Do it Yourself at MBI Motors

Transcription

1 Vol. 40 No. 2 Portland Section March 2015 Vol. 40 No. 2 Portland Section March 2015 Welcome, New Members Do it Yourself at MBI Motors John Barnes, Portland Doug Ford, Oregon City Ken Hatfield, Wilsonville Terry Jones, Portland Jeffrey Longacre, Milwaukie Ryan McGinnis, La Grande Richard McKinley, Medford Upcoming Events Mar. 14th, 9:00AM: DIY at MBI Motors Mar. 21st, 10AM Board Meeting, Memory Lane Motors April 17th, 9AM: Tour of Van s Aircraft. See article in this issue. Inside This Issue DIY at MBI President s Message....2 Tour Van s Aircraft Mar. Board Meeting Red Dress Gala Recap...5 Concours/Festival of Cars...7 Buying A Mercedes in FL.8 June Tour Classified Ads It s that time of the year again for your spring car maintenance. Corbin Lancaster, owner of MBI Motors, along with his technical staff and parts department will be providing their lifts and decades of experience for our annual Do It Yourself Event on March 14th from 9AM to 2PM. This is your chance to inspect under your car, change fluids, replace the fuel filter, check brake pads or other repairs you don t have room or equipment to do at home. You can also have one of MBI s certified technicians check for normal wear items with preventive maintenance and safety in mind. Our members will have access to the car lifts, as well as the parts department and other shop equipment. You can also meet the owners of MBI, tour the shop, and learn about their services. The Portland Section will provide coffee and bagels in the morning, and lunch will be served to participants The cost for all of this is only $10 per car, payable to MBCA Portland Section. Preregistration is required to make this event run smoothly. Pease call Greg Carlson, event chair, at or Greg at carlsongr62@gmail.com to RSVP to register. Be prepared to enjoy the day while taking car of your Mercedes-Benz! Next Event: Do it Yourself at MBI Motors Place: MBI Motors, 1309 SE Hawthorne St, Portland OR Date: Saturday March 14th Time: 9AM to 2PM Cost: None Registration: Contact Greg Carlson at , Greg at carlsongr62@gmail.com

2 President s Message Summer is here. The weather has been so nice that I have decided to cancel spring. I'm sure enjoying my new (old) car. I have enjoyed as much as 30 mile per gallon on the highway while traveling to and from California. On return I stopped in the town of Topaz Lake (Just inside the Nevada boarder on highway 395 driving north from San Bernadino) for fuel. I drove all the way to Salem from there MILES...and gassed up. That worked out to be 30 miles per gallon. I had six gallons remaining in the tank. I could have driven all the way to Portland and gassed up here. No doubt about it, you can drive all day and not be sore all over. Mercedes automobiles are built with long term driving comfort included in the design. My communications with Vice President Ron Woodruff have produced some nice trips for us this summer. A winery tour in Washington is the start of our summer events. Would you like to visit someplace special this summer? If so, please call me or Ron. I have been changing my own oil and filter. On my S320 sedan that's eight quarts of 10/30 multigrade $24.00 and an oil filter for $9.00. Not cheap any more. However while enjoying 30 miles per gallon of gasoline, it can be quite economical. All for now, Rus Officers: Mercedes-Benz Club of America, Portland Section President Rus Eppler Vice President Ron Woodruff ronwoodruff9@gmail.com Secretary/Treasurer Kenneth Holtan (2015) Phone TBD kennethholtan@comcast.net Board of Directors: (Expiration Year) Stacy Rollins (2013) stacy@stacyrollins.com Jerry Sorenson (2013) jerrys@q.com Mike Spicer (2014) mike_p_spicer@hotmail.com Ron Woodruff (2013) rbwgroup1@yahoo.com Ellen Theodorson (2015) ellentheodorson@yahoo.com Kenneth Holtan (2015) Phone TBD kennethholtan@comcast.net Northwest Regional Director: Barry Patchett bmpatchett@shaw.ca Newsletter Editor/Advertising: Allen Stephens (acting) allen.c.stephens@gmail.com Portland Section Webmaster: Kenneth Holtan.. Phone TBD kennethholtan@comcast.net Membership: Pam Burback burbs5@aol.com Historian: Jim Thompson jim814817@hotmail.com Past President: Allen Stephens allen.c.stephens@gmail.com Did you miss the Red Dress Gala at Mercedes-Benz of Portland? See the recap of this event on page 5. The Northwestern Star is the official publication of the Portland Section, Mercedes-Benz Club of America, Inc., and is provided solely for the benefit of its members. Opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher or MBCA, Inc. We encourage submissions, articles and photos from our members. Deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month, care of the editor. We reserve the right to edit or refuse submissions and/or advertising. Copyright MBCA Portland Section. All rights reserved. PAGE 2 NORTHWESTERN STAR MARCH 2015

