Getting There

In preparing Pea Soup, my green 1960 190SL, we reinforced the steering box attachment on the sub-frame and put the car on a dynamometer, which showed the engine to be in optimum condition. With 320,000 miles behind it, the little four produced 73.5 hp and 82.7 lb-ft of torque at the wheels, close to factory specification. We replaced the Pirelli tires (to my son’s delight, the old ones ended up on his 300D), and at 5:30 PM the day before my planned departure from Virginia, Pea Soup was on jack stands in the garage, serviced with fresh synthetic oils. I had just renewed the brake fluid when the brass sleeve on the lower radiator neck popped off. Engine coolant dumped out onto me, my tools, and the floor.

The radiator shops had all closed for the weekend, so I called Jim Villiers, Virginia Section president, in a panic. By midnight I had made the 100-mile round trip to Jim’s home, he had repaired the neck, and I had the radiator back in. Saturday morning I got a good night’s sleep, packed, and as I left at noon, I was relieved to see no coolant leaks.

Driving is as much fun as the destination, so I enjoyed every mile of beautiful I-64 across Virginia, through the mountains of West Virginia, and across the hills of Kentucky. At Louisville I eagerly headed north to Indianapolis. At the Sheraton there, I was delighted to be met by Tim Kidder, owner of K&K Manufacturing, who had completed a 25-month restoration of Pea Soup in 1988.

It was midnight, I had missed the welcome reception, and the car was covered with 743 miles worth of bugs and oil. It had to be on the field at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by eight in the morning for the concours d’elegance, but I reminded myself that I was here for fun. I was just thankful that this 42-year old coupe had carried me safely to StarFest ‘02.

More Travel Adventures

Meanwhile, Triangle Section members Len Sokoloff and wife, Kay, had driven their ivory 1959 220S Convertible 850 miles, their longest trip in it, to this field of dreams. They joined National Director At Large Gloria Scala-Vince in her C280 and Connie Belmont in her ML320, both from Suncoast Section, en route from in Florida. In Oak Ridge, Tennessee they visited Director At Large George Murphy then caravanned into Indianapolis. Len used none of his list of 20 mechanics along his route, though he did admit that it was a challenge following the ladies at over 90 mph!

John Salazar, Carolinas Section, drove his 1966 230SL all 590 miles from Shelby, North Carolina, enjoying every minute. I asked his wife, Belkis, how she liked the drive in 90-degree heat without air-conditioning. Smugly she replied, “I flew out.” Eventually I got a noncommittal, “I might ride back,” from her. John had spent three days preparing his car and earned first place in his class with a car that had been driven 97,350 miles!

Concours D’Elegance

Sunday morning I arrived at the Speedway with the only dirty car among a field of 132 pristine automobiles. Along the way I’d also lost a windshield wiper arm, and there was a permanent two-inch scar on the hardtop from an impact with a mutant insect. Tim and I grabbed a bottle of Perrier and a couple of rags and proceeded to smear the accumulation of bugs on the windshield, grille, and the rest of the car. When it came to debugging the old 190SL, I had a limited attention span, being distracted by the field of exceptional Mercedes-Benz automobiles.

Jim Cadwallader, Wisconsin Section, showed his faultless 1969 600. Approaching it, I noticed the windows being lowered. Now, we all lower windows, but I asked, “Do that again.” With uncanny silence and speed, up they went, and in a blink of the eye, down again. He smiled and said, “Hydraulic windows.”

Gitte and Joe Sutherly, Central Virginia Section, drove their 273,000-mi 1978 240D from Virginia Beach. Asked why, they both said they wanted to drive their car on the Brickyard. Led by a 770K Cabriolet from the Speedway museum, over 130 old and new Mercedes-Benzes lined up for a memorable parade lap around the legendary track and across the start-finish line’s yard of bricks. A track photographer shot each car as it crossed the line, providing a great memento.

