The new showroom displays the brand-new Mercedes-Benz SL550.
Featured Dealership
Benzel-Busch of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
by John Kuhn Beimaier
According to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, “The longest journey begins with a single step.” For me, a life-long journey behind the silver star began with a single step into the showroom of Benzel-Busch Mercedes back in 1965.
That year my parents purchased a new Mercedes-Benz 190Dc to replace their ’58 Oldsmobile. I was 14 years old. The handsome Mercedes finback designed by Karl Wilfert’s team, was very different from the Detroit iron that it replaced. But my thrifty father had a perfectly practical reason for the swap: The compression-ignition Mercedes got 35 miles to a gallon of diesel fuel priced at 16.9 cents, while the Olds eked a mere 15 miles per gallon of premium gasoline, which then cost an exorbitant 28.9 cents, and fuel prices were predicted to rise further.
This is the way the dealership looked when John Bleimaier went there with his father in the middle 1950s.
That early autumn day when we picked up the Mercedes from Benzel-Busch is etched in my memory forever. The showroom on Grand Avenue in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, was resplendent with a gleaming-new 300SE Cabriolet in the place of honor. When we took delivery of our new, white four-door sedan, we met one of the dealership’s founders, Siggy Benzel, who had come to the United States a decade earlier to service the first vehicles from Stuttgart. There was a magnificent 300SL Gullwing on one of the hydraulic lifts getting an oil change that morning. Every vehicle in the facility back then would qualify as a classic today. After an introduction to the glow-plug preheating starting technique, our drive home was a joy, cosseted in the red M-B Tex upholstery, a competent diesel engine thrumming ahead of the firewall, and my father snicking the 4-speed manual transmission through its column-mounted gate.
Jump-cut to the second decade of the 21st century. Ah, yes, a long parade of events and automotive model years have passed by. In the macrocosm, a peacekeeping action in Southeast Asia has been replaced by peacekeeping actions in the Middle East. And Benzel-Busch is still selling fine automobiles on Grand Avenue in Englewood Cliffs. The price of fuel is predicted to rise and it still markets an economical vehicle that will get 35 miles per gallon – not a finback diesel, but a gasoline powered Smart car. As the French philosopher Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
The new service area is massive and state-of-the-art.
Today in 2012, Benzel-Busch is just finishing a massive reconstruction of its facilities. This dealership is the automotive shining star of Bergen County, New Jersey. There are 188 employees dedicated to providing the best possible Mercedes ownership experience. The service department has 50 ultra-high-tech bays and the glass walls in the workshop area give new meaning to the concept of technical transparency. Benzel-Busch’s shop foreman is Andreas Molde, a former vice president of the Northern New Jersey Section of the MBCA, and currently the club’s principal technical adviser.
Benzel-Busch cherishes its close relationship with the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. The firm regularly hosts tech sessions and new-model introductions exclusively for club members. The company’s advertising is a staple in Star Tracks, the Northern New Jersey section’s award-winning, bi-monthly publication. Wisely, Benzel-Busch pays special attention to older cars with long-expired warranties. Benzel-Busch considers these to be “legacy vehicles,” and is ever cognizant of the unique Mercedes-Benz heritage. Older Mercedes vehicles still on the road are a very special advertisement of quality and durability. Furthermore, in the showroom, Benzel-Busch proudly displays a replica of an 1886 Benz Patentwagen, which is the ancestor of all automobiles.
An architect's rendering of the new dealership is show on a screen in the main showroom.
This dealership actively supports local charities, including the Educational Foundation of Alpine. The Alpine School is among the United States’ finest instructional institutions, combining the best elements of public education – academic excellence, a diverse student population, and zero tuition cost – with the best elements of private education – low student-faculty ratios, highly qualified teachers, and an idyllic setting. Benzel-Busch is the principal sponsor of the annual Alpine Concours d’ Elegance. This charity classic-car show attracts a notable collection of significant motorcars in support of the foundation.
Benzel-Busch frequently hosts Northern New Jersey Section for Tech Sessions.
Through a succession of mergers and acquisitions, the Agresta family now owns Benzel-Busch. These folks trace their transportation roots to a venerable blacksmithing business established in Hudson County, New Jersey, more than a century ago. The family’s enterprise evolved into truck fabrication, service and sales, and ultimately to the purveyance of luxury motorcars. They have continued to prosper in a highly competitive business environment because of their reputation for honesty and fairness. As Aristotle said, “All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.” That’s the philosophy of a stellar dealership.