The Mercedes-Benz Club Twin Cities Section will be holding a Spring Tech Event “The Art and Science of Paintless Dent Removal” hosted by Don Kavanagh at Dent Kraft in Wayzata.

The event will take place Saturday, April 14 at 10:00am. Coffee, doughnuts and light breakfast refreshments will be on hand.

Don will explain and demonstrate the art of paintless ding and dent removal for modern as well as classic vehicles. Whether a vehicle is the casualty of a hail storm or just had a few parking lot dings, paintless dent removal, when performed by an experience individual, can put a car back to its original state.

The event will begin promptly at 10:00, Dent Kraft is on the Frontage road along I-394, right next to BMW of Minnetonka.  Visit their website by clicking this link.

Dent Kraft
15736 Wayzata Blvd
Wayzata, MN 55391
(952) 473-8000

Please RSVP to event organizer if you plan on attending: DAVE BORTNER – dave@freedomboatservice.com or call him at (612) 590-5110.

Based on a number of spy shots taken throughout the United States and based upon confirmation from at least one anonymous source within Mercedes-Benz itself, it’s come out that, apparently, Mercedes-Benz will be the first major luxury auto maker to offer intricate PLAID paint schemes as an exterior vehicle option. This 2011 S class, a test vehicle for the new plaid paint scheme option was spied on the streets of San Francisco, CA early this morning.

Dave Knows Cars’ inside source at Mercedes-Benz had this to say when asked about the rumors of this new exterior paint option:

“We’re constantly looking for ways to further incorporate the long corporate history of Mercedes-Benz into our newest products. In the 1950s we offered plaid interior options on 300SL Gullwing coupes, now  we’re just bringing plaid into the 21st century, this time, as an exterior paint option.”

Vintage plaid interior Mercedes-Benz is giving the nod to...

The plaid paint schemes are available as a special order option only at this point, Mercedes-Benz officials say they may begin to incorporate a number of tartan plaids in a number of markets around the world. So far, and not surprisingly, there has been heavy demand from fashion conscious celebrities and movie stars around the globe, but also interest from regular folks in a number of British Commonwealth territories, specifically, Scotland.

Mercedes Benz GL450 with optional plaid exterior paint option spied near Pasadena, CA.

“We’re just trying something new and innovative,” says my inside source at Mercedes-Benz “Our almost mirror like Alubeam Silver Metallic color available on the SLS has proven, over the last few years, that at the highest end of the luxury segment, customers are interested in something unique and are willing to pay for it, with the plaid, we’re just trying something different, we’re trying to offer more than our competition.”

The Alubeam Silver Metallic is a $12,000 paint option on SLS models, these special plaid exterior color schemes are expected to demand a bit of a premium over the Alubeam Silver paint option. “Any tartan plaid is available as a custom exterior color” our inside source confirms, “If legendary race driver Jackie Stewart wants his next S class in Stewart Plaid, we can accommodate his request. What other car manufacturer can do that?

Apparently Paris Hilton has already placed an order for a Burberry Plaid G wagen that is expected to be delivered to her L.A. home in late July. If you’re interested in one of these new plaid color schemes, please feel free to give me a call and we can discuss your specific needs.

Most of the cars that will be on display on the Mercedes-Benz stand at the 2012 Twin Cities Auto Show are currently here at Sears Imports in Minnetonka. We have a Cuprite Brown C300 4matic, Olivine Grey E350 Cabriolet, white SLK350 and a number of other vehicles that will be shuttled down tot he Auto Show tomorrow. Need more info about the 39th Annual Twin Cities Auto Show? Click this link for information including the Auto Show schedule, calendar, admission and location information.

The most significant car, in my opinion, is the new 2013 SL550 that was dropped off by a transporter this morning. There are rumors of a new SLS AMG Gullwing that is due to arrive here, but it isn’t here yet, and that may just be rumor… the new SL is the car that will be new to most people at the show, as it was just released at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in February and then shown at the Chicago Auto Show a couple of weeks ago. You can see more photos of this car by visiting the article I wrote about it earlier today, just click this link for info and lots of photos on the new 2013 SL550 (equipped with the new Magic Sky Control feature) that will be at the Minneapolis Auto Show!

We will also be taking a new S350 BlueTEC diesel to the show, the first S class diesel from Mercedes-Benz since they discontinued the W126 chassis S class in 1991. A new GL class SUV is cleaned up and ready to go to the show, as well as a new 2012 ML350.

