Japfest 2026, and the weathergods smiled on us.

And quicker than you can say, "Oh look, the year has gone!", it was time for Japfest 2026. Held on Sunday the 26th April at Mondello Park.

The weather gods smiled down on us, and not a drop fell from the sky!

As with all things Automobile in Ireland, the bulk of the show was much the same as last year, with some notable absences.

My personal pick for the day?

To be fair, it could go to any number of the cars, but for pure "would you look at that" from my point of view, I'm going to have to choose the Fair Lady below.

You either love them, or you hate them. I choose to love this one.

Honourable mention will have to go to this nice Sunny. In the neck of the woods where I grew up they were known as a "Datsun 1200 Bakkie". The "Bakkie" being Afrikaans for a small bowl. Don't judge us, the language only recently turned 100.

Any of the MR2's could also slot in here. They were gorgeous.

Below a selection of some of the other cars on show.

Sir Lance-alot, I presume

 As I was washing the car the other day, I was once again struck by how terrible the standard Bosch soap dispenser is. I am also not going to be the one to spend my entire paycheck on a foam lance.

So I started browsing Amazon and came across this one

Does what it says on the tin, really. But does it work?

I'll let you be the judge, but in my opinion it was well worth the 20 squids or so. Does a much better job than the standard Bosch attachment in any event.

Can't wait to let it loose on the bike...

Cars and Coffee Bray - 2nd March 2025

 On the road again!!

Enzo and myself took the bikes out for a spin to the Cars and Coffee meetup in Bray. A couple of very nice specimens were on show, and from what I can gather on the C&C Bray Facebook page, it was one of the best turnouts yet.

My favourite car? Difficult to say. There were so many, and notably no Corvette Stingrays. So, if I have to choose an alternative best for the day, it will have to be this one:

This 1969 Pontiac Firebird just stood out! You could spot it on a mile. Well done to the owner. An absolute beauty!

And here some other pictures of the day.

Misty Morning Spin

Yesterday morning started off foggy. Wanted to take the bike out for a spin to see if the cleaning of the injectors did anything to the mysterious misfire, but I thought I would give the fog some time to burn off. The day before yesterday, the fog lingered around all day, so I did not hold my breath.

But then, lo and behold, the fog lifted and the sun came out.

So I left home. The sun was shining. I checked.

As I went over the hill at Dundrum heading down to Blackrock, the fog returned. And properly so.

But I persisted.

Rode all the way to Dun Laoghaire harbour and parked on the old quay at the old coal harbour. I've not been down here in ages. Was amazed to see that quite a lot of boats were still moored there. 

The fog made for some great pictures, though.

It made  such an impression that I could not help myself, and had to have a stab at sketching it. I'm pretty happy with the result.

A blast from the past – Part 1

 So I am going through my photos trying to get them in some order (which is a mammoth task), and I came across some photos that I have taken in March of 2017. It was a Muscle Car Exhibition by the Pretoria Old Motor Club, held at their club grounds.

What to do!!!!

Oh well, lets share it then.

Special mention has to go to the owner of the Chev pickup that let Enzo rev the engine. He was immensely chuffed with that.

Apart from that, I did love the Firenza Can-Am and the Rat Rod. And that V6 motor is mounted in a Ford Escort. Well done boys!

Cars in The Park – 2018

As promised. 

I try to get to Cars in the Park at least every two years. My daughter, however, is not big on cars, and neither is she big on walking. Therefore we missed a couple of episodes. 

This year, my son and I decided to go it solo. He is a petrol head and does not mind walking if there are cars involved. 

I have to say that there were a couple of beauties, but I definitely missed my 65 Stingray (my favorite car of all times). None the less, fun was had by all and I really enjoyed the outing. Going “solo” might just see us back in 2019… who knows. 

And herewith the long promised pictures!!! Enjoy.

Pretoria Old Motor Club – British Car and Bike Show – June 2018

 I love cars. Especially old and classic ones. And of course new and fast ones as well.

Went to the Pretoria Old Motor Club’s show in June 2018. The theme of the show was “British Cars and Bikes” but as it normally goes, there was something of everything. Did however see a couple of classics there. Yes I know the DKW is not British, but it is such a classic I just had to add it in here.

This weekend (5th August 2018) will be the Pretoria Old Motor Club Cars In The Park hosted at Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria. I will be there. With Enzo. And a camera. Watch this space. It will probably take me a week or so just to catalog the photos, so bear with me.

Should you be interested in visiting some of the exhibitions from the Pretoria Old Motor Club you can get more details on their website at www.pomc.co.za

You can also find details on the Cars in the Park event HERE

And now, without further ado, here are the pictures I took at the June event. Enjoy.