A series of 11 vehicles were displayed with 50 descriptive posters detailing safety features and their first application on Mercedes-Benz vehicles.  The posters covered early design improvements, crash testing engineering, and safety innovations that have been applied to nearly all marques of vehicles since their inception.  Mercedes-Benz has contributed to vehicle safety and safer driving that eventually will support autonomous driving vehicles.  The most interesting comment was "this car isn't that old" when they read when the innovation was first put into production at Mercedes-Benz and is still being applied today.  It was food for thought for many viewers.

The posters were made possible by support from three of our local dealers, MB of Portland, MB of Salem, and MB of Wilsonville.  Many thanks for their monetary support and latest vehicles they provided to make this show include the newest innovations.

The poster set and stands (55 total) are available for other Section's use by contacting Portland Section for scheduling for the cost of round trip shipping (3 boxes). 

Contact George Larson for further details at [email protected]

BC Stars Regional Whistler Run 2023

Dave Cooper, Section Prez of British Columbia, kicked off the 2023 driving season with a drive to Whistler, June 9th to 11th.

Three cars from our sister section in Seattle drove up to meet us in West Vancouver for our first Regional drive since before Covid. Some old friends, Ian and Linda Gleadle in their new E43 Coupe, and Bob ``Bobby Two`` and Tanya Willits in their E320, with James and Monica Bambury in their red SLS. AJ Sanson and Anthony of Benzcouver Group, came along for the drive in a C63.

The clouds looked a little ominous, but we were all eager to take to the road. Leigh Gayman was determined to drive with the top down on his SL500. With eleven cars in total, the traffic was light and we had a great drive up to our first stop, in Squamish. Our ``Team Stenzel``, Manfred and Marie, arranged for a nice lunch at the Executive Hotel.

We made quick time to Whistler, with James and Ian vying for position along the way.

The Stenzels arranged a special price for our stay at the Scandinavian-styled Avaa Hotel, just steps from the Village.

In the evening, Dave and Sharon Cooper hosted the President`s Cocktail Reception at the hotel. It was a nice chance to meet old and new friends.

The following day, we had a scenic drive to Pemberton and the Skyline Golf Course for lunch, followed by a photoshoot of all our cars and Members.

Some of us then drove through Pemberton and up the valley to The Beer Farm, a cottage brewery on a farm. We learned that the Farm was quite successful in beer competitions and certainly they had some interesting things to try.

We enjoyed a full course dinner at the All Seasons restaurant to round off our day.

It was great to get together once again. We are already planning next year`s Regional Drive the Okanagan Wine Country, with James Bambury!

Many thanks to our guests for coming, and thank you to the organizers, Dave & Sharon Cooper, and Manfred & Marie Stenzel.

Photos:

Sean Clark

James Bambury

Monica Bambury

BC Stars 2022 Show & Shine

The MBCA BC Stars would like to thank all our participants, organizers and volunteers, for making our first Post-Covid, Regional Show & Shine, a resounding success.

The Mercedes-Benz Langley dealership was a new venue for our show. As a partnership, the Dilawri Group of dealerships gave us full support.

Michelin Canada donated a set of tires, and Midland Appliances, a deluxe beverage fridge.

We really had a spectacular turnout, 100+ cars registered, and a whole range from elegant Classics to Modern exotics!!

Our Members enjoyed hosting the many local Benzcouver Gruppe, MB enthusiasts.

We were very pleased to welcome 12 Members from the Seattle Section who drove all the way up to Canada, to support us. We are thanking Ian Read who drove over eight hours from Alberta, just to attend.

Thanks to those who shared with us some exciting and rare Mercedes, a Cosworth EVO II, a Brabus 6x6 G-Wagon, and the strikingly beautiful, 1959 300SL Roadster !! Where else would you see all of these?!

“I want to thank everyone who came out to our 2022 Show & Shine, and especially Dilawri Mercedes-Benz Langley, our sponsors, Elton and the Benzcouver Gruppe, and our organizers Manfred and Marie Stenzel.  It is great to see enthusiasm for cars of all ages and types. We plan to organize fall activities and drives so stay tuned”  - Leigh Gayman, MBCA Section President, British Columbia

Congratulations to our Allwest Insurance People's Choice Winners

1st Place: Ron Price, 1961 190SL

2nd Place: "Elton", accepting award for the 1959 300SL Roadster

3rd Place: Chris Straub, 1976 450SLC

Thanks to our Sponsor/Partners for great prizes: Dilawri, MB Langley, Midland Appliances, Michelin Canada, Tirelink, Allwest Insurance, Van Houtte Coffee, Maple Tech Car Audio, Montecristo Magazine, and Manmar Consulting

Special thanks to Scott Bianchin of MB Langley, and Ryan Ellingham of The Dilawri Group

We look forward to seeing you at our next event,

Sean Clark, MBCA BC Stars

Photos: 300SL Roadster, EVO II, 190SL, by Cory Dawson

The BCSTARS Section is very pleased to say that we were able to hold our first in-person event for the 2022 driving season. While we sat outside, under a heater for some lucky members who were early arrivers, and it comes on the heals this week of a relaxation of some of our Provincial health restriction. We can now have larger group numbers and less restrictions as health orders that limited what we could do for Covid protection have been relaxed. It was a chilly 2-3 degree Celsius (roughly 35 degrees Fahrenheit) morning as we assembled at the Starbucks location on 1980A Como Lake Road in Coquitlam BC, at 8:30 AM. The Section plans to hold such an event on the 3rd Sunday of each month, rain or shine at this location so put this in your calendars for the future. We hope to gather for a couple of hours or so it shouldn’t be too time consuming out of your Sunday. Today we were there for just a bit less than 2 hours, depending when you got there. The dominant car present was not surprising; the various iterations of the 107’S. We had at least one SL500, a SL 550 (Mine), a late model ML, and a W202 C280. The Section is actively searching for a location for our premier event, our annual Show & Shine. Prior to Covid limitations we held this over the Labour Day weekend and consistently attracted over 100 cars. We had a great venue in a park on North Vancouver’s waterfront with a spectacular view of downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park to name just 2 viewpoints. Local and more distant drives are also being developed as well. We also support the events on Vancouver Island and there is typically a Regional Event in the Seattle that draws cars from across Washington, Oregon, possibly Idaho, and we have prior to Covid supported it as well. If the border regulations ever get relaxed for short trips, this might become a viable option for us. Keep your eyes and ears open as things seem to be constantly changing both at the Provincial and Federal level as it relates to Covid rules/regulation changes. We had a mixture of veteran members of the Club having been there decades as well as others who have joined in the last 5~10 years like myself, and a couple of people who are brand new to the MBCA. One of these members is also a proud owner of a Morgan car which we might get to see one nice day. There is nothing like seeing each other face-to-face in my opinion. Things like Zoom are great as replacements in time of need such as what we all have been through, or for business type settings rather than flying people all over the place. I guess finding the right balance will be the key. - Jeff Shindler - MBCA Regional Director - Pacific Northwest