Monday evening’s banquet featured Jim Rogers and Paige Parker, who shared highlights of their record-setting 245,000-km trip around the globe in their unusual yellow “GLK.” The three-year trip took them through 116 countries. As described in a previous issue of The Star, Gerhard Steinle, former president of Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design’s California studio, and his Prisma Design International team mated an SLK230 with a 177-hp, 3-liter turbodiesel and a Gela<u>ndewagen chassis to create this Millennium Mercedes-Benz. Jim and Paige’s fascinating after-dinner presentation described their human experiences of the trip and drew dozens of questions.

Driving Events

Indianapolis Raceway Park, on a rural site just minutes from the Speedway, was the site of four days of driving events. Owned by the National Hot Rod Association, it includes a drag strip, a five-eighths-mile paved oval, and a 2.5-mile road course. More than 100 drivers took the defensive driving course or ran in the time trials, autocross, and acceleration runs.

Barry and Sharyn King arrived from Houston Section with their 1999 CL600. Barry wanted to see how his V-12 coupe would maneuver through the tight autocross and looked forward to the time trials and acceleration run. He said, “Where can you take a CL600 and drive it fast in a controlled environment?” Sharyn was less philosophical when she said, “Barry is crazy.”

Pirelli Autocross

The autocross got off to a late start after Chairman Denis Simmons, International Stars Section, had to contend with an 18-wheeler full of motorcycles that was parked squarely in the middle of the site. Frank Cozza had the best time at 38.346 seconds, with Norm Crowe, Western Reserve Section, at his heels with a 38.595. Jorge Garcia, Houston Section, enjoyed the most seat time on the course with a best time of 68.829 in his SLK230.

The prize for who had the most fun on the course would have been a toss-up between Tim Kidder in his 560SEC and Jerry Kappler, Mile-High Section, in his 500SEL, as both power-slid through the turns. Recently married Larry and Mary Taylor from Keystone Section drove their 300E, Mary placing third in class behind Larry’s first. Bill Hilborn from the national office turned in a time of 41.872 sec, compared to his boss, MBCA Executive Director David Cummings’ 42.538. What did we all enjoy most about the autocross? When National President Donald Leap showed up in the MBCA van with lunch!

Tire Rack Performance Driving School

On our day to run the time trials, we arrived at 7:30 AM, anxious to get out on the 15-turn road course. Our cars were inspected, Ted Gottfried put white marks on our tire sidewalls, and we went to the drivers meeting. This was not a racing school but a driving school, and the instructor reminded us that our hands follow our eyes. “If you look at the tunnel going under the short straight between turns 2 and 3, you could end up in it.” This was not about going fast; it was about everyone driving at their own skill level.

Run-off area was non-existent in turn 15, and it says something about the quality of our cars and the skill of our instructors and 75 drivers that none of us hit the concrete wall. We ran nine cars per session, even though the track was capable of handling 30 cars.

When rain began, almost everyone went back to the hotel. I was under the Michelin tent with Tim Kidder when Bob Sowle from Avon Tires joined us. He mentioned that his 450SL got hit in the front, and he noticed that its sub-frame was the same as that of a 240D he had. So he put the 2.4-liter diesel engine and its transmission into his 450SL. The switch required some surgery, and he installed flexible lines for the oil filter and fitted a turbocharger with no wastegate. Bob said, “The faster I would drive it, the faster it would go.”

When asked why she accompanied her husband to the track, one lady replied, “I wanted to be here to see him do something stupid. I will benefit from this in a couple of months.” Carolann and Russ Sternberg from Gateway Section arrived in their 500SL. This was their first national driving event and while uninterested in setting the best time, they looked forward to a good hands-on driving experience.

Norm Crowe turned in the fastest time driving his 2002 C32 AMG then loaned his tires to Mary Alice Cozza after the cords appeared on hers. Her husband, Frank, ran out of gas in their SLK32 AMG. “It must burn a lot of gas at 125 mph,” he remarked. Kathy Libertini, Pittsburgh Section, competing in a CLK320, beat her husband. She stated, “I went faster than I ever thought I could go in anything.”

