I took my parents for a ride in an electric car the other day. It was not a Mercedes, but that's not the important part. I showed my folks how the electric car regained energy while we were coasting downhill, and how everything else worked pretty much like a normal car. We talked about its range, where we could charge it in the small town where we all live, and how nice it would be not to have to pay for gasoline any more.

Well, this is it, my final column.  It’s been nearly three years since I got elected and Gary Anderson told me I had less than a week to get my first one done.  I’m sure the panic on my face told him just how comfortable I was going to be getting those in every issue.  Because even though the President’s column was always the first thing I read when the Star® arrived, I hadn’t given any thought to that being part of my duties if I got elected.  But it has become a way for me to talk to all of you and I’m surprised to find I am going to miss it.

The success of the 190E of the 1980s, including the partnership with Cosworth for the 2.3-16, 2.5-16, and Evolution variants, got Mercedes-Benz management thinking about new markets. As Mercedes says in its own history, "The compact class models have epitomized the successful transfer of classic Mercedes-Benz values to an attractive vehicle family below the upper medium-size category."

It's been a great summer, but before winter comes it's always a good idea to take a look at the front of your Mercedes-Benz. Chances are good you'll find some rock chips that weren't there last year.

The best solution for rock chips is prevention, with a clear protective film applied by a professional. However, if you're like me and you put that off until it was too late, you can still salvage the situation, at least partially.

Tech - Comfort in Motion

Since the dawn of the automobile, people have been climbing out of their cars after a long journey and taking a few moments to stretch. We've all experienced the need to wrench our  bodies out of the cramped position that driving often forces on us. But why should we put up with that?

About 15,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age, there was a huge lake up in Alberta, Canada. The lake was held in place by a glacier that formed an ice dam, and when it broke the water came down the west side of the Continental Divide in a wave 300 feet tall, now known as the Great Missoula Flood. The water blasted its way to the Pacific Ocean and formed the Columbia River Gorge in its wake.

Of the 803 Mercedes made in 1904, one in four was sold in America. The three-pointed star was the USA’s most popular imported car. Business was so good that in that year production of Mercedes cars began in Long Island City, New York. After a factory fire in 1907 ended that effort, the Mercedes Import Company was set up to accommodate America’s wealthy and discerning clientele.

Back in 1985, after much reading and dreaming, I concluded that a Mercedes 280SL would be the perfect daily driver with collectible potential. I'm not sure how it would have worked out as a daily driver, although it would have been fun to try, but it certainly would have been collectible. It took some time, but 37 years later I actually had a 1970 280SL in my garage. Or, I would have, except it was in the shop getting ready for a road trip.

In The Star magazine’s May-June 2022 article, “There at the Beginning,” we spoke extensively about my father, Alfred Peyton Jenkins, and the car’s early history and how he purchased our 1957 300SL Roadster. The following is the story of our adventures with it during the subsequent 65 years.