2012 Cuprite Brown C300 4matic with Almond Mocha interior.

2012 S350 BlueTEC diesel destined for the Twin Cities Auto Show.

2012 Twin Cities Auto Show complete show information, schedule and hours!

It’s March again in the Twin Cities, and you know what that means… the Twin Cities Auto Show! Here is a complete listing of the schedule and hours for the 39th Annual Twin Cities Auto Show being held at the Minneapolis Convention Center from Saturday, March 10 – Sunday, March 18, 2012. I will be working the first day of the show, this Saturday the 10th of March from 4:00pm until 10:00pm, if you’re at the show please swing by the Mercedes-Benz stand and say hello.

The show is being held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, the address for directions is:
1301 South Second Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403

Minneapolis Twin Cities Auto Show Dates:
Saturday, March 10 – Sunday, March 12, 2012

Minneapolis Twin Cities Auto Show Hours:
Saturdays – 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Sundays – 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Monday – 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Tuesday – 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Wednesday – 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. *Adult admission is just $5 on Wednesdays!*
Thursday – 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Friday – 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Auto Show Admission:
Adults (16+): $10.00
Junior (11-15 years): $5.00
Children (10 and under): Free

According to the MADA (Minnesota Auto Dealers Association), the group that puts on the Auto Show on each year, the Twin Cities Auto show is the 7th largest Auto Show in the United States, I guess that’s bigger than I thought it was. If you’re interested in having a look at some of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles that will be present have a look at my ‘Twin Cities Auto Show Mercedes-Benz Sneak Preview” entry on the Daveknowscars.com Blog.

For even more info on 39th Annual Twin Cities Auto Show please visit the Auto Show website by clicking this link.

Here it is… the long awaited 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL! The 2013 SL was unveiled to the public at the North America International Auto Show in Detroit last month, this particular 2013 SL550 was delivered to Sears Imports Mercedes Benz this morning to be cleaned up and made ready for the 39th Annual Twin Cities Auto Show.

In my opinion, the new 2013 looks better in person than it does in photos. I’m never one to LOVE a new body style as soon as I see it, it took me months to get my head around the new body style E class that was released back in the Summer of 2009 as a 2010 model, but this car looks great in the flesh.

Automotive writers and everyone else normally don’t like the new model of anything either, people don’t like change… but have the Mercedes-Benz designers ever screwed up an SL? Nope, and they aren’t going to start now. The new SL, by design, bares quite a resemblance to the SLS AMG Gullwing. The hood looks and feels quite similar, the upright, vertical grille with huge Mercedes-Benz star is the direction they’ve taken all the models… from the SLK to the new M class. The hood has fins and an array of compound curves that look similar to the SLS, the car looks wicked, just standing still. The side vents on the front quarter panels, are not only functional cooling ducts and a nod to the SLS AMG, but also a nod to the car that started it all, the 300SL of the 1950s.

Side vents go all the way back to this 300SL roadster and its contemporaries.

The front headlights on the new 2013 SL have a yellow outline over the top of them, not unlike the ‘eye brows’ you see on some Audi vehicles these days. Daytime running LED lamps are incorporated into the lower front bumper.

The engine is the real heart of this Bavarian beast, the new 4.7-liter, turbo-charged, V8 produces 429 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, 0 – 60mph comes up quickly in just 4.5 seconds, top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph.

The interior has a whole new look and feel, it’s quite similar to the SLS, from the transmission selector to the aluminum vent openings to the back lit Bang & Olufsen tweeters on the dash, the new SL doesn’t fall far from the SLS tree on many levels.

This is a classic Mercedes SL color combo, a great looking red leather interior on this car.

The new 2013 SL is larger in every dimension than the outgoing model, yet it sheds 175 lbs. from its total weight, largely due to its almost completely aluminum construction.

There are a number of new options available on the new 2013 SL, one of the most talked about leading up to the car’s introduction has been the Magic Sky Control roof option, currently available on the new SLK. While a glass panorama roof has been available since the detachable hard top days of the R129 SL models, this is the first SL model to offer the new Magic Sky Control option. You’ve basically got a glass panel in the retractable hard top, a lot like the regular panorama roof, but there’s a button inside, near the map lights… when you press this button, light blocking crystals in the glass re-align, tinting the glass panel to keep bright sun out, if you don’t want it in… I tried it this morning on this car… and it seems like magic indeed.