3 Tour of Vans Aircraft, Friday April 17th, 9AM By Rus Eppler, Portland Section Yes Friday the 17th. Vans aircraft is not open on Saturdays or Sundays. Have you ever considered building anything from a kit? How about assembling something purchased from IKEA? Well here's an opportunity for you to consider the possibility of doing just that (only easier then IKEA). Vans Aircraft is a kit manufacturer of airplanes. The business started back in the early seventy's, and they have been going full speed ahead since then. Vans has provided kits to more then 6,800 pilot owners who have assembled their kits and are flying all over the world...mostly in the U.S. Most are two passenger designs and there is one four passenger kit available. The tour starts at 9:00 A.M. and proceeds thru the manufacturing plant taking between 1 1/2 and 2 hours. We are encouraged to ask as many questions as possible. The people at Vans Aircraft want you to leave with all questions answered. Registration: Please call and tell me your attending at If a large headcount occurs I will call ahead and they will plan accordingly. After the tour we will proceed to Arndt Road, turn right and after a short distance turn left into the Fir Point Farms Country Grains store and restaurant for lunch. Park on the right side of the building. Do you know the brand name of that tractor? Directions to Vans Proceed south on I-5 to the Aurora exit (exit 282A ). Drive about two miles ( thru the traffic light ), to the end of the airport runway on your left. Just ahead is Keil Road. Turn left onto Keil Road. and follow around the end of the runway toward the commercial buildings ahead. At the second or third entrance is the Vans Aircraft entrance...even though it says shipping and receiving only. Proceed into the parking lot and park. If the lot is full, backtrack to the entrance and drive along the side of the assembly building to the rear parking area. Return to the front of the building and proceed to the entrance at the far end. We will be greeted in the waiting area, and the tour will begin at 9:00 A.M. Try to plan for traffic problems. If you find your running a little late, call me and I'll ask for a delayed start MARCH 2015 NORTHWESTERN STAR PAGE 3

4 Board Meeting March 21st The next Portland Section Board Meeting is Saturday, March 21st at 10AM at Memory Lane Motors located at 2608 SE Holgate Blvd, Portland, OR We invite all members to attend a board meeting to provide suggestions on how we can improve the club and provide ideas for upcoming events. PAGE 4 NORTHWESTERN STAR MARCH 2015

5 Recap: Red Dress Gala at M-B of Portland at Hit By Allen Stephens, Portland Section The Red Dress Gala at Mercedes-Benz of Portland on February 7th brought out many Portland Section members, including several classic Mercedes-Benz automobiles. The event was a showcase for the new 2015 C and S- Class models from Mercedes-Benz. While checking out the new cars in the showroom, party goers were treated to hors d oeuvres and wonderful wines. Classis Mercedes on display included the SE cabriolet owned by Nils Jensen, and the C cabriolet D owned by Ernie Brawley. Mike Spicer displayed a SE 3.5 coupe, and Barry Corno displayed his SEC. While it looks showroom-new, his SEC has over 590,000 miles on the odometer. Photos by Mike Spicer, Portland Section MARCH 2015 NORTHWESTERN STAR PAGE 5

