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Terry Kiwala

The Mercedes-Benz Club of America has definitely started its 60th anniversary off in style.

President’s Message

Terry Kiwala

 

Starting to Celebrate

 

As we sat down to dinner at The Big Cheese in Miami, Guy Lewis told me in a serious tone, “Terry, I need a favor.” My reply: “Anything for you, Guy. What do you need?” Guy’s reply: “Well, I was asked to bring two cars to the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance, and if you don’t mind, I will drive my Morris Minor, if you will drive the white limousine.” The white limousine. The 1972 Papyrus-White 600SWB once owned by Luciano Pavarotti. I thought long and hard – for about one tenth of a second – before I committed.

It was hard to sleep that night. Boca Raton is quite a distance from Miami, which meant that I would have miles and miles of smiling behind that massive white steering wheel.

The next day, we left bright and early and I was blown away by how well the 600 drove. I was following Guy in his Morris Minor topping out at 50 mph, so I couldn’t really experience the true feel of the 600 at highway speeds. However, any need for speed was quickly forgotten as we drove onto the show field. Over the course of the afternoon, we had the rare opportunity to meet the one-and-only Jay Leno when he walked over to Guy and me to talk about his love for the 600. To cap off an already amazing day, I experienced the delight of opening up that 600 on Interstate 95 as we headed back to Miami. It amazed me that the 1972 600 has a lower rpm at 80 mph than my S63.

What a start to our anniversary year. The Mercedes-Benz Club of America has definitely started its 60th anniversary off in style. Our 2016 celebrations officially kicked off in Phoenix in January with a week of events scheduled around Arizona’s Concours d’Elegance with its impressive display of vintage cars at the Biltmore Hotel. The Desert Stars Section pioneered the concours-venue concept at the Biltmore for StarFest® 2012. Now, vintage-car enthusiasts get to enjoy beautiful cars, the Biltmore Hotel and Arizona sunshine every January.

We continued with the Boca Concours in February and the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in March. At Amelia, MBCA participated in Saturday’s Cars & Coffee at the Concours, where we saw 36 members’ cars, all beautifully presented by their proud owners. Ann Holdgrafter displayed her immaculate – and cool – white 380SE with 380,000 miles (Ann, we are in a mileage contest with our W126s). I was then thrilled to give Mike Marsh a copy of the March-April issue of The Star magazine that featured his 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet (he hadn’t yet received the issue). After seeing the car in The Star, I could admire it first-hand. And while we all chatted, Germany Greer of the Peachtree Section tirelessly captured photos so that we would all remember our time together.

At all these events this year, we have been privileged to celebrate the MBCA and its 60th anniversary alongside our friends from the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine, California, while admiring the Center’s beautiful work. We look forward to the continued good relationship with the Classic Center and thank Michael Kunz, director of the Irvine facility, and Classic Marketing Specialist Constantin von Kageneck for their support.

Moving forward, we have a lot on the calendar. To commemorate the club’s six decades, we are hosting a banquet with the Northern New Jersey Section, where it all started 60 years ago, on the eve of the June Jamboree. This banquet will showcase the rich history of MBCA and will be attended by our Mercedes-Benz Classic Center and Daimler Classic friends.

This summer, the MBCA has committed its presence at Concours d’Elegance of America at St. John’s in Michigan in July. Our biennial gathering, StarFest 2016, will be held in Connecticut, hosted by the Minuteman Section in August; I encourage you to register early by visiting www.starfest2016.mbca.org. And as always, we will enjoy beautiful cars and weather during Monterey Car Week later that month at Legends of the Autobahn.

The Mercedes-Benz Club of America has gone out of its way to support local, regional and national events this year in celebration of its 60th Anniversary. This year, the cars, the people and even the weather seem to be perfect. This is our year to shine, and I invite you to enjoy what is shaping up to be quite a party and a banner year for the MBCA.