I haven’t pulled out my tape measure or actually read the specific dimensions, but this trunk looks larger than the outgoing model’s. There is plenty of room for a couple of overnight bags and even golf clubs in the back.

You can see this car, in person at the 39th Annual Twin Cities Auto Show being held at the Minneapolis Convention Center starting this Saturday, March 10, running through Sunday March 18th. I will be working the show, in the Mercedes Benz booth on Saturday the 10th from 4:00pm to 10:00pm… come by and say hello!

The very successful Mercedes Benz Competitor Conquest Program has been expanded for the month of March 2012! This has been a great program, in place for the better part of a year now, offering rebates and cash incentives to customers interested in purchasing select, new Mercedes-Benz models, simply for owning a particular competing luxury brand vehicle. There is no need to trade in the competing make vehicle.. you just have to prove ownership by presenting a title, registration card or proof of insurance to get the discount.

When the program started back in 2011 qualifying vehicles included the makes that we generally think of as direct competitors to Mercedes-Benz, like BMW, Audi, Lexus, Cadillac, Jaguar / Land Rover and a couple of others. A few months later makes like Lincoln and Volvo were added, then Volkswagen and Jeep. The program has proven quite popular, as general ‘manufacturer’s rebates’ don’t really exist in the Mercedes-Benz world. This program has always been an easy way to get $1,000, $2,000, even up to $4,000 off a new Mercedes-Benz depending upon the model you wanted to buy.

This month, March 2012, the Competitor Conquest Program has been opened up to just about every manufacturer you can think of…. Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ferrari, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Isuzu (do they even still make Isuzus?), Jaguar, Jeep, KIA, Lamborghini, Lexus, Lincoln, Lotus, Maserati, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Range Rover and on and on. If you’ve got a car that isn’t a Fiat, Citroen or Peugeot, you’ll probably be eligible for the rebates below.

New E class deals are especially attractive this month based on the $3,000 Conquest cash available. I haven’t seen a big rebate like that, well, ever, for new E class cars, and it will apply to an E sedan, coupe or cab… even the wagons qualify.

The Competitor Conquest Program cannot be used in conjunction with most other sales programs, it’s an either or sort of incentive. It cannot be used in conjunction with fleet transactions, European Delivery deals, the Mercedes-Benz Club discount, etc. etc. This program does not apply to Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG coupes or roadsters or Sprinter vehicles.

Sears Imported Autos Mercedes-Benz is hosting “Benz and Roses” a pre Valentines Day evening soiree full of all the finer things in life and YOU’RE INVITED! This should prove to be a very nice evening, please see the formal event invitation below. I plan on being at the event all evening if you’d like to discuss a particular car or just come in to say hello and have some refreshments.

YOU AND A GUEST ARE CORDIALLY INVITED

FOR AN EVENING OF EPICURIAN DELIGHTS,

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT, AMORE AND MORE.

GIFTS GALORE FOR THE CONNOISSEUR, FROM

BENZ & ROSES TO FASHIONS FOR MEN AND WOMEN,

JEWELRY, ACCESSORIES, HANDMADE CHOCOLATES,

AND CONTEMPORARY ART AVAILABLE FROM

THE TWIN CITIES’ FINEST RETAILERS.

WWW.SEARSIMPORTS.COM

Some of the items, people and organizations on hand include:

SURDYK’S
wine & cheese tasting

FOUR VOICES
string quartet

ARTS & FLOWERS
fresh floral arrangements & gifts

CHOCOLAT CELESTE
fresh artisian chocolates

CIRCA GALLERY
contemporary art

NEIMAN MARCUS
fashions, accessories and gifts
for men and women

All merchandise available for sale

Hope to see you at the event!

]]> http://daveknowscars.com/2012/01/26/join-us-at-sears-imports-for-benz-and-roses-february-9-2012-from-530-730pm-string-quartet-surdyks-wine-and-cheese-tasting-chocolat-celeste-handmade-chocolates-art-flowers-and-fashio/feed/ 0 http://daveknowscars.com/2011/12/27/1993-mercedes-500e-purchased-by-customer-in-dallas-tx-arrives-safely-new-owner-happy-with-service-and-buying-experience/ http://daveknowscars.com/2011/12/27/1993-mercedes-500e-purchased-by-customer-in-dallas-tx-arrives-safely-new-owner-happy-with-service-and-buying-experience/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:02:42 +0000 Dave Tobin http://daveknowscars.com/?p=3735

This 1993 Mercedes Benz 500E sedan was traded in here at Sears Imports about a month ago. It was placed on eBay twice, it was posted to Autotrader.com, cars.com, even Craigslist here in Minneapolis. This is a very rare car as you may know, a join venture between Mercedes-Benz and Porsche and good for a little over 160mph when it was new back in 1993. It would be an understatement to say there was a lot of ‘action’ on this car while it was here in the Sears Imports inventory.

