Welcome to the latest newsletter.  In this edition we have part seven of the Germany tour, news of the 2006 "Wheels" display and the usual line up.

Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks John and Sandra Green.
 

///AMG

Ever wondered what does AMG stand for?? Well here is the answer it stands for Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach

A = Aufrecht               Hans-Werner Aufrecht, name of one of the Co-founders

M = Melcher               Erhard Melcher, name of the other Co-founder

G = Großaspach         Großaspach is the town where Hans Aufrecht came from and started business.

And why the interest in AMG all of a sudden, wait till the next newsletter to find out.... In the meantime have a look at this page.

Germany tour part 7...

Having concluded our business with HK-Engineering it was time for yet another blast down the Autobahn to the small industrial town of Sinsheim a mere 397kms away. Needless to say we made it in no time at all with our S320 CDI just purring along. Why they don't sell these here in Australia I will never understand. Thats me with the car in full tourist mode.

Along the way we passed a VW Karman Ghia doing 160kmh and towing a pop top caravan, this could only happen in Germany.

Situated on an area of over 30.000m² indoors, and in open-air grounds comprising in excess of 50.000m², there are more than 3.000 exhibits. These include a Concorde from Air France and Russian version of the Concorde the Tupolev TU-144 as well as over 50 other planes. You can climb up a circular stair case to get into both the Concorde and Tupolev. There are over 300 vintage cars which represents the largest variety of classical vintage motor vehicles in all of Europe including the worlds largest collection of supercharged Mercedes-Benz's.

The most comprehensive Maybach collection in the world which, among other models, also includes the oldest still roadworthy Maybach automobile. There are also, 200 motorbikes, 40 race and sports cars including the the largest permanent Formula-1 exhibition in Europe,  27 locomotives, 50 airplanes, 150 tractors, steam engines and trucks, etc, etc, etc.

It would take me forever to fill you in on everything we saw but here are a few highlights that I can remember.

The place is full of everything and many of the exhibits actually work, even some of the Railway Locomotives. You drop a few Euro in a slot and the trains, tanks and whatever all come to life. There are also a lot of pipe organs most of which work the same way. One of them, which was reported to be the largest organ in the world, a Mortier, is equipped with more than 900 pipes, a saxophone, two accordions as well as a complete set of percussion instruments!

There is a very large collection of Military memorabilia, which includes everything from a Junkers fighter Plane that had been pulled from the sea after many many years, to an autographed copy of Mein Kampf. There were also a number of Mercedes-Benz vehicles from the second World War.

The collection is not limited to European vehicles, they have a Goliath three wheeled woody panel van, an Amphicar (part car, part boat) and an excellent selection of 50's American classics.  They also have such oddities as a Mercedes-Benz 500SEC drag car complete with full fibreglass body.

They have one of the best collections of the 300 series form the 50's that I have ever seen. These include a 330S, 300Sc, several 300 Cabriolets, and a few 300d's.

Their collection is not just limited to whole cars either. They had the casting blocks for the pre war Mercedes-Benz 380 cylinder head, a complete 260D engine (worlds first diesel powered passenger car), a crankshaft from a ship engine and heaps of other mechanical parts.

There is also a theme park side to the Museum with their own IMAX theatre, and several rides for those who are young at heart.

We were due to fly out at 9.30pm that night, so by mid afternoon it was time to head off to Frankfurt check in our car and say goodbye to Germany. We had a great trip but little did we know it was about to get a whole heap better. If you can remember back to Newsletter No.91 where I had the first instalment of this saga you will remember that we visited a supplier of New Old Stock Mercedes-Benz parts. Well, while waiting to see the owner, we were patiently waiting in his office where he had a selection of magazines. Martin picked up what appeared to be a German version of Unique cars and preceded to thumb through it. Even though it was in German you could get the general idea of what was going on. Anyway at the back of the magazine was a small add for a W111 280SE 3.5 cabriolet.  Now this is a rare and desirable car, especially when it is RHD and only done 54000kms! So to cut a long story short, we tried for ten days to contact the owner and had all but given up hope, when on the way back to the airport we get a call from him! All is lost, we think, as we are 50kms from Frankfurt with no time left to spare. But you will never guess what. The owner lives 50kms on the other side of the Frankfurt airport and will bring the car to show us at the airport. Some things are just meant to happen.

