Mercedes-Benz Classic Anniversaries, 2023

Plenty to Celebrate in 2023!

1 to 20 January 1983 (40 years ago): Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur won the Paris–Dakar Rally in a Mercedes-Benz 280 GE.

20 to 26 January 1963 (60 years ago): The Ewy Rosqvist / Ursula Wirth team won the women’s classification of the Monte Carlo Rally in the Mercedes-Benz 220 SE rally car.

28 January 1938 (85 years ago): World record set by Rudolf Caracciola on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt motorway at 432.7 km/h. This record remained unbroken for 79 years.

9 February 1998 (25 years ago): The first A-Class vehicles equipped with ESP® as standard left the assembly line.

23 February 1928 (95 years ago): Hans Herrmann born in Stuttgart. He was a works driver in the 1950s when Mercedes-Benz re-entered motorsport.

4 to 14 March 1993 (30 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 500 GE V8 special model celebrated its premiere at the Geneva Motor Show – a harbinger of later G models with V8 engines.

5 to 15 March 1998 (25 years ago): The CLK Cabriolet (208 model series) and the E 55 AMG
Estate (210 model series) were unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.

14 to 24 March 1963 (60 years ago): Mercedes-Benz presented the 230 SL (W 113). The “Pagoda” was the world’s first sports car with a safety body.

1 May to 31 October 1893 (130 years ago): Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft exhibited the first operational automobile in the USA, at the Chicago World Fair.

10 May 1993 (30 years ago): Presentation of the first Mercedes-Benz C-Class (202 model series). At the same time, all passenger car models were given the new nomenclature.

2 July 1903 (120 years ago): Camille Jenatzy won the Gordon Bennett race in a private Mercedes-Simplex 60 hp – instead of the fire-damaged new 90 hp works racing car.

13 to 21 August 1983 (40 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 (W 201) set three world records and nine class records in Nardò.

27 to 31 August 1963 (60 years ago): The Spa–Sofia–Liège Rally was won by Eugen Böhringer and Klaus Kaiser in the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (W 113).

8 September 1953 (70 years ago): Mercedes-Benz presented the 180 model (W 120) to the press. The “Ponton” saloon was an important new design of the post-war period.

9 September 1923 (100 years ago): The Benz Tropfen racing car, the world’s first competition car with a mid-engine, achieved success at Monza.

9 to 19 September 1993 (30 years ago): The C 36 AMG, E 36 AMG, E 60 AMG and SL 60 AMG were unveiled at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt/Main.

9 to 21 September 2003 (20 years ago): The SLR McLaren high-performance sports car (199 model series) and the Vision CLS study premiered at the International Motor Show (IAA).

12 September 1898 (125 years ago): Delivery of the Daimler “Phoenix car” with 9 kW (8 hp) 2.1-litre engine. It was the world’s first automobile with a four-cylinder engine.

12 to 22 September 1963 (60 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 600 (W 100) had its sensational debut at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt/Main.

1 to 11 October 1998 (25 years ago): The 220-series Mercedes-Benz S-Class celebrated its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show.

4 to 14 October 1928 (95 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 18/80 hp Nürburg 460 (W 02) was the brand’s first passenger car with an eight-cylinder in-line engine. World premiere in Paris.

1 November 1998 (25 years ago): Following his victory in Suzuka, Mika Häkkinen became the Formula One World Champion. The constructors’ championship went to Team West McLaren-Mercedes.

19 November 1968 (55 years ago): Mercedes-Benz presented the coupés of the 114 model series (“Stroke/8”) in Hockenheim.

22 December 1913 (110 years ago): With a modified version of the “Blitzen-Benz”, L. G “Cupid” Hornsted set two world records at Brooklands.

23 December 1953 (70 years ago): The Mercedes-Benz 220 Coupé (W 187) entered the product range, establishing the brand’s tradition of luxury-class coupés.

