HTCAV Sponsor Profile – Weber Performance
Words: Chris Ralph
Photos: Supplied
It finally clicked for me with Weber Performance’s Daniel van Stokrom. I'd always wondered why this Aussie guy with a Dutch name was so into everything Italian. While telling me about chucking in his London job in recruitment to work on a fishing boat in the Irish Sea, he mentioned travelling on an… Italian passport – whoa? “Yeah, mum’s side’s Italian…”
That explains a lot. The fascination with Weber carbies, Malpassi fuel systems, fancy Italian cars and an absolute mania for good coffee – questo ragazzo è un figlio d’Italia!
Anyway, a pub in the Irish fishing town of Dingle, County Kerry, sparked an idea. A traditional Irish pub, it was split down the middle – Guinness on one side and a huge timber bench on the other where artisans quietly tooled beautiful leather goods. There’s a concept, he thought – ‘Carbies and Coffee!’
Blank canvas new premises
Weber Performance has a new home, next to the equally new Mornington Peninsula Freeway in Melbourne’s Chelsea Heights.
It’s not just a new home, but a brand-new shop. And Daniel will surely fill almost every square centimetro. The lathes, mills and flywheel pressing machines for the Ram Flo air filters aren’t in service yet, but the many corridors of racking are.
Ninety-five per cent of Weber Performance stock goes interstate or overseas, both to the trade and legions of owners with European thoroughbreds, Australian muscle cars – and of course, race cars. Daniel has two of his race winners right there – an immaculate red and gold Torana and a Ralt RT/4.
There’s no signage on the building, so you’ll have to track him down via weberperformance.com.au if you’re after performance carbies plus performance caffeine…
‘Carbies and coffee’
Buying new Webers or Dell’Ortos, or taking a set to Daniel for service might earn you a carefully ground and expertly hand-pulled espresso from his prized ‘La Pavoni Europiccola’ manual machine, served in a piccolo cup.
He says the bean is just a Vittoria mountain blend, “but it’s all in the grind and the pull”. His right arm is tuned for a smooth, consistent 15kg pressure.
Daniel’s so into his coffee he took grinder and machine with him on family trips into the outback, much to the amusement of fellow campers - who soon lined up for a daily shot…
Cool, your jets
Everywhere you look at Weber Performance, there are rows of shelving with drawers holding hundreds of smaller drawers containing many thousands of Weber jets, emulsion tubes, washers, bolts, spacers, springs, correctors, unions and all those hard-to-find bits you won't get anywhere else.
There are also stacks of Lynx inlet manifolds and Ram Flo air cleaners. Daniel bought that famous business about seven years ago and so much came in the containers of equipment, including racy ’70s advertising posters that would have the company cancelled today.
Carbie Capture
Looking for a set of Webers for your Maserati Indy, or some IDA 46s for your Porsche 904 GTS Carrera? Yep, in stock.
Racks of rare items have been accumulated, too, because Daniel’s as keen on buying as he is on selling. He’s constantly scanning for Weber-related items he can return to new and delight a restorer or collector somewhere around the world.
Anyone reading this with un-needed Webers or Dell’Ortos in the shed? Get in touch!
Malpassi and more
Standard fare on Lamborghini and Alfa, Malpassi fuel regulators are sympatico with Weber carburettors and their unique fuel delivery needs.
And if you’re running a turbo with Webers, you’ll want the rising rate fuel pressure regulator that you can set to match the boost you run. Daniel thinks he probably has the largest Malpassi regulator range in Australia and is ready to supply or replace your worn bits.
But it’s not all imported stuff. Everything that can be made in Australia, is. High quality laser-cut heat shields, billet linkages, rods, eyes and connectors are all sourced just around the corner, and Daniel's suppliers all meet his meticulous requirements.
100 years of Weber
Daniel and family will be on holiday in Italy in September this year, visiting a few suppliers and dropping in on the Weber centenary celebrations at the old factory (now the home of Magneti Marelli). Who knows what might be in his luggage on the way home?
There’s a good kind of very stylish crazy going on here. A connoisseur of cars, carburettors and coffee, Daniel has found his niche and is following the wise advice – “do what you love doing every day and you’ll never work a day in your life”.
His work is fun - and that makes it a pleasure to do business with him.