The history of the car was that it was sold to the Nigerian government in 1970 and was used for official business. It was twice returned to Germany for servicing. Now any of you who know world history will know that Nigeria fell into a political heap in the early 70's. Somehow the car was sold to the same guy we brought it from and smuggled back to Germany. As it was RHD the new owner drove it very little. Whilst the car does have some minor cosmetic faults it is in amazingly original condition.  Negotiations to buy the car have taken over 6 months and it has only recently been placed in a container and is on its way to Australia.

Of all the W111 cabriolets the 3.5 version is by far the rarest. There were only 71 RHD vehicles made and only 7 were officially imported to Australia. You may remember that we had one advertised in Newsletter No.80 . So this is a super desirable vehicle for anybody's collection. This is also the reason why this cabriolet is for sale.

So that's it, the flight back to Australia was rather boring and then I had to go back to work. As I sit here typing this it seaes forever since I got back, but then almost every day I see something that reminds me of the great time we had there. I hope you have enjoyed my adhoc diary of the trip and that maybe it has encouraged you to do similar. I can assure you it is well worthwhile. (Even if you don't get to buy a 3.5 cabriolet.....)

Special of the week.

The 450SEL 6.9 struts from last week sold within hours of the Newsletter being published so sorry to those who missed out. This newsletter we have brake pads on special. We have front brake pads to suit the following models:

W114 280E and later model 250
W116 all models
W123 all models up to 08/79
W107 from 08/73 to 08/79

These are genuine Mercedes-Benz pads but do not have the hole for the brake pad wear sensor. If your vehicle is serviced correctly this should not be an issue. The special price is $45.00 a set. Please contact our Spares department on 1300 787 300 or by e-mail to spares@mbspares.com.au if interested.

2006 Australian National Rally of Mercedes-Benz Clubs in Canberra.
 

Every two years the Mercedes-Benz clubs of Australia run a national rally. There are six Mercedes-Benz clubs in Australia that run this national rally on a rotational basis. The Mercedes-Benz clubs of the ACT and NSW are proud to announce that the 2006 national rally will be held in the national capital during Easter 2006.
The rally is to be held in Canberra from the 14th to the17th of April. This website is designed to help participants by providing information on all aspects of the rally. As well you can find information on rally sponsors and supporters. With the rally fast approaching it is now being updated regularly so check back each week for updates if you are attending the rally.

Attendance of the rally is open to all members of a Mercedes-Benz club authorised by the parent club in Stuttgart, the Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Club International. At the moment the rally is fully subscribed with over 250 people attending the rally including participants from the UK, Germany and New Zealand. There will be a chance for locals to see all the vehicles attending the rally on the Sunday at the Rond Terraces. This is at the base of Anzac Avenue. I will have more precise details in the next Newsletter.
 

The international Newsletter!

We have many international newsletter readers and we also have quite a few Australian newsletter readers who travel. I quite often hear of people who have sat down to read our newsletter in the strangest of places. here is one such e-mail received last week:

> Dear John
> Thanks for the newsletter
> I am in Changi airport at 6.30am and have just finished again an enjoyable
> read
> as part of a long transit
> Cheers
> Neil

 

Joke of the month.

Wheels 2006

The annual Council of ACT Motor Clubs ‘Wheels’ display day will be held on Sunday 12 March 2006 on the lawns near Old Parliament House. Wheels is open to the public between 10 am and 3pm. Historically this event has been very strongly supported by the Mercedes-Benz clubs of both the ACT and NSW. So if you are a local it would be worth your while to come on down and have a look. There should be over 50 Classic Mercedes-Benz's on display. Wheels normally attracts more than 600 cars, commercials and motor cycles and is promoted as the show case event for the 50 plus ACT car clubs affiliated with the Council. Funds raised at the display will be donated to the Noah’s Ark Resource Centre. Since its inception in 1982, Wheels has raised more than $300 000 for local Canberra charities.

M.B Spares & Service will have several of their cars on display on the day, please feel free to come along and introduce yourself to us.