Palo Alto Concours 2010: over 40 Mercedes on display

Palo Alto Concours 2010: Mike Blanton discusses the merits of his creamy Gullwing as new SLS owner Larry Brackett looks on. Blanton's voluptuous rudge wheel GW certainly contrasts the edgy, muscular SLS. Would you connect the two cars if the SLS lacked a grille star and had doors closed?

Pat Matthews' glorious - and with only 53 constructed exceedingly rare - 300Sc Roadster was an early arrival.

Bruce Canepa (Canapa Design, Scotts Valley CA) can always be relied on to display a showstopper. His 1962 Black/Black Roadster featured some rare factory options: 6" wheels, 3.23 final drive ratio and high compression engine. Bruce noted the car produced 190hp at the rear wheels on the chassis dyno. Pathetic in today's world, 190hp is serious power for a roadster. Canepa was coy about the price, noting it was sold for north of $700k. Look at the razor sharp reflections in the door and front fenders - a result of precise metal preparation.

Jim Morris performed most of the restoration on his 1959 220S Convertible himself. 14" wheels - 220s were originally fitted with 13" wheels - aid drivability by effectively raising the final drive ratio.

Gerry Holzapple's understated 173 Grey 280SL is a blend of largely original interior and fresh chrome adorning bare metal resprayed coachwork

Advertisement

A 280SL presented in a most unusual color/trim combination. Craig Hartman's Moss Green/Green full leather 280SL is gorgeous and correct. Green on Green! One of my favorites and a car I restored some years ago prior to selling to Craig.

Advertisement

Who in their right mind would fully restore a 220SE sedan? Pat Matthews! He saved what is quite a rare ponton sedan, 1 of the 1,974 fuel injected examples. How many had sunroofs?. Probably less than 100. This sedan is indeed a rare car.

Advertisement

Byron and Myra Brill's 1971 280SE 3.5 is finished in Midnight Blue(904) with Parchment leather, a rich and desirable combination. Proper 3.5 Cabriolets easily bring $100k+ today and deservedly so. A well sorted example is a comfortable, quick and eminently usable classic today.

Greg Hubit managed to snag this extraordinary low grille 280SE Cabriolet out from under the noses of a number of SF Bay area enthusiasts including this editor. It is also an original Moss Green/Green leather car - like Greg Hartman's 280SL a few cars above - and fitted with a green soft top. It showed only 16k miles(!) on the odometer when he purchased it a few years ago. It is certainly one of the lowest mileage, original 111 chassis convertibles in existence. I'm still depressed at missing this car.

The heavyweight of the Mercedes-Benz on display, Arturo Keller

Who in their right mind would fully restore a 220SE coupe? Pat Matthews! These cozy coupes were largely hand crafted by Mercedes-Benz and cost twice as much as the base six cylinder sedan, the 219. Pat's car is stunning in Midnight Blue with Grey leather.

Larry Brackett is a certified Mercedes nut having owned 60 or 70 examples over the decades. He's not interested in the classics, however, and just added a new SLS to share his garage with this SLR. According to Larry his new SLS is vastly more user-friendly than his SLR.

Larry Brackett's dilemma is what to drive on Sunday morning, the new SLS in the foreground or his SLR behind. What a dilemma!

Chuck and Sue Cortsen's cheery 1953 220 Cabriolet A is a prewar design carrying 170 styling cues. The faired in headlights tell us this is a post war 220.

Sigi Appelt's stately 1960 300d looks quite smart in Silver with acres of Red trim. Three liters and fuel injection provided a respectable 160hp for the ponderous "Adenauer." Only 3,077 were constructed.

300SLs were well represented. Rudge wheels complement this Silver/Red roadster nicely.

Susan Hoebich's 190SL was fitted with slightly(!) non-standard ostrich skin interior trim. The car is fitted with the large rear window hardtop introduced during the 1958 model year.

Event sponsor Academy of Art University provided their 540K Convertible B (4 passenger convertible w/rear quarter window) in recognition of Mercedes-Benz as the featured marque.