“Ja!”
I only noticed the white W201 behind me for the past kilometer or so,
after turning left for the final 2-kilometer sprint to the shop. Took
advantage of an opening in traffic to pull the trigger on a lumbering
coal-laden Elf, and I saw him do the same, trying to keep up with me. I
could only imagine how it looked to the other motorists to see two
separate generations of Mercedes Benzes playing in traffic.
As I signaled to turn left to the shop, I gave him a quick wave,
thinking that he would just scoot by. To my surprise, he turned in and
parked beside me. As we both got out of our respective cars, the
decidedly Caucasian driver nodded to Bluey and asked in a Teutonic
baritone:
“Oldtimer?”
I gestured to his car, “Ja. Youngtimer?”
Big hearty laugh. “Hahahaha...sprechen Sie Deutsch?”
“Nein..”
Turns out 60-something Klaus from Munich (he tapped the
“Mercedes-Benz Munchen” sticker I had at the rear windshield and
pointed to himself, so I assumed he was from there) and his
resident-retiree-compatriot saw Bluey a couple of kilometers back and
decided to follow me, hoping to catch me at a stoplight. After
vacationing for a week in the city, Bluey was the first W108 he saw,
and he wanted to take a closer look. He explained to me that he came
from a Mercedes Benz family, and he drove a 3.5 coupe back in the day,
and still has the car, albeit in need of a restoration from being
stored and unused for twenty years.
What better way to show visitors our trademark Filipino hospitality the
MBCP way than to offer a fellow enthusiast from another continent a
ride? I went one better, I threw him the keys, much to his surprise.
But he took it with a huge grin and off we went. Blasting through the
light weekend afternoon traffic on all eight cylinders, he kept
smiling, “good, good”. While he relished his drive, I was equally
relishing my stint in the backseat, my first one ever since bringing
Bluey home. With a matching German chauffeur, no less. All in good fun,
of course. Three guys grinning crazily, two nationalities, one car.
People just stared, probably wondering what the heck it was that we
were collectively smoking.
Youngtimers Once
“Oldtimer” holds a profound meaning in the vocabulary of a Mercedes
Benz enthusiast. It crosses the boundaries of race and region,
transcends the definitions of age and language, a not-so-secret
password to the Mercedes Benz fraternity. It harks back to an era when
cars were built, not just made; when longevity and durability were
engineered into the design, and planned obsolescence was still a yet
unheard-of concept.
And yet, lest we forget, a Mercedes Benz oldtimer was a youngtimer
once upon a time. They represented the best from Mercedes Benz, a
distinctive fusion of form and function, of elegance and durability,
offering dignified passage in any quarter. Fresh from the factory,
paint gleaming in the sun off the showroom floor, the chrome trims
beckoning seductively. They fulfilled their diverse roles as personal
transportation, as somebody's pride and joy, and often as a daily
driver for their owners, carrying them in style and safety day in and
day out, through sleet and snow, through heat and hail. Mercedes Benzes
personified the drive, industry, and success of their owners in their
individual endeavors.
However, time and circumstances do take their toll, and the cars
break down. They deteriorate and suffer from problems, especially when
their owners abuse the innate build quality of the Three-pointed Star
and neglect the prescribed maintenance schedules. No amount of build
quality can compensate for neglect and abuse, and oftentimes when these
cars start breaking down, their owners figure them to be more trouble
than what they're worth, and put them out to pasture, or worse, consign
them to the scrap heap as payment for their years of faithful service.
In time they turn into oldtimers, though not
necessarily through any fault of their own, wearing the badges of their
age on their battle-scarred bodies with pride and dignity.
Evocative Passion and the Enthusiast
Mercedes Benzes by their very nature evoke passion. The enthusiast's
first encounter with the Marque usually comes in the form of an
oldtimer (or then youngtimer), be it a car in the family, or an
experience with an old Benz indelibly etched into the mind and seared
into the heart, an experience that they sought to recreate now that it
is within their capacity.
Passion made manifest usually happens the moment the enthusiast
acquires their first oldtimer, whether through a purchase or receiving
one from a previous generation in the family. Depending on the
condition at the time of their acquisition, they will spend inordinate
amounts of time, money, and effort into rebuilding and restoring their
dream vehicles. Many of them literally get their hands dirty, further
demurring the oft-held but erroneous impression that Mercedes Benz
owners are an unsullied lot when it comes to working on their cars.
It is not an overnight accomplishment. A corresponding price is exacted
in the form of blood, sweat, and sometimes even tears. But these are
happy moments, the fruition of a lifetime's dream. And oftentimes this
is a dream shared with fellow dreamers, individuals with a similar
passion and understanding. Individuals offering help, advice, and
invaluable assistance, sometimes even picking up a wrench or two. And
oftentimes it is this encouragement, this camaraderie, that motivates
them to carry on with their projects in the face of adversity, be it
the lack of parts or an ebbing enthusiasm due to financial, emotional,
and temporal drain characteristic of many an MB restoration project.
MBCP: The Spiritual Custodian
The Mercedes Benz Club of the Philippines is not only a gathering of
certifiable enthusiasts who share a profound passion for the Marque,
but more importantly the MBCP is the premiere and bona fide Club to
represent the Marque here in the Philippines. As such, the MBCP is the
spiritual custodian of the Marque in the country as well the Ambassador
of the Marque to the country and the rest of the world, as so aptly
stated in the Mission and Vision statement of the Club.
The Club is truly blessed with an extremely active and enthusiastic
membership, as evidenced by their myriad Club actvities since its
inception. Furthermore, seeing the high level and impressive execution
of their Mercedes Benz vehicles only serves to validate and embody
their profound passion for the Marque.
Membership is not a right, but a privilege. And the exercise of this
privilege demands that the prestige of the Marque be upheld at all
times. This includes a personal and communal responsibility as members
to ensure that the heritage and tradition of the world's oldest
automobile maker not only be preserved, but be promulgated as well.
That way, we can truly say that each one of us is doing our part to
keep the Star where it is-at the top.
Oldtimers Again...Forever Young
The key to the future of Mercedes Benz lies in its strong heritage and
glorious past as embodied in its products past and present, and we in
the MBCP are at the forefront in their preservation. This can and at
times is a thankless task, but it is also a priceless endeavour.
Oldtimers are the very embodiment of the heritage, tradition, and real world values in congruence with the age-old Mercedes Benz philosophy. By keeping a Star car in our garage, we are living up to the concomitant responsibility of preserving the MB heritage and furthering the MB tradition, thereby assuring ourselves that the MB legacy is kept intact. Let us strive to keep them forever young, not only for the prestige of the Marque, but more importantly for the next generation.