Michelin Acceleration Runs

Wednesday afternoon the track manager asked if we would need the drag strip that evening. I thought, “Drag strip? We don’t drag race.” Then it dawned on me that what we call acceleration runs is the same as drag racing. As 61 cars paired off under the lights, I heard Doris Day singing “Que sera sera, whatever will be will be,” booming from a 500SL. A dozen men joined in spontaneously. Our choice of music was different from that of the NHRA crowd.

As cars approached the start line, a pair of small yellow lights lit, then a second pair lit when their front tires stopped on the line. At one-tenth sec intervals, three yellow lights flashed on, then a green light, and they were off!

It was great to see two red SLK32 AMGs head down the track side by side. Their times were separated by mere hundredths of a second. The drivers’ reaction times made a difference. If I let out the clutch and hit the gas as the second yellow came on, I left just as the green light came on. When I popped the clutch with just one yellow lit, a bright red light told me I’d left before the green. Not good! The evening’s best reaction time was 0.005 second!

Michael Curcio had the best time, 12.7 seconds, driving his awesome CLK55 AMG with a Kleemann supercharger and intercooler. Riding with Michael as he flew down the strip in this 560-hp CLK prepared by MB Autowerks, I was amazed how civilized it was. As he warmed the tires, I put up the window to keep out the smoke, and 12.7 sec later we were doing 110 mph! I haven’t had so much fun since college days when I’d cruise the Carolina back roads at 145 mph in a Corvette with redline tires and tungsten headlights.

At that evening’s award banquet we found out who had lead feet. Husband-beating ran rampant. Tina Kaiser, Hudson-Mohawk Section, beat Bruce in their 300CE; Wisconsin Section’s Donna Jones beat Steven in their 190E 2.3-16; Mary Alice Cozza beat Frank; Kay Roth, Cincinnati Section, beat Michael in their S430; and Western Reserve Section’s Tracy DiPasquale shut out Brian using their 2003 SL500. Weight must have something to do with it!

Harman/Becker Rally

Eric Goodrich, Cincinnati Section, planned the Harman/Becker Rally. Rallyists either love the rallymaster or want to stick pins in him. The Williams, from Bluegrass Stars Section, got so lost that they had to use their GPS to find their way back. Then there was the group found waiting by a river; the last page of their instructions was missing. Tim and I missed the windmill on 96th Street, so we backed up the road (to avoid rolling up extra miles) and into a warehouse where, to our chagrin, the employees knew nothing of the windmill, a mere block away. We also missed the 15-ft pink elephant holding a martini. What we didn’t miss was rain. The Sheraton’s staff had told us no rain was forecast, so we’d removed the hardtop and left it there.

Doug and Nora Ochwat, Northern New Jersey Section, won the rally, proving that the if the instructions were simply followed, the 50 miles could be driven without risking divorce.

Mercifully, Eric’s separate 156-mi historic tour through rural Indiana was un-timed and designed purely for enjoyment, delighting us as we crossed old covered bridges and drove back roads through huge cornfields and past old farms.

Mercedes-Benz Grand Finale Dinner

Good food, good music, and good friends made the final evening, hosted by Mercedes-Benz USA, a delight. The night exemplified Gottlieb Daimler, “The best or nothing.”

Having had a pacemaker installed on his way to StarFest, Western Regional Director Richard Simonds earned a special place as the most determined entrant (see The Star. Ed.). The Section of the Year Award went to Pikes Peak Section, with Cincinnati Section and Triangle Section runners-up. The Pirelli Public Service Award went to Southwest Florida Section. After the driving event awards were presented, Dick Pedersen, Greater Washington Section, earned the prestigious Mercedes-Benz USA Award for best combined score in all events.