6 Not a Member? Join MBCA today! PAGE 6 NORTHWESTERN STAR MARCH 2015

7 Mercedes invited to Forest Grove Concours Oregon s premiere event for classic and sports cars, the Forest Grove Concours d Elegance, is scheduled for July 19th. This year the feature classes include Grand Classics from the Classic Car Club of America, Modern Super Cars, and 60 Years of the Ford Thunderbird. Mercedes-Benz Club members are invited to show their classic Mercedes automobiles. Owners can enter their Mercedes for Judging, or for Display-only. The Concours welcomes Mercedes-Benz through 1971; however exemptions can be granted to special Mercedes vehicles that are newer. We encourage Mercedes-Benz club members to come out and display their cars this event is a great venue to show your car and enjoy the company of 300 other car owners. The Concours is held on the tree-shaded campus of Pacific University. Entertainment during the day will be provide by the Tom Grant Band. The trophy ceremony will be hosted by Keith Martin and Donald Osborne from Sports Car Market magazine. All proceeds from the Concours benefit Rotary Club scholarships and community service programs in Washington County. Register for this event: To enter your Mercedes-Benz, go to and click on Enter. Mercedes-Benz automobiles can be registered into Class R-1. If you have questions, please contact Allen Stephens at allen.c.stephens@gmail.com or Oregon Festival of Cars to feature SPEED A 300SL Gullwing at the 2012 Oregon Festival of Cars The theme for the 2015 Oregon Festival of Cars will be SPEED also marks the 20th year of the Oregon Festival of Cars, so this year s event promises to be very special. The Festival Car show on Saturday, September 19th, will be staged on the green lawns of Broken Top golf course in Bend, Oregon from 10AM to 3PM. All marques are invited to participate in this laid-back, no Q-tips required car show. On Saturday evening, The Festival Banquet will be held at the Broken Top Club, where you can mingle with likeminded car enthusiasts. The next morning, the Sunday Dash kicks off at 8:30AM. It is a spirited two-hour drive through interesting lightly-traveled roads of central Oregon. Hundreds of enthusiast are expected to participate in the weekend activities, which has developed a unique atmosphere of being relaxed and fun. The Festival organizers are seeking Mercedes-Benz automobiles that represent the theme of SPEED. This includes 300SL Gullwings or roadsters, 300SEL 6.3s, and AMG cars from the 1990 s through the present day. To register, go to If you are interested in placing your car in the SPEED display, contact Allen Stephens at allen.c.stephens@gmail.com or at MARCH 2015 NORTHWESTERN STAR PAGE 7

8 Buying a Mercedes-Benz in FL and Driving Home By Barry Corno, Portland Section Member It all started over dinner with a fellow SEC Mercedes owner, Gary Dempsey, in June of 2009 in Portland, OR, USA. I was considering parking my daily driver, SEC. I had been driving it for 16 years. I mentioned to Gary I wanted to look at a coupe M3 BMW or an AMG Mercedes. Before I even made it home from dinner, Gary (now drives a 05 CLK 55 AMG) had already ed me two cars off E-bay. One was a one owner 2002 CLK 55 AMG just north of Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. The mileage was only 1,900. How could a seven-year-old car have so few miles on it? That is only 270 miles a year! After calling the owner, Peter Franz, I found out that he had bought it bran-new in 2002, but he was an airline pilot for Alaska Airlines and he was stationed in the Northwest. His car had literally been garaged most of its life. I was extremely interested in this car. I decided that I better find someone to go look at it. I needed to get ahold of someone trustworthy in Florida, but I did not know anyone who lived there. So, I did what any self-respecting Mercedes owner would do, I sent out an on mbcoupes.com asking the SEC community if anyone in Florida would be interested in helping me out and look at a car for me in the Daytona area. A gentleman from Jacksonville responded saying that he lived 70 miles away, but would be willing to make the trip if I agreed to reimburse the costs of gas. I said yes. A couple of weeks went by before I heard back from him. He confirmed that the car was practically bran -new with 1,972 miles and then he told me that if I did not buy it, he would. The owner, Peter, and I went straight to work and figured out the purchasing plan. A friend of mine, Paul Latin, (now drives 05 CLK 55 AMG) had some time off so we bought two plane tickets and flew out early Wednesday, July 15, We had a scheduled meeting at Peter s house for that same evening. We arrived in Orlando at 4 PM and rented a car to take to Daytona. We arrived at Peter s at 8:30 PM chatted for about a half hour and by 9 PM we were on the road to Jacksonville to drop off the rental car. Paul and I had told our wives that we would meet them for dinner in Hood River, OR at 8 PM on Saturday, July 18. The drive from Jacksonville, FL to Hood River, OR is 3,200 miles. Paul drank a 5-hour energy drink at around 10 PM the previous night. We got a hotel room, but Paul could not get to sleep. The alarm went off at 7 AM and I told him buckle up, I would drive this leg as well. Paul fell fast asleep until the next fuel stop. The next scheduled stop was Kansas City, Kansas. We arrived there at 3 AM early Friday morning, July 17. Back on the road at 6 AM we drove until 1 AM Saturday morning, July 18 to Ogden, Utah. We woke up at 5AM and headed toward our destination. Just before Nampa Idaho, we got a tire failure (because the tires were seven years old). Between two Les Schwab dealerships we were able to find 4 tires as they were staggered sizes. With new tires on we ended up cruising into Hood River at 7:58 PM on July 18th hours of driving with 11 hours of sleep. How about that for a bucket list? 5 and a half years later and 127,000 miles the CLK 55 AMG is just a blast to have as a daily driver. **Note: Not as fast as the cannon ball run of the CL 55 AMG Manhattan to Santa Monica in 28.5 hours last year, their average speed 101 per hour. **Note: the SEC is parked now for car shows with 590,000 miles on the clock. I told Paul that I wanted our first stop to be just north of Atlanta, GA. The agreement was that we would trade off driving at every fuel stop. We arrived in Atlanta at 3 o clock in the morning. We immediately had a problem. PAGE 8 NORTHWESTERN STAR MARCH 2015

