Often overlooked by the distraction of all of those shiny automobiles sprawled
out in the area of the Columbus Quay each month, is the sharp, bold modern
architecture of the Chung Ku Restaurant building that services everything and
everybody at Cars ‘N’ Coffee Liverpool. Built 20 years ago, featuring a dramatic
nautical designed panoramic view of the Wirral.
When members first enter Chung Ku, they’re hit by the rich aroma of our speciality
Arabica ‘Cafe Origin’ coffee, mixed with the sweet scent of dough from our fresh
Char Sui Buns. Breakfast done, we stayed inside for great banter during the massive
downpour outside.
However, undeterred by the wet weather, there was some unusual classics and quirky
vehicles. A few that come to mind are Oliver Harrison’s huge JCB Fastrac 4220,
(simliar to Guy Martins’s speed record JCB), or how about a 1980 Citroen Acadiane,
more or less a 2CV van in Glacier Blue.
The Citroen Acadiane is a small commercial van derived from the Dyane and was
only available in left hand drive. The van was in production for ten years from 1977
and 253,393 came off the production line. They were offered as a two seater and also
available with sliding rear windows and a removable bench seat. The Acadiane had
wind up windows and differed from the Dyane with a heavier duty suspension and
altered chassis. The van was very popular in France, incredibly practical and capable
of 55 mph.
Another quirky classic to join us in the drizzling rain was Mark Radcliffes 1963
Chevrolet C10 Fleetside or more commonly known as a C10 Knee Knocker. Some
who know of Mark's truck will smile, others look on in confusion, especially when
you hear in the distance, the sound of an American freight train horn breaking the
silence of the Sunday morning. Well, this is it, Mark’s labour of love - Chevy truck,
fitted with a real US train horn. Originally imported from Eagle Point, Oregon
six years ago, it was originally used daily as a cabbage catcher, working on a farm
stateside. She is beautifully maintained and full of character, especially when the
truck slunks down low after releasing all the air from the suspension.
If you prefer something miniature, Peter Smith, a well known regular to the Cars N
Coffee pages here, brought his beautiful restored Mini 1975 white 95 Pick-up with
its original 998cc engine. A very sought after and versatile little car with less than 300
remaining, making them rarer than any early Cooper S.
From day one we have always had a loyal following of Porsche owners, especially
our musician John Reynolds in his vibrant yellow 911 Targa and Jed Woodward's
original example 1987 Porsche 944 (a long time member known in previous article
for his cheeky mustard 1971 Fiat 500).
Our chosen charity covering these two close meetings, was Liverpool Lord Mayors
Charity 3 chosen charities - The Anthony Walker Foundation, Transforming Choice
and Wah Sing Chinese Community centre raising £113.09, with Marie Curie raising
£120.65 in the three hours. It was an honour to have Peter Eaton as one of our
ambassadors - scrutineers in the motorcycle sport circuit for coming to support us
this month, a very hard man to pin down through the race season.
Until next time. See you all again on Sunday 1st & 29th September 2019 ! Same time,
same place. Email us at [email protected] if you would like to contribute
or are interested in Mark’s Chevy truck which is for sale. Or check out the restaurant
at www.chungku.co.
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