Answers to Student Questions Related to Their National History Day Project

Here are a few questions my group came up with. How did the Model-T's low-price challenge norms in America’s society at the time?  Was there a conflict between the higher and middle classes in America when automobiles became affordable?  Was there any serious foreign conflict as America’s automobile sales rates raised way above those in other countries? How did the other large automobile companies react/follow up to the price drop for Ford’s Model-T? Are there any details or ideas that you can share that I would never think to ask? How does the popularization of automobiles in the U.S affect our lives today? 

1) How did the Model T’s low-price challenge norms in American society at the time?

Whether the Model T or A, or subsequent models, Henry Ford’s cars did much to shape life in the twentieth century. For the farmer, county agents now made visits to even isolated farms and rendered scientific advice in an effort to improve crops and agrarian prosperity.⁸¹ The automobile was now used to distribute the mail to rural areas, thus vastly improving communications. Farm folk had access to hospitals and other medical facilities. Families no longer had to rely on crossroad stores, but could shop in towns, and even do comparison shopping. For city folk, the changes were no less dramatic. The city became reconfigured, with the rise of new suburbs, and in more recent times, exurbs. Retail trade moved from center city to suburbs, which witnessed the rise of shopping centers and supermarkets. A number of key industries burgeoned due to the demand for materials used in automobile production:  steel, glass, textiles, electronics, and rubber. Relationships within tradition of family structures changed, as youth sought freedom behind the wheel.⁶⁹ And with the Ford automobile, America became a nation on wheels. Family vacations, and trips to parks, now became far more commonplace. 

            The highway was now a place for adventure, for both men and women, as exemplified in the journals of Rose Wilder Lane and Helen Dore Boylston. The pair traveled from Paris to Albania in a Model T Ford during the mid-1920s and left a remarkable written account. As they would assert, the hero of the trip was neither one of the women, but the car itself, named Zenobia. The maroon Ford was described as “a wonder. She went up all those frightful curving mountain roads like a bird.”⁷⁰ It was an eloquent appraisal of a mass produced car whose very name implied that it was a living thing. 

2.Was there a conflict between the higher and middle classes in America when automobiles became affordable? 

Class conflict has always been a theme in American history. In the case of the automobile, there was conflict over rich auto owners who were now on rural roads, killing farm animals (especially chickens!) and trespassing. The country folk called these machines “devil wagons.” People of privilege often resent the intrusion of lower classes in their space. The automobile also changed class relations as a new class of industrialists displaced the small town elites with regards to wealth. Booth Tarkington wrote about this in his The Magnificent Ambersons (1918).  

3.Was there any serious foreign conflict as America’s automobile sales rates raised way above those in other countries? 

European nations placed high tariffs on American cars. To some degree the American companies got around it by sending over "knocked down kits,” cars not yet assembled but all the parts were there. In Germany to 1933 American cars were preferred to German cars then, and one can see many photos of Buicks, Chevrolets, and Fords, among others. After 1933 in Germany, however, Hitler made sure that tariffs were so high that domestic manufacturers could conduct business  without competition.

4. How did the other large automobile companies react/follow up to the price drop for Ford’s Model-T?

It was most difficult to match the Ford Model T price due to what we call economies of scale.  Large volume product drops prices. Some firms tried, but failed. The car was of such quality that competitors could not make a car that was so good performance and realiability-wise.

5. Any other points. to raise? 

See the first two chapters of my book, The Automobile and American Life (2009, 2018) -- copied might be available in your local library, or to purchase on Amazon.

6.  How does the popularization of automobiles in the U.S affect our lives today? 

The automobile and its related infrastructure transformed everyday life as well as our basic values. From top to bottom in American society, it created wealth and jobs. It played a crucial role in transforming Americans from producers of a limited number of goods to mass production manufacturers and consumers living in a Machine Age. It influenced, among other things, the nature and structure of the communities in which we live, how we define and value community, and the architectural styles of our homes and other living spaces. Over the course of the twentieth century, the car whetted our appetite for new things conveying status and personal attractiveness, petroleum-based energy sources, engaging action movies, primal rock-and-roll music, and high-fat fast food. 

