Mercedes-Benz Classic is underlining its activities in the USA with several highlights. On Friday, August 12, 2022, the new Mercedes-Benz Classic Center will open in Long Beach, California. With this meeting place for the brand's classic vehicles and their fans, the company is strengthening its heritage activities in the USA. The following day, "Classics & Coffee" celebrates the opening and invites visitors to tour the new location.
And just under a week later, Monterey Car Week kicks off on August 17, 2022, with the highlight of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Sunday, August 21, 2022. Among the highly exclusive and spectacular classic cars on display there, the Mercedes-Benz C 111 from 1969, which was never built in series, stands out. It is a unique opportunity: it will be presented together with the world-famous depiction of the vehicle from the "Cars" series by pop artist Andy Warhol.
New Mercedes-Benz Classic Center Long Beach
With the opening of its new Classic Center in Long Beach, Mercedes-Benz Classic is opening the next chapter of its presence in the USA. Over the past two decades, the brand's vehicles have been maintained, serviced and restored from the ground up at the previous Classic Center south of Los Angeles in Irvine. Long Beach continues this tradition and at the same time expands the spectrum. 400 guests, including customers, dealers and representatives of the world's oldest automobile manufacturer, will attend the luxurious and cinematic opening of the Classic Center under the motto "A star is reborn". An evocative show design: Long Beach was the capital of film until Hollywood took over this role. Marcus Breitschwerdt, Head of Mercedes-Benz Heritage, describes the Classic Center Long Beach as a "place of craftsmanship, knowledge and expertise, a meeting place for classic car enthusiasts and a hub for the brand's heritage".
Mercedes-Benz has traditionally had very close ties to the United States. On the one hand, the market is an important customer for automobiles with the famous three-pointed star. On the other hand, the brand has picked up impulses from there: The SL sports cars 190 SL (W 121) and 300 SL (W 198) were created in the 1950s at the suggestion of the brand's importer for the eastern United States at the time, the visionary entrepreneur Maximilian E. Hoffmann. A large proportion of the production of both and all subsequent SL generations was delivered to the USA.
Monterey Car Week 2022
For 26 years, Mercedes-Benz has been one of the sponsors of Monterey Car Week, the glamorous event for luxurious and exquisite automobiles. Numerous Mercedes-Benz cars in top condition are an integral part of the event every year. In 2022, the focus will be on the Mercedes-Benz C 111, among others. The extremely flat super sports car designed for use with the Wankel engine will be presented to the enthusiastic world public in 1969. To the regret of many brand fans, it was never produced in series. One of the few experimental vehicles from the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection is on display at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Monterey Car Week now provides the rare opportunity to see another one in public. The masterpieces from the world-famous "Cars" series by pop artist Andy Warhol are similarly rare. In California, it is possible to take a look at both the model and the depiction: thanks to the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection, the C 111 is coming face to face with the work of the great American artist. The exhibition "Andy Warhol: Cars - Works from the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection" will be shown together with the super sports car at Monterey Car Week - as well as before and again afterwards at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance
The C 111 will also lead the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance, the popular drive on the roads of California. It will be driven by Marcus Breitschwerdt. A new Mercedes-AMG SL (R 232 model series) will also be used as the lead vehicle, with Dimitris Psillakis, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, at the wheel.
The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, a competition for fine automobiles on the Pacific coast of California, has been held since 1950 and is a highlight of the annual international classic car calendar. Around 200 collector's cars compete for the title of "Best of Show" around the 18th hole of the Pebble Beach Golf Club. Outstanding classic cars from Mercedes-Benz have already been awarded this title nine times.
Last year, the coveted trophy went to one of only two 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540 K "Autobahn Courier" ever built from the Keller Collection, Petaluma, California.
