CLUB NEWS Get busy with your Mercedes

2017

is shaping up to be the MercedesBenz Club’s busiest ever year. With its growing membership now approaching 12,000, the year’s programme of national events starts with a stand at the London Classic Car Show in February. Then there will be the usual trip to TechnoClassica in Germany in April, followed by a tour of Spain and Portugal and an SLK Day in May. The National Concours, National Weekend and SL Day are booked for June. There will be a major presence at the Silverstone Classic and a W123 Day in July and a rally in Ireland in September.

Whether you want to pit your car against the best in the Club in a concours competition...

...or drive the by-ways of Spain...

Whether your car is a classic or brand new you will be welcome at all these events – plus the dozens of local shows, rallies and social occasions the Club takes part in or organises across the country. ...or Ireland, the Club has something for you.

To get the most out of your enthusiasm for MercedesBenz, join the Club now – via this website or by calling 0345 6032660 . them, and a To take part in host of others, join the Club now – via this website or by calling 0345 6032660.

Highlights in 2016 London Classic Car Show – February 18-20 The Club had a major stand at this new event – in just its second year.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – Sunday April 3

The Mercedes-Benz Club held what is thought to be be the first car club event at the Olympic Park, with Members bringing a wide range of cars from all over the country.

Techno-Classica, Essen, Germany – April 7 - 10

The Mercedes-Benz Classic stand at TechnoClassica in 2015 featured the reconstructed 540K streamliner... ...and Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson’s Mille Miglia-winning 300SLR amongst a host of other breathtaking cars.

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n April two coach-loads of Club Members, plus others travelling under their own steam, made the traditional pilgrimage to the largest indoor classic car event in the world. As usual the show

included a massive Mercedes-Benz Classic stand plus displays from many Mercedes and other marque clubs as well as halls full of dealers’ cars for sale, spare parts, tools, models and books.

Donington Historic Festival – April 30 - May 2

Some of the cars racing at Donington Park.

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lub Members once again enjoyed discounted tickets for this prestigious event and joined the display on the Club stand right by the track.

France and Spain Rally – May 23 to June 5

The route for the 14-day rally.

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San Sebastian beach.

his was a great chance for Club Members to enjoy their cars on the challenging roads of the Pyrenees and relax in luxurious hotels – including two days in San Sebastian. The return journey was in the comfort of a Brittany Ferries liner.

National Concours – June 18

Frank Gillett and his wife with their ‘Best in Show’ W124 saloon.

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he Mercedes-Benz Club once again held its National Concours in Milton Keynes in June – at the kind invitation of Mercedes-Benz UK. As usual it attracted many of the finest Mercedes in the country – from ‘everyday’ cars in the Enthusiasts’ classes, through the more rigorously judged Concours d’Elegance to the pinnacle of the Masterclass. Best in Show was Frank Gillett with his W124, which he has owned from new. A new class, also featuring W124s from the 1990s, was for V8-engined cars, such as the 500E/E500, this was won by Ahmad Rida with his Brabus 6.5. Other Masterclass winners were Andy Holmes with his 190SL, Simon Harrison with his E320 coupé and a new Low Mileage Class was won by Brian Ellis with his R107 300SL.

Ahmad Rida (left) with his father and his Brabus 6.5.

Andy and Theresa Holmes preparing their 190SL.

National Weekend and SL Day – July 2-3 There was all manner of transport entertainment at the Flywheel Festival.

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he Mercedes-Benz Club’s premier national event this year was held in conjunction with the Flywheel Festival at Bicester Heritage. Members were based at a hotel in Stratford-upon-

Avon and the programme included museum visits, a scenic drive, a gala dinner and the SL Day displays and competitions.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the CLK Following a weekend’s driving in County Durham in All models of CLK – coupé and cabriolet, W208 and June, from July 9 to 17 CLK enthusiasts in the 209 – took part. CLKs are amongst the most popular Mercedes-Benz Club enjoyed a rally to the Bremen cars in the Club – join now to share the fun. factory where the cars were built.

Celebrating the CLK.

W123 Day – Sunday July 24

Part of the display at a previous W123 Day.

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he Club’s 2016 W123 Day was held at the newly refurbished British Motor Museum in Gaydon and marked the 40th anniversary of this iconic model. All variants of the W123 were there, from Berlin taxis to ambulances and everything in between. All

entrants received a 40th anniversary Monte Carlo-style rally plate and the first 80 to arrive enjoyed reduced priced entry to the museum. Prizes were awarded for the best W123s and the best non-W123.

Silverstone Classic – July 29-31

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he Club had a major stand right at the heart of the Silverstone Classic weekend. Members had been able to take advantage of reduced price tickets to see all the racing action and other enter-

tainment at this massive event and there were track parades to acknowledge the 20th anniversaries of the CLK and SLK and the 25th of the W140 S-Class.

Ignition Festival of Motoring, Glasgow – August 5-7

SLR McLaren – featured in Glasgow.

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he Mercedes-Benz Club took a prominent stand at this new event, featuring five cars, including an SLR McLaren Silver Arrow formerly owned by David Coulthard.

S-Fest 16, Coventry Transport Museum – August 21

This event marked the 25th anniversary of the W140 S-Class.

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elebrating all things S-Class, this event, held at the Coventry Transport Museum, attracted

a display of a wide selection of top-of-the-range Mercedes.

W124 Weekend – September 3 - 4

F There were over 70 W124s at this year’s event.

ollowing the success of last year’s event in Stratford-upon-Avon, W124 enthusiasts in the Club returned to the same venue in 2016. The theme was ‘High Mileage’ so the focus of the concours was not on how shiny the cars were but how good they looked for the miles covered.

Kop Hill Climb – September 17-18

The Mercedes-Benz Club had a major presence at this historic event.

This year the Mercedes-Benz Club had its second outing at Kop (near Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire), with its stand featuring models that were first built before the 1980s – in accordance with the event’s policy.

SLK Days, Mercedes-Benz World – June 26 and Chatsworth – September 18

Part of the SLK Day line up in 2015.

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he Club celebrated the 20th anniversary of the launch of the SLK at two events in 2016. At Mercedes-Benz World in June examples of all models were present and there were track demonstrations, parade laps, a ‘Show ’n’ Shine’ competition plus presentations and advice from the Club’s Technical Team. A similar event took place at Chatsworth in Derbyshire in September.

The programme at SLK Days always includes technical presentations.

Members’ cars on the MB World handling circuit.

CL Day, RAF Museum – September18

W215 and W216 CL coupés were on display.

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his was the Club’s first event exclusively celebrating these fabulous-looking, top-of-therange coupés. Both W215s and W216s took centre-stage but, as at all Club events, all models of Mercedes-Benz (and other marques) were

welcome to attend. The venue was the RAF Museum at Cosford, near Wolverhampton where, if you tired of the cars, there were plenty of other things to catch your imagination.

The venue was the RAF Museum, Cosford – which includes a ‘Cold War’ hangar amongst its many displays.

The Club stand at the Classic Motor Show was busy all weekend.

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he Mercedes-Benz Club’s last national event of 2016 was a very successful display at the Classic Motor Show at the NEC in November. It featured more cars than ever before – and more prizes, both for visiting Members and for

2016 Classic Motor Show – November 11-13

the Club volunteers running the stand. The Members’ Café provided a chance to relax with a tea or coffee and biscuits and over 200 new or renewed memberships were completed at the show. The Club’s

Technical Team was on hand to offer advice and the Club Shop did a roaring trade. In December there are at least 10 different Christmas parties and lunches being held across the country and the event calendar for 2017

is already filling – with a stand at the London Classic Car Show, the usual trip to Techno-Classica in Germany, a tour of Spain and Portugal, an SLK Day, the National Concours, the National Weekend and SL Day, a major presence at the Silverstone Classic, a W123 Day and a rally in Ireland already confirmed.

W124 with its bonnet in the ‘service’ position ready for Technical Team demonstrations.

This 280SE 3.5 was chosen as the best car on the stand.

The Benz Patent Motorwagen replica, loaned by Mercedes-Benz UK, was used to raise money for the Club’s current nominated charity Help for Heroes – in exchange for an opportunity to be photographed at its tiller.

More BTCC bubbly Adam Morgan on opposite lock at 120mph in the A-Class at Silverstone.

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t the British Touring Car Championship meeting at Silverstone, the Wix-sponsored Ciceley Motorsport-prepared A-Class, driven by Mercedes-Benz Club Member Adam Morgan, took second place in race two – his third podium finish of the season.

Archive developments The Brooklands Control Tower.

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he Club’s Archive, which contains an amazing collection of brochures, technical literature, price lists and photos, as well as the Club’s history, is now well established in offices in the old Control Tower at Brooklands. The work of ‘digitising’ the Archive contents is well in hand and a website presenting it is now on-line. Club Membership brings you access to all this fascinating material.

A tiny selection of the material in the Club Archive.

Not just national events The Club’s Regional Officers run events across the country throughout the year.

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full list of Club events can be found on this site if you click on the ‘Events’ button. You will find that, as well as the national events, there are over 100 regional shows, visits, drives and social occasions – across the UK and the whole of Ireland – plus 20 regular pub meetings. The newest region is Milan in Italy. To get more details you need to join the Club, which you can also do via this site or by calling 0845 6032660.