            To characterize this complex transition is quite a challenge, but crucial in developing a general understanding of the very essence of what it means to be human in a technologically-centered Western society. Our loves, hopes, fears, ambitions, and disappointments are all somehow tied to the automobile.

My Favorite Car/Driving Songs: Rascal Flatts - Life Is a Highway

Originally a hit for Tom Cochrane in 1991, this song was given new life in 2006 by the Rascal Flatts (and Pixar film “Cars”). It’s simply a must have tune for any road trip, whether you are highballing it on Route 66 or moving along on I-70.

Whoo!
Mmm, yeah

Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here, and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

There's a world outside every darkened door
Where blues won't haunt you anymore
Where the brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore

We won't hesitate
To break down the garden gate
There's not much time left today, yeah

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're goin' my way
Well, I wanna drive it all night long

Through all these cities and all these towns
It's in my blood, and it's all around
I love you now like I loved you then
This is the road, and these are the hands

From Mozambique to those Memphis nights
The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights
Knock me down and back up again
You're in my blood, I'm not a lonely man

There's no load I can't hold
A road so rough, this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long (whoo!)
If you're goin' my way
I wanna drive it all night long (all night long)

A-gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah

Life is a highway
Well, I wanna ride it all night long, mmm, yeah
If you're goin' my way (if you're goin' my way)
I wanna drive it all night long (all night long)

There was a distance between you and I (between you and I)
A misunderstanding once
But now we look it in the eye, ooh, yeah
Mmm, yeah (whoo!)

There ain't no load that I can't hold
A road so rough, this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Tell 'em we're survivors

Life is a highway
Well, I wanna ride it all night long (all night long, yeah)
If you're goin' my way
Well, I wanna drive it all night long

A-gimme, gimme, gimme
A-gimme, gimme, yeah

Life is a highway (life is a highway)
I wanna ride it all night long, whoo, ooh, yeah
If you're goin' my way (if you're goin' my way)
I wanna drive it all night long (all night long, yeah)

C'mon, gimme, gimme, gimme
Gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
(Yeah, I wanna drive it all night long, baby)
If you're goin' my way (if you're goin' my way)
I wanna drive it all night long (all night long)

Joy, Joy, Joy! Freedom! It is about taking on life while you are behind the wheel, it is about being a survivor (“knock me down and up again"), overcoming darkness and heading towards the light. Reconciliation and love -- perhaps because of the opportunity to do so because of being in the car together.

My Favorite Car/Driving Songs: "White Ferrari," by Frank Ocean

This song is for late-night drives, rather than top-down summer thrills. It plays around the themes of sincerity. value and desirability of love -- all of which apply to any Ferrari.

Bad luck to talk on these rides
Mind on the road, your dilated eyes
Watch the clouds float, white Ferrari
Had a good time
(Sweet 16, how was I supposed to know anything?
I let you out at Central

I didn't care to state the plain
Kept my mouth closed
We're both so familiar
White Ferrari, good times

Stick by me, close by me
You were fine
You were fine here
That's just a slow body
You left when I forgot to speak
So I text to speech, lesser speeds
Texas speed, yes
Basic takes its toll on me,
Eventually, eventually, yes
Ah, on me eventually, eventually, yes

I care for you still and I will forever
That was my part of the deal, honest
We got so familiar
Spending each day of the year, White Ferrari
Good times
In this life, life
In this life, life

One too many years
Some tattooed eyelids on a facelift
Mind over matter is magic
I do magic
If you think about it it'll be over in no time
And that's life

I'm sure we're taller in another dimension
You say we're small and not worth the mention
You're tired of movin', your body's achin'
We could vacay, there's places to go
Clearly this isn't all that there is
Can't take what's been given
But we're so okay here, we're doing fine

Primal and naked
You dream of walls that hold us imprisoned
It's just a skull, least that's what they call it
And we're free to roam

My Favorite Cars Songs: Taylor Swift - Getaway Car (Reputation Stadium Tour live) 2017

A standout track from Swift’s sixth album, "Getaway Car” is a construction of pop perfection, telling a Bonnie and Clyde-esque story of love, loss, and betrayal. The lyrics are beautiful and at the same time mysterious. You want to know more! Does a bad start to a relationship damn it to a bad end? Can one trust no one? 

