The Mercedes-Benz Club of America Social Media Committee (MBCA-SMC) wrapped up the summer virtual car show series with the Bodacious Benz August (BBA) “The Dog Days of Summer” event on August 19th - 30th. The committee paired up with the Orange County Section to put on the most unique virtual car show the Internet has ever seen! Both Mercedes-Benz Club of America members and non-members were welcome and encouraged to embrace the fun categories. The original five categories were the BBA Dogs, the BBA Cats, the BBA Aquatics, the BBA Exotics and the BBA All Call. The event team asked participants to be as unique and creative as they could. You never know what driving adventures people have taken with their Mercedes-Benz and just what unique animal was in the background! With the 2020 world changes, you can finally take your Mercedes-Benz on a spirited drive through a zoo to get a picture with a giraffe!
Once entries began coming in, the team started to see a trend of almost exclusively dogs and their Mercedes. A show with just three categories filled wouldn’t be fun. They reworked the five categories to better fit the interests of the participants. The final categories were the BBA Dogs, BBA Cats, BBA “Seeing Double” (multiple dogs of similar or same breed), BBA “Itty Bitties” (multiple tiny dogs), and the BBA All Call (modified) categories. As with all prior shows, the MBCA-SMC met to discuss the merits of the submissions, picked out the top 10 and ended up with 13! (Also added were three honorable mention entrants that were then highlighted directly on the MBCA-SMC pages over the course of the show weekend.)
Honorable Mention
The first Honorable Mention was the tiniest baby puppy the world had ever seen posted by Jesse Cannon-Wallace of the Peachtree Section. This little fluff ball was brought into the dealership where Jesse works by someone buying a Mercedes-Benz. Jesse couldn’t resist a photo session highlighting how tiny it was compared to the key fob! The second honorable mention was to Belinda Clontz Sarooei and her adorable companion Pepe from the Los Angeles Section. Not only was Pepe shown at the wheel but also enjoyed a ride in a remote-controlled Mercedes-Benz more his size. The third honorable mention went out to a new MBCA-SMC member Judah Londo from the Carolinas Section, a very large Newman the horse, and his 1983 240D. Seeing the striking horse and horsepower reference was a highlight opportunity not to be missed.
Winners
Once the finalists were chosen, the awards choice was put into the hands of the voting public on August 28. The BBA Dogs finalists were Juan Maizo and Mia of the South Florida Section in his 1959 220S Ponton. Juan and Mia took on Rich Ingram and Johnny of the Orange County Section in his 1985 300SLD (OM 617 Diesel Conversion). Juan Maizo was selected as the winner.
The BBA Cats finalists were in a unique battle of two cat brothers competing head to head. John and Marina Bleimaier from the Northern New Jersey Section entered their two Norwegian forest cats, Henrik and Sigrid, along with their 1980 300CD. While both were extremely photogenic, John Bleimaier and Henrik pulled out in front for the win.
The BBA "Seeing Double” finalists were Steve Tepper with Lynn & Hobbs of the Long Island Section in his 1967 230SL battling Richard Godfrey and company of the International Stars Section in his 1988 560SL. Richard Godfrey took the win for that category. The BBA "Itty Bitties” finalists were Morgan Larkins along with Julius and Candace from the Mississippi Section in her 2004 SL55 AMG competed against Janet Shields with Sparkle Von Barkle and Zoe Von Feathertail in her E400 Cabriolet. Morgan Larkins was victorious!
The final BBA "All Call (Modified)" finalists were Alex Yadgarov from the NYC Long Island Section in his 190SL restomod vs. Erin Blosenski Littlefield with Dozer from the Delaware Valley Section in her 1985 Geländewagen 280GE Euro conversion. Erin Blosenski Littlefield squeaked out the win!
The winning finalists were announced on Sunday August 29 via the MBCA and Orange County Section’s Instagram pages. Each finalist was highlighted with two photographs and links to their page with more photos. The final slide had all five finalists and the voting box to cast your vote for who you thought should win Best in Show. This contest saw more votes cast for Best in Show than all the shows this summer! After all the votes were counted, the winner was clear. Congratulations again go out to Richard Godfrey of the International Stars Section. Godfrey was lucky enough to snag the whole trifecta! He won the final virtual car show of the summer series and also the coveted customized 190SL star trophy 3D-printed by Chris Olsen of Performance ASC.
Prizes
Each finalist won a prize from the show’s sponsor – Michael Lewis of Apex Capital Advising Powered by Hagerty. Each winner also received marque swag from MBCA – either a branded fanny pack or branded license plate cover. All winners were featured on the MBCA’s Instagram page the week following the show as well. Stay current with upcoming events, live streaming occasions and much more on MBCA’s social media pages and emails with all the details.
