Star Quality
It’s been a couple of years since we had a Mercedes on the cover, in fact since the 300SL Gullwing on the December 2010 issue, but is sure was worth the wait for all you Mercedes enthusiasts. This original Dublin-registered W111 280SE looks simply fantastic, and is our main feature car this month. The car belongs to John Byrne from Dublin, and like many restoration projects it has taken a few years to get it to fruition; about a decade in fact, but the stunning results were worth it. Andrew Pollock meets up with John to find out the story behind this former company car that was lucky to survive.
Force of Industry
When the Ford 5000 arrived on the scene in 1964 it was the start of a new era for tractors, as Ford once again led the way with change. The 5000 was a big step up from the Super Major that it was replacing, but the early version (known as the Pre-Force) carried the Super Major name in the early days to indicate to buyers that there was a connection between them. There are not many of these Pre-Force 5000s left about, but John Ralph from Co. Tipperary has a really nice one restored and Andrew stopped by recently to get us the story.
Fordson Fancy
From the moment I spotted this little beauty at the Clonmel show back in May I wanted a feature on it, but having sent on the details to Andrew he told me that he had already lined it up! This really was a story of patience, as owner of this Fordson E83W, Patrick McCorry, spent fifteen years looking for one the same as the example owned by his father. This month we see the result of his painstaking search. This is an article full of fond memories, and you just have to love the story about how Patrick learned to drive.
Tour De Force
Over the last few issues our motorcycle features have been focused on high-powered race-inspired bikes, but this month we move to the other end of the spectrum with this gorgeous 1956 Heinkel Tourist scooter. Declan Lawler came across this example on eBay and bought it straight away, the only problem being that it was in rural Germany and in a very sorry state! It was a few months before he got to lay eyes on it, but he made up for lost time by completing this major restoration in just nine months. Carl Czanik brings us the full story.