Lyrics:

No, nothin' good starts in a getaway car

It was the best of times, the worst of crimes
I struck a match and blew your mind
But I didn't mean it, and you didn't see it
The ties were black, the lies were white
In shades of gray in candlelight
I wanted to leave him, I needed a reason

"X" marks the spot where we fell apart
He poisoned the well, I was lyin' to myself
I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed
We never had a shotgun shot in the dark (oh!)

You were drivin' the getaway car
We were flyin', but we'd never get far
Don't pretend it's such a mystery
Think about the place where you first met me
Ridin' in a getaway car
There were sirens in the beat of your heart
Should've known I'd be the first to leave
Think about the place where you first met me
In a getaway car, oh-oh-oh
No, they never get far, oh-oh-ah
No, nothin' good starts in a getaway car

It was the great escape, the prison break
The light of freedom on my face
But you weren't thinkin' and I was just drinkin'
While he was runnin' after us, I was screamin', "Go, go, go!"
But with three of us, honey, it's a sideshow
And a circus ain't a love story, and now we're both sorry (we're both sorry)

"X" marks the spot where we fell apart
He poisoned the well, every man for himself
I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed
It hit you like a shotgun shot to the heart (oh!)

You were drivin' the getaway car
We were flyin', but we'd never get far
Don't pretend it's such a mystery
Think about the place where you first met me
Ridin' in a getaway car
There were sirens in the beat of your heart
Should've known I'd be the first to leave
Think about the place where you first met me
In a getaway car, oh-oh-oh
No, they never get far, oh-oh-ah
No, nothin' good starts in a getaway car

We were jet-set, Bonnie and Clyde (oh-oh)
Until I switched to the other side, to the other side
It's no surprise I turned you in (oh-oh)
'Cause us traitors never win

I'm in a getaway car
I left you in a motel bar
Put the money in a bag and I stole the keys
That was the last time you ever saw me (oh!)

Drivin' the getaway car
We were flyin', but we'd never get far (don't pretend)
Don't pretend it's such a mystery
Think about the place where you first met me
Ridin' in a getaway car
There were sirens in the beat of your heart (should've known)
Should've known I'd be the first to leave
Think about the place where you first met me
In a getaway car, oh-oh-oh
No, they never get far, oh-oh-ah
No, nothin' good starts in a getaway car

I was ridin' in a getaway car
I was cryin' in a getaway car
I was dyin' in a getaway car
Said goodbye in a getaway car
Ridin' in a getaway car
I was cryin' in a getaway car
I was dyin' in a getaway car
Said goodbye in a getaway car

Happy New Year! A Postcard from 120 Years Ago

 Trust in the Lord with all your might

2022 was an interesting year. I had to help Kaye get through several health challenges throughout the year. That was taxing, especiallycoping with  her behavioral patterns that are in part due to memory loss. But we did survive.

 As I look back at it, a year of more drift than I would like. Retirement has not been easy, as focus has been lost and directed work has been far less. I found some direction by joining Fairhaven Church, going to a weekly Bible study, and participating in morning devotionals with Paul Clark, but it is far from enough in terms of solidifying my identity.

Challenges remain in terms of uniting family, maintaining health with my left knee at issue, and finding a meaningful and realistic work strategy.

The big thing accomplished on the Mercedes after a year of dragging my feet was installing a front Euro bumper and cat-eye turn signals. The car looks so much better. 

Later today I’ll take my 2023 “victory” drive. The salt is off the roads and the temperature will be above 50. I made it to another year, but am far from satisfied with my being right now.