Most of Adelaide’s car enthusiasts had a rather difficult decision to make last Sunday. With three quality automotive events on – Cars and Coffee Blackwood, All Euro Day and Horsepower Crew’s In the Army show – which event does one attend? The species of automobiles inhabiting each event differed quite a bit. Those who enjoy classics as well as diversity and were willing to sacrifice their sleep-in-Sunday probably found themselves in Blackwood for C&C November. But if all-things Euro was your cup of tea – Glenelg would’ve been your destination, as this is where All Euro Day took place. Lastly, those who wanted to cram even a few short hours of sleep-in – and fancied cars which were more of the modified street type – probably spent their Sunday at Horsepower Crew’s In the Army car show.

Here at Skibeemo, we have a love affair for all cars. The decision for which event to attend was rather simple. Wake up to a milk-based espresso at C&C Blackwood, cruise over to Glenelg for a bite as well as All Euro Day, and then while on route home – make a pit-stop at Warradale for the In the Army event. Sunday’s itinerary was effortlessly set.

Good friend of Skibeemo – Howie L – offered us a ride in his brute yet elegant Lexus IS F; but we oddly declined as Cars & Coffee would be his only car-show destination for the day. Instead, we elected to hit Blackwood together but in separate vehicles. Hearing the smooth yet provoking roar coming from the V8’s aftermarket exhaust tips kept us awake until we’d be able to down our first coffee.

A combination of gloomy weather and two other events occurring resulted in a smaller than usual turn out for C&C Blackwood November. Despite this, some unusual suspects – which I had never seen before at the monthly gathering – made an appearance.

In the sixties, the Ford GT40 race car was born because of a soured takeover deal of Ferrari by Ford. A frustrated Henry Ford the second set out to build a race car to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans in order to redeem some dignity. The initial 4.2 litre, V8- powered Mark I model failed to realise any meaningful results in its first two years of competition; but the tables would turn with the introduction of the 7.0 litre Mark II. With a first, second and third place finishing at Le Mans in 1966 – the GT40 went on to defend its title for the next three years – with a Mark III and Mark IV variant introduced in the process. Although the GT40 was never turned into a production car, this didn’t stop a few companies from churning out some high-end GT40-replica-kit cars, allowing die-hard enthusiasts to own a street-legal version. The example below is presumably a high-end Superfromance GT40R based on its number plates.

Cool conditions attracted a swarm of air-cooled Porsches to the Woolworth’s Blackwood car park that morning. An unusual number of pre-nineties examples were scattered throughout the parking complex. That was until a current-gen Cayman GT4 and 991 Carrera GTS arrived – because this wouldn’t be Cars and Coffee if there weren’t any current model Porkers around.

After downing a large-cappuccino-no-sugar, we set our sights for Wigley Reserve in Glenelg – the venue of choice for All Euro Day. It seemed we weren’t the only ones with a mission to hit all three events. Our leisurely drive from leafy Blackwood to the beach-side suburb of Glenelg was made even more colourful as we were joined in convoy with a bunch of cars we had just saw at Cars and Coffee – some even driving straight onto the lawns of Wigley Reserve to be apart of All Euro Day – such as this Audi R8 V10 Plus and the aforementioned 991 Carrera GTS.

All Euro Day – organised by the same team behind All Japan Day – is now in its second year. With the Euro car scene rapidly growing in Adelaide, it was only a matter of time before such show would appear, giving lease to this niche; so it was expected that entrant numbers would be smaller relative to the sister All Japan Day show – which is also annually held at Wigley Reserve. Quality over quantity was an easy way to sum up All Euro Day 2017. The field was immaculately presented; whether modified, stock or heavily optioned from the factory.

What’s better than seeing one 991 GT3 RS at a car show? Three of course. A GT Silver Metallic example joined the Lava Orange duo below but these triplets weren’t the only Porches on-hand. Assorted generations of the 911 – 964, 993, 996 and 991 – were dispersed throughout the lawns of Wigley Reserve.

The equivalent of fondness for Nissan vehicles in Adelaide’s Japanese car scene is definitely BMW for the Euro crowd. Most entrant vehicles wore a Bayerische Motoren Werke badge.

On the way home, we stopped by Warradale to check out the sight and sounds of Horespower Crew’s quarterly event. Mixing things up from their usual Saturday night Marion shopping centre environment, it was relaxing to soak in some sun – which had finally decided to peer through the clouds – and check out some of Adelaide’s modified cars on show.

Skyline GT-R owners continue to keep their cars close to their hands. With current market values showing no signs of a decline – it’s becoming more difficult for your average GT-R enthusiast to own a piece of Godzilla. Despite this, it’s great to see that owners aren’t locking their RB26DETT-powered vehicles away and instead, are enjoying and bringing them out to events like this.

A Hollywood film about hijacking trucks, overnight parts from Japan and Nitrous Oxide Systems can be attributed to the Dodge Charger and Toyota Supra’s rise in popularity.

Hitting all three events made for a pleasant but exhausting morning. Of the three, I enjoyed Horsepower Crew’s event the most because it reminded me a lot of Adelaide’s former Small Car Sunday show. The Warradale Army Barack’s oval made for a secluded environment, reminiscent of Immanuel College and Morphettville racecourse – the two venues I regularly attended as part of Small Car Sunday – before the event was killed after 2008. Even the atmosphere at Horsepower Crew’s In the Army show was similar to SCS, with dedicated info displays and drapes surrounding some of the show-vehicles. Bass-shaking audio cars were also present, showing off their boot-installs to ear-blocking onlookers; a regular aspect of the modified car scene in the past but close to extinct in 2017. That’s not to say that C&C Blackwood or All Euro Day was any less remarkable as all of these events delivered something special and different in their own ways – which is fortunate – as here at Skibeemo, we have a love for all cars. After all, variety is indeed the spice of life.