9 Mercedes-Maybach Pullman limousine to debut -From Mercedes-Benz has unveiled the first images of the 2016 Mercedes-Maybach Pullman S600 limousine prior to its debut at the Geneva motor show in March. The four-door, six-seat model has been in development for the last year and a half, and like its immediate predecessors it will offer seating complete with a middle row of rear-facing seats. Positioned above the Mercedes-Maybach S600, the Pullman will be powered by the 6.0-liter V12 found in the S good for 523 hp and 612 lb-ft of torque. Like its predecessors, the Pullman will be offered in unarmored and armored form, with the heavier version expected to provide VR9-level ballistic protection, as on the factory S600 Guard model. The unarmored version should start at around $567,000, or half a million Euros, while the armored version is likely to start at around $1 million, as with previous-generation Pullmans. Even though the Pullman traces its history back to the 1965 model, the limousine took a hiatus after the original car went out of production in A new model based on the W140 S-class debuted in 1994 and has been offered in the S-class range ever since. Deliveries of the 2016 Mercedes-Maybach Pullman S600 will begin in early MARCH 2015 NORTHWESTERN STAR PAGE 9

10 June 27th event: Drive to Moulton Falls Winery Portland. Winery has river side tables for outdoor eating and wine tasting. Later on that evening, for those who want to stay will be award winning blues guitarist Terry Robb who will performing in the main wine tasting facility. We are planning a Lewis River drive tour, wine tasting and blues guitar music event at Moulton Falls Winery in Yacolt, WA. For more information contact Ron Woodruff at ronwoodruff9@gmail.com Drive up beautiful Lewis River Highway about 42 miles from PAGE 10 NORTHWESTERN STAR MARCH 2015

11 Classified Ads Ads run for one issue and are placed free of charge for MBCA members. Non-club members are charged $10 per ad, $20 with picture. The submission deadline is the 15th of the month. To place an ad contact the Newsletter Editor Sedan Two 1983 Mercedes-Benz 380 SLs 1979 Mercedes 6.9 black/tan, 94k miles. This one of the nicer 6.9's that I have seen with great cosmetics, interior nearly new, service up to date. Suspension works fine. Northwest car all its life so there is nil rust or sunbake. US version with OEM Euro lights. If you've been looking for a hard to find nice 6.9 this is it. Asking $15,000 obo. I have owned the car for over 15 yrs. Pics on request for serious parties, located in McMinnville. Larry vintagevilla@gmail.com The Blue 380 SL with light gray interior is a complete car but the White 380 SL with a blue interior is missing the engine block. Both interiors are in excellent condition. All the body parts are straight except one fender on the Blue 380 SL, has a dent. The paint on both cars is poor. The two hardtops are in great shape except the White 380 SL has a cracked rear window and a small dent. Neither vehicle has any rust and are both solid. The White 380 is a California car and the Blue 380 is a Washington state car. The cars where purchased from the original owners and planned to restore one or both but circumstances will not permit. Call with inquiries and/or or you can me at pulmanlj@comcast.net Additional pictures available on request. Please support the advertisers of the Northwestern Star! Advertising Rates for 1 Issue / Multiple insertions receive a 15% discount Business Card size: $12 Quarter Page: $20 Half Page: $33 Full Page: $55 To place an ad contact Allen Stephens: allen.c.stephens@gmail.com or MARCH 2015 NORTHWESTERN STAR PAGE 11

12 PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE P A I D Portland, Oregon PERMIT NO Portland Section March 2015 Mailing Address: 2900 SW Garden View Ave. Portland, OR Portland Section Schedule of Events March 14th, 9AM to 2PM: Do It Yourself Event at MBI Motors, 10AM. March 21st, 10AM: Board Meeting, Memory Lane Motors April 17th: Tour of Vans Aircraft, details in this issue. July 19th: Mercedes-Benz Display at Forest Grove Concours d Elegance August 17th: Lake Oswego Collector Car Show. Details in April NW Star newsletter. September 19th, 10AM: Oregon Festival of Cars; special display dedicated to SPEED May TBD: Detail Clinic at Gallagher Auto Spa, 10AM June 27th: Drive to Moulton Falls Winery. Details in April NW Star Follow the Portland Section on Facebook! Visit our web site for the most up-to-date event information: