Thank you again guys. You are easy to please--after all, they are all your cars! But really, I'm quite happy that the overall results and response has been positive. John Bleimaier--the Essayist who wrote the "Let there be Sports Leicht" at the beginning, had this to say--
I personally believe in the concept of objective beauty. If beauty is exclusively in the eye of the beholder, and is thus purely subjective, why do we bother to train artists, or preserve great works in art museums? If beauty was just a matter of personal taste, then nothing would be ugly and aesthetics would be meaningless. While I recognize that we don’t always agree, I support Leonardo da Vinci’s credo that we are obliged to seek out the universal rules of beauty. He began his quest by studying the principles of balance and proportion. Leonardo would have loved the Mercedes-Benz 230SL.
Now, at last, the model 113, this consummate work of art and engineering, has inspired a book worthy of this exalted subject. MBCA member, Michael Salemi, has conceived, designed and edited a definitive work entitled, Pagoda Style. I am a bibliophile and an art collector. I have never seen a volume which blends text, illustration and photography to such a powerful effect. This tome is not merely about the art of design and engineering. It is a work of art in its own right. This is perhaps the first book to fully take advantage of cutting edge developments in digital imaging and lithography in order to create an integrated and completely satisfying bibliopegic creation.
Not only the devotees of the 113 model in its 230SL, 250SL and 280SL iterations must own this new book. Every aficionado of the motorcar and every bibliophile is obliged to acquire Pagoda Style for his or her library. Designed in the United States, printed and bound in Canada, this collectors’ edition at $75 a crack is an unexpected bargain.
High praise indeed, from a man who can easily take prose to lofty levels and never minces his words. What makes me happiest, though, is my conversation with Paul Bracq yesterday. After all, it's "his baby" so to speak, and would have every right to be the most critical. He too, offered much praise and like a few others, was interestingly charmed by the cover mosaic. Somehow in the back of my mind, I kind of forgot that Bracq and his wife dabble in tile mosaics from time to time. Totally forgot that until yesterday, at least consciously.
And, I am VERY HAPPY that some of our Canadian friends, who by all rights should have been the first to get this book, are now finding it delivered. I will sleep well tonight. The book was printed in Canada for goodness sake, and it was a long route back home!!!
