.

Quite a few memorable moments esp up along the black spur – like taking a pretty sharp bend at speed, fender to fender with Victor thinking that I was about to end up with a metallic blue pin stripe down the right hand side. Could swear I could hear his brother yelling SH$$$$T over the collective exhaust notes. Speaking to him afterwards it seemed we were both locking up LH front going around the corner. Should be noted that he’d been warned of clear roads ahead by radio.
Creative driving, award goes to Matt for both his pirouette missing the motor cyclist and passing a slow driver by taking the wrong side of a roundabout at WOT at the base of Lake Mountain.

Adam, looking forward to seeing some of that video.

[cegerer]

Great trip guys! What's the story on that early red car? -- Curt

[pwd72s]

Paul W? Please add my name to the list of those who admire your '69...keep those chrome wheels! Just a "clean and pure" look..all over! Thumbs up from Orygun...