If you do not yet own the car you would like it is just as important to join because many excellent Members’ cars are advertised only in the monthly Gazette and you can get help in finding a good one from the Club’s Model Register Captains, Technical Advisers and from the forums on the Members’ pages of this website.

The latest Club Gazette

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he February Gazette includes a report of the Club’s first CL Day, a first-hand account of taking part in the Mille Miglia retro with a diesel Ponton saloon, the story of Ayrton Senna’s SEC and driving impressions of an SLR McLaren. ‘Technical corner’ has tips on solving the annoying problem of condensation in R129 SL distributor caps and an article from a Club Member who is producing wind-deflectors for W113 Pagoda SLs. There is also all the usual news of the Club’s events across the country, updates from the

Mercedes-Benz companies and the customary busy letters pages. In addition this Gazette is accompanied by the latest issue of the Club Directory, sent only to fully paid-up Members, which includes contact details for all the Club’s Officials – including the Technical Advisers and Model Register Captains. It also contains information on the discounts available from Mercedes-Benz dealers, all the other special offers Club Members can enjoy and the ‘Good Garage Guide’ of Members’ recommendations. SLR McLaren.

Cosford. CL Day at RAF

W113 SL wind-deflector. The Mille in a 180D Miglia .

R129 SL distributor caps. Ayrton Senna with his 500SEC.

The Club ‘bible’ of contacts, offers and recommendations.

On-line technical information

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ince November 2009 Club Members have had free access to the Mercedes-Benz Electronic Parts Catalogue (EPC). This enables you to identify the part number for any component from all models since 1945 – it is usually only made available to garages, at a cost. Instructions on how to use this facility were given in the December Mercedes-Benz Club Gazette and are included in the Members’ pages of this website. Now the Mercedes-Benz Workshop Information System (WIS) has been made available to Club Members. This gives full service and repair instructions, including wiring diagrams, for all models from the 1990s onwards.

DISCOUNTED INSURANCE

The Club has a panel of approved insurers that offer a full range of policies, all with discounted rates for Members.

If you need technical help…

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ll the technical articles and tips that have appeared in the Mercedes-Benz Club Gazette are now available – to Members – from the Members’ pages of this website, via a simple to use search engine. If you can’t find the answer there, contact details for the Club’s Technical Advisers, Model Register Captains and its ‘Good Garage Guide’ of Members’ recommendations are all listed in the Club Directory supplied to new Members.

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s well as free access to the Mercedes-Benz Electronic Parts Catalogue and Workshop Information System mentioned above, Club Members can take advantage of preferential terms from a wide range of companies and organisations. These include discounts of up to 40 per cent from appointed Mercedes-Benz dealers and 15 per cent from alloy wheel refurbishers The Wheel Specialists and the ChipEx stone chip repair system. Members are entitled to a number of exclusive discounts from hotels

and ferry operators. These can help you get the best possible enjoyment from your Mercedes at home and abroad. The ferry deals cover Channel and Irish Sea crossings where significant reductions are available. Brittany Ferries also offer a discount on ferry-inclusive holiday bookings. To keep your Mercedes in top condition there are offers on oils, battery chargers, car covers, cleaning materials, leather repairs and replacement parts. If you are buying a car, there are special terms on inspections and warranties – and

for peace of mind there are deals on breakdown recovery. There are also special prices for high-performance driving instruction at Millbrook and discounts on men’s wear and ladies’ clothing from Peter Christian. There is a 15 per cent saving on Christopher Ward watches and 10 per cent off DVDs and books from Terrific Stuff. The latest special offer for Members is a chance to try polo – in the beautiful surroundings of the Luton Hoo estate – with a 15 per cent discount.

Club Members enjoy substantial discounts on a wide range of products and services such as...

…ferries…

...car covers…

...a chance to try polo...

…men’s wear…

…battery chargers…

...Christopher Ward watches...

…and high-performance driving.

CLUB SHOP – now available from this website

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wide choice of Club clothing, personal and car accessories, books and Backpack, black DVDs can now be ordered from this website and all the prices quoted and tan with silver Club logo. include UK post and packing. t £19.00

£13 .50

£19 .00 p Baseball

caps in navy, black, red, burgundy or bottle green with silver Club logo. £13.50

Club holdall/sports-bag in various colours £26.00 q

£60 .00 £26 .00

p Reversible

jacket with Club logo. £60.00

Coolplus polo shirt in blue, black or sapphire. £29.00 q

£22 .00

Soft-shell jacket, available in gents or ladies in various colours. £65.00 q p Club

wall clock. £22.00 Club sweater, now in Burgundy plus other colours. £32.00

£29 .00

£32 .00

£65 .00 Woollen beanie hats with Club logo, various colours. £14.00 q

Padded body-warmer with Club logo. £34.50

£19 .00

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£14 .00

£34 .50

Club tie – limited availability. £19.00 u