Speyer 113 gathering of 360+ pagodes

[LFrank]

http://www.sl-day.de/html/bilder.html

which Albert has brought to our attention is amazing; with that many cars there, surely someone reading this was there and can reply with some details? Like, were all cars from Germany? Any special events? Awards? Speeches?

LFrank
Washington DC
65 230 sl
DB334/Hellblau

[rwmastel]

Anyone who attended this event and would like to write an article about it for Pagoda World, please e-mail me by clicking on my ID to the left of this message.

Thanks,

Rodd
1966 230SL Euro
1994 E420

[Gerhard]

Most of the cars were from Germany, I did see about 8 Dutch Pagodas, lots of Brittish, Switzerland, 1 or 2 Italians and a couple of unknowns. No special events except for one Pagoda still in the possesion of the first owner with some 1,200,000 km on the counter in original condition no restoration done. During the hours we attended there were no speeches. Awards must be the Guiness book of records.



Gerhard
1965 230SL

[tobacco]

So, how many Pagodas do you think could be gathered for a group photo in the United States?  Maybe a hundred?  And would you have to do it on the West Coast?

Bill Greffin
Chicago
#22375

[France]

I attended, just 40 mins from my home in France.  It was a blast--as we approached Speyer, the roads became increasingly filled with SLs, ours included.  There were 7-8 300s, five or six roadsters and a couple of gullwings.  There were no boring speeches, just quick intros and awards of two prizes donated by Lufthansa--a trip within Europe, and tah-tah!!! a trip to Portland, OR.  SF or Vancouver I could understand, but Portland??  Oh well... I am just a snooty old Californian...

Trice

[Naj ✝︎]

Yes, I was there too, together with Achim Ahlert and met Hans Storm from Sweden.
There were about 20 pagodas from Britain but we all made our way there individually. We were guests of the German SL-Club Pagode and were assigned a couple of local members to look after our every need. There were around 200 cars in all and owners booked into the Marriott hotel at Heidelberg.
Some of us started arriving from Wednesday and had tourist visits organised for us by the Pagode club.
Thursday: Walking tour of Heidelberg am, dinner at Marriott.
Friday: Official registration from 10 am. This was a sight to see!! Upto 15 pagodas parked on the forecourt at any one time as owners parked here to go in and register - then move to the underground garage as more cars arrived.The garage was taken over by the club and expect for a few guests who had arrived without their pagodas, ALL the cars here were 113s!! Dinner at Heidelberg Castle.
Saturday: Country drive to Sinsheim Museum and lunch. Gala dinner at Kongress House in city centre,transported there by boat from Marriott private jetty.
Sunday: Country drive to Speyer - pictures of which you have seen. Around 800 Sls in total here. These were the ones that had registered and had an entrance pass. Others had to park outside the museum.
Lunch and speeches in German - so not sure what was discussed. Evening - Another Castle visit and dinner.
Monday: River boat tour up river from Heidelberg and lunch on board.PM depart for ....
Every detail perfectly arranged by the German Mercedes-Benz SL-Club Pagode - wow! And special appreciation for Bernd Meyer-Brockel who was the chief organiser. What a show!
Did I miss anything?
naj
p.s. I have some high definition pictures. Can somebody tell me how to upload them??
naj

naj
'Kloines Scheisserle'
65 230SL
68 280SL

Download Attachment: speyer1.jpg
66.4 KB

[Jonny B]

As a shameless promoter of the Western Reserve section of the Mercedes Club of NA, the national convention is to be held at the end of July, first of August 2004. The event will be held in Mansfield Ohio (just north of Columbus) with the driving events at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car course. This is a fabulous venue, with a number of different events during the course of the week, including a concourse, acceleration runs, autocross, time trials (at Mid Ohio), and a rallye (by yours truly).

What do ya'll think??

Jonny B.

[Naj ✝︎]

Just added a picture to my original post.
Have a look see.
naj

naj
'Kloines Scheisserle'
65 230SL
68 280SL

[Naj ✝︎]

Hello Posters,

Here is a link to some of My Pictures from Heidelberg/Speyer Pagoda event:

http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b32fce39c453

Enjoy!!! [:p]


naj
'Kloines Scheisserle'
65 230SL
68 280SL

[Klaus]

A friend of mine just brought me the August 03 issue of the MVC Depesche, the club magazine of the German Mercedes-Benz Veterans Club. In this magazine the following statistics are shown:
Vehicles still existing in Germany in 2002:
230 SL: 1886
250 SL:  379
280 SL: 2318
Total population of W 113 in Germany therefore is now about 4583 vehicles.
(They probably got this from registration data. Unregistered cars are probably not included.)

Klaus
1969 280 SL

[France]

Klaus,

I think your statistics are practically correct.  Unless the car is in the midst of a wheels-up restoration (probably a very small ratio), it's probably on the road.  There is a program in Germany that enables you to register your car to drive only a few months a year, say, April to October, or May to September.  So most people with W113s would register part-year and would show up on your stats.

Trice
1968 280SL US, signal/bl leather, auto