Tracking History of NATO Car

[IndySam]

I am a fairly new owner of a 1970 Mercedes 280SL and a new member here.  I have the data card from my car and it has been very interesting using it to try to decipher my car's history.  From what I can tell, it was originally delivered as a NATO car and the data cards have 2 names, one "Capt. Lavoie" which would align with the NATO program origins, and then "Henryk Madler Kron" of Noyan, Quebec, Canada.  The next name I found was included with a stack of invoices from MERCEDES BENZ of Canada in Quebec and was Mario Levesque, who restored the car in 1990.  I also have a copy of a newsletter from the MBCA-Montreal section with a picture of Mario receiving a trophy the car won as "People's Choice" in the summer of 1990.  I have documentation that it was sold in the Kruse Auction in Auburn, IN during the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, to Glenbrook Dodge in Fort Wayne, IN.  From there, it was sold to my friend, Randy Strebig and I purchased from his estate.

In tracing/confirming the history, I wrote to the US Classic Center and they responded that they can't tell me where the car was delivered or any ownership information.  I've asked them to point me in the direction to any group internal to MB that might have the info but have not heard back.  Does anyone have any insight as to how I could find out where the car was originally shipped, ownership, etc? 

I did a search but may have overlooked the right answer.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
Sam

[Cees Klumper]

Could you please expand on what you refer to as "a NATO car" and "the NATO program" in relation to the Pagoda? So far I've not heard of any special program between MB and any organization like NATO. I am familiar with the European delivery program, that for example many American servicemen made use of when they were stationed in Europe, but I've never heard of anything else structured like that.

[IndySam]

If you look at the data card, under Auftrags-Nr. / Order No., the 1st digit refers the year ordered, the next 3 digits identify the country.  In my case, the 1st digit is 9 and the next 3 are "401" and "401" = NATO Affiliated.  I've seen on a couple of sites that NATO personnel & diplomatic mission members qualify and you need a NATO ID card to prove status.  As I understand it, NATO is one of the few organizations Mercedes has a deal with.  There are also 3 digit identifiers for "TOURISTS EXCEPT US" - 402 and "FOREIGN DIPLOMATS" - 403.

On my original Data Card, the back identifies the 1st owner as a "Capt. Lavoie".  I am assuming he was in Europe for part of a NATO deployment, perhaps with the Canadian military as the car ended up in Quebec.

By the way, I see you are restoring a Mustang with your son.  What a fantastic project that must be.  I envy you on that.

Sam

[Cees Klumper]

Ok thanks for that, that is helpful. When I lived in Geneva, from 2009 to 2016, I worked with the UN and had diplomat status also. We could buy under special programs from all car manufacturers, essentially it removed all taxes and import duties from new car prices, which in Europe especially tend to be very high especially on the more expensive luxury cars. Yet, when the time came in 2010 to buy another car, I figured out it was still far cheaper in the long run despite the diplomatic discount, to buy used and I ended up getting an 8 year old Volvo S80 with 40K miles for $10K, we still have it today with now 160K miles.
The Mustang is coming along nicely. Almost ready for its bare metal repaint, the V8 has been completely rebuilt with a hotter cam and new aluminum heads, should be close to 300 hp. We"re converting from auto to a Tremec 6-speed, adding air conditioning, etc etc. Should be finished toward the end of this year, I will post some pictures in that thread.

Back to your topic, finding original ownership information has alluded many, including due to privacy considerations on the part of Mercedes, dealers, national registration authorities, previous owners etc.

[zoegrlh]

I agree with you Sam, car was most likely brought back to Canada upon Capt Lavoie’s return after duty with NATO forces. I would try to do a search for that name living or did live in Canada. Also then look up Kron. Got to be a way to do that.

[Pawel66]

Is asking some NATO administration unit where given person was stationed in given time is a complete nonsense idea?

[zoegrlh]

Agree NATO would not give that information, but when in Canada, possibly could trace.

[Jack the Knife]

The second guy is quite easy to find with a name like that. I'd just ask him.

[mdsalemi]

I've always been mystified by the frequent desire to find ownership provenance. To what end? What kind of information would you be looking for? More importantly, just because it came from an owner, how can you verify its accuracy?

I know that my uncle owned my car from late 1969 until his death in 1998, and then I got it a year later. This intimate knowledge brings me no information. We don't know how or why the car, being sold new in New York, ended up as a six month old used car on the lot of a Simca dealer outside of Philadelphia. I don't know what possible information all these years later, that would bring to me. More information was gleaned by the restorer (and me) during the restoration.

Quite a few years ago now, I facilitated the deal between one of my friends, an older woman of German birth in Michigan who owned a 1971 Pagoda bought new, and one of our members here from Poland. The deal took place in Detroit. The member from Poland flew over, I had pre-inspected the car, and brought the two together. Behind closed doors they consummated the sale. But, funny thing: the memory of the owner was tainted. She said it was never crashed, but we discovered upon close examination, evidence of minor body work. She said it had never been repainted, but the overspray in many areas indicated that it had been, at least in part. There were other errors of omission (mechanical) that the seller simply just didn't remember, or her mechanic wasn't straightforward with her about. She thought it was completely, 100% "all original" and it was not.

This is WAY different than the OCD compulsive owner who has records of every fill up on fuel, every bit of service, every receipt and copious photos of the heritage over the decades. The owner here was more typical of any car owner. But over many decades, memory fades and or is distorted. Thus, for example, I'm not sure of what value speaking with an owner of a 230SL, the first in a line of many say, from 1965, would bring you. Maybe some old photos, that's probably the only thing that can be guaranteed to be somewhat accurate.