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Happy New Year! December was a very special meet. As the last one of 2018, we asked
all car members to wear Christmas Jumpers and hats to get into the festive mood and
we chose the local food banks as the charity donation.
The wet, dreary weather certainly did not dampen nor stop the very warm hearted Cars
and Coffee members pitstop here at Chung Ku Restaurant Liverpool. To our surprise the
car park was full! Everyone here was absolutely gobsmacked by the lines of cars and people
coming in with endless amounts of food, really overwhelming and tearful to see such
generosity. It really brought our members even closer as a family. Stewart Simon bought a
large hamper strapped behind his beautiful Morgan open-top. Others came with decorative
Christmas hats, Christmas decorations on their vehicles, even a tree with fairy lights on the
roof of a Rover Mini Cooper. We packed all 7 vehicles filled with food, and convoyed a line
of new and vintage cars to the local Veteran’s Food Bank and the Anglican Cathedral Food
Bank. Everyone involved said it was such a happy day, but a fulfilling feeling to know others
were not forgotten.
Steve Parry (teacher at Birkenhead School) sent us this message - “Really great day today
and I felt your emotion when chatting about the food donations. For me this is what C&C
is about. The community that you have built and nurtured enabling us to all come together
and share our passion of cars, but also of life. Big love to you bruv and Merry Christmas to
you and the family. You have a huge heart mate”.
As regular readers, you ask what is the star car of the month? A long term supporter Matt
Kelly from BMW Williams Liverpool brought an all new black luxurious BMW 8 series.
One of BMWs flagship sports cars replacing the old 6 series grand Coupé. The car certainly
has the usual clean contemporary BMW lines at first glance, with a unique bubble back
roof. Continuing from its predecessor, the contours of the long bonnet, long wheel base,
lines and lights. The M sport interior is fully clad in premium leather as expected, but do
check out the crystal glass gear-knob, it’s unconventional digital hexagonal dials and the
sensor controls is the talk of town. Underneath, BMW has thrown its best tech at it. The
M8 will get the mighty M V8 all wheel drive, but for the moment there’s an ‘ordinary’ V8
that makes a slightly extraordinary 530bhp. The other option is the 840 with all the torque
and grunt.
Our second choice of star car was also black, an oldtimer 1972 Mercedes 280 SE 3.5 V8
(W108 model), a very sought out model owned by Adam Dixon. It’s no ordinary cult
Mercedes, it featured an air ride system dropped and air out! Like Snoop Doggy Dog on an
MTV music video. The first “S-class” Mercedes arrived in 1968 in the form of the 280S and
280SE which were large comfortable sports saloons offering powerful touring capabilities
and luxurious interiors with space to seat five occupants. Known as W108/109 models, they
were constructed on 108 inch wheelbase, the new S-Class saloons were much heavier than
earlier models. The styling was updated using a thoroughly modern design featuring the
attractive stacked layout of the headlights which was popular during the period. Although
the 280 was usually powered by a 2.8 litre straight six engine, Mercedes-Benz rather
confusingly added a V8 engined 280SE to the model range. The 280SE 3.5 had a 3.5 L V8
engine and came with both automatic and manual transmission and power steering. These
saloons were well equipped and extremely powerful. The 280SE 3.5 would reach a top-
speed of 125mph and offered effortless high-speed cruising mated with supple ride comfort.
Between 1971 and 1972 Mercedes-Benz produced 11,309 examples and they have always
been popular with collectors and enthusiasts alike.
A sincere thanks to all our motoring members, amazing friends and supporters of the
food and festive clothing, especially Cars and Coffee Liverpool team Terry Alan Barnett
(Santa Claus), John Kane, John Connel, Matthew Eaton, Anthony Weaver, Gareth Roberts,
Luke Jordan, Jimmy Rutledge, Charalene Lee and her Coffee family and CCL friends!
Michelle O’Dwyer & friends, Diane Cannon, Geoff Nuzum from the Veterans Food. A
huge thanks to Charalene Lee for the Food Bank idea and Chantelle (Yoga Zen Harrogate
& Liverpool) sponsored by Cafe Origin Coffee, Matty at BMW Williams Liverpool as usual,
Autorenew, Chris Douras at OCD Porsche Specialist, Nick Prescot from WSR Recycling,
Tom Tully Tyres, Impact Solutions, Philangle Stamps, Wirral Life Magazine, photographers
MikeMcTigue, Chris James, Gren Atherton, Brian Lloyd and Paul Rankin. Check out the
boys videos on YouTube.
Until next time, see you all again on Sunday 27th January our first of 2019!! Same time,
same place for a Coffee Origin and a Char Sui Bun. The chosen charity is Marie Curie.
www.carsandcoffeeliverpool.co.uk www.chungku.co.
Safe Happy motoring ;)
If you are thinking of buying your first Classic car or premium dream car, or selling
your car at the start of 2019, it can be a bit daunting to find the right one. You may have
an idea of what you want, perhaps a brand or type of car, but there are a lot of cars out
there and pitfalls too. Norman’s Pond online car auction is in association with Cars and
Coffee Liverpool. An enthusiast website and curated/vetted for the enthusiast buyer.
Visit www.normanspond.com or email us at [email protected]
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