Get the Zed's out - Sunday Feb 9 2020

Sunday morning at the Feathers Hotel,  there came a rumbling.

First just one... then two... then three Datsun 240z's filed into the car park and backed themselves in. By 10am a very nice line up had formed, comprising a half-dozen s30's, all 240z's. South Australia has always had a decent number of s30's but to see a good number of very fine  early model cars was impressive. 

At 10:30 the call was made to hit the road, and it was assumed anyone keen on a drive was fueled up and ready to go. Mud maps were handed out, and moments later six L-series engines roared to life, and duly exited the car park. We headed up Greenhill Road and were lucky enough to instantly get an unbroken line of matching cars. It didn't go unnoticed by strollers and other drivers, and several approving nods were thrown our way.

John lead out up the hill toward Mount Lofty, and we rounded the Southern side of the summit and headed through Summertown and Uraidla. From there we darted across to Basket Range, then North up Marble Hill Rd and out through Montacute.

Just out of Montacute, we hit the infamous Corkscrew Road. This twisty, steep section of road is a connector between the Adelaide Hills towns East of Mount Lofty and Gorge Road. It's been popular with motorcyclists for decades but in the last 30 years, cyclists have almost totally claimed it. It's often hard to get a clean run along Corkscrew Road, and on Sundays you may come across groups of up to 40 cyclists who won't let ANYONE pass them.  We were pretty lucky and only encountered odd, scattered riders.

Once on Gorge Road we all got the chance to open up the throttle some more, and the exhaust sound bouncing off the cuttings was delicious. After a short, fun, burst, we stopped at the Kangaroo Creek Reservoir lookout to pop bonnets and take a few more happy snaps.

After a short break we hit the road again, and Roger took up the lead position as we headed East toward Chain of Ponds. Roger is a veteran tarmac and Targa Rally competitor, and the increase in pace was noticed by everyone in the group! To make matters worse, we were all headed for his home turf - and his knowledge and confidence on the roads made the driving look insanely easy. But none of it was crazy, and we all managed to stay on the left side of the line, and pointed in a forward direction. Always a bonus.

We continued on through Gumeracha, then out on the Kenton Valley Road toward Lobethall. Burford Hill Road provided a scenic detour and offered a great photo opportunity from the bridge on the old Mt. Pleasant Rail line.

Soon after we hit the T-junction on the Onkaparinga Valley Road, turned right and made a bee-line for the Charleston Pub for a well-earned beer. It was a great outing, the pace was enough to keep it interesting but not silly, and the scenery was great. We even had a few kind motorists wave us through. Looking forward to the next run, here's a very cheesy edit of some in-car video.  :D