My phone rang off the hook with interested parties, my email inbox was constantly filling up with inquiries from across the country. While most people I spoke with just wanted to talk about the car and then explain how they’d love to buy it, but their wife wouldn’t let them, or they had nowhere to store it… a handful of real players were interested in the car and were ready to put their money where their mouth was.

The one thing  holding most people back from actually purchasing the car, and understandably, was the lack of any service records with the car, older cars like this are often times sold by their records.

Thankfully, the night before the auction ended I got a call from the independent shop owner who serviced and maintained this car for its previous owner after he saw it on eBay. He was able to tell me all the work he did to the car over the last 4 years or so… receipts added up to almost $13,000. While it was almost too late for anyone to use this information for their eBay bidding, some eBayers did see the updated description and several of them called me.

Within a few minutes of the eBay auction ending I got a call from a gentleman who had a few questions about the car. We talked, discussed other cars he owns and is interested in, I told him about some of the cars I’ve had over the years. We were just two car guys, albeit with very different budgets and amounts of disposable income for our car hobby, I’ll tell you that much! In a few minutes we put a deal together on the 500E. There was another 500E on the market at the same time, a green one in California, which I had seen for sale and heard all about, everyone who called about our silver car made it known they were also looking at “a green one in California.” In the end… the guy who purchased our silver car also bought the green one in California, I couldn’t be happier for him and I’m glad they’re going to a very good home, somewhere where they will both be appreciated and well cared for.

In the end, our car sold between $11,000 and $12,000… an absolute steal according to the mechanic that maintained the car over the past few years, but the market is what it is and in late December of 2011, that is the market value, the amount someone will actually pull out of their wallet and fork over for this particular 500E. My guess is, that in 10 years, even 5 years, we’ll look back on this purchase and think it was a good deal.

I was happy to receive the survey (posted below) that everyone who purchases a Mercedes-Benz vehicle from a Mercedes-Benz dealership gets via email, filled out and offering praise for the car, purchased sight unseen, and the buying experience here at Sears Imports.

There are a number of great automotive fine artists out there that create high quality artwork documenting the great races, cars and drivers from the golden age of European auto racing. this sort of artwork is certainly a niche market, there are a limited number of artists and prints they produce. If you’re an automotive enthusiast looking for some of this limited edition artwork, where do you go to get it, who do you talk to?

Click this image to go directly to the Freck's Auto Art Webpage.

I was recently looking for artwork to hang on my office wall. I needed something Mercedes-Benz related, I was looking for something, ideally, having to do with Mercedes-Benz racing from the 1950s, either from Italy’s legendary Mille Miglia or Targo Florio or perhaps something from the 24 hours of Le Mans in France. While searching for “Mercedes-Benz Artwork” and “Mercedes Benz Racing Artwork” on Google I stumbled across Gainesville, FL based Freck’s Automotive Art Inc.

I spent the better part of an hour looking through the different categories of artwork on their website. They have a wonderful collection of artwork from automotive fine artists including Nicholas Watts, Michael Mate, Juan Carlos Ferrigno, Alan Fearnley and Simon Ward among others. There are original paintings and limited edition artist proofs and prints, many signed by the drivers depicted in the artwork. Many of these pieces are signed by such racing legends as Sterling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, others are signed by more recently minted racing legends like Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Michael Schumacher.

Nicholas Watts' painting of Sterling Moss ripping through Brescia, Italy in a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR in during the 1955 Targa Florio, signed by the artist and Moss.

Just about every great racing marque is represented, Jaguar, Aston Martin, of course, Porsche and Ferrari… and there are a handful of Mercedes-Benz pieces as well. Many people new to the Mercedes-Benz brand don’t realize that while Mercedes had a rich pre war racing history and solid racing experience into the 1950s, a terrible accident involving a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR at the 1955 running of the 24 hours of Le Mans resulting in 83 spectator deaths and an additional 120 spectator injuries prompted Mercedes Benz, as a manufacturer, to pull out of racing all together for more than 30 years. Pretty much any road racing Mercedes-Benz cars between 1956 and the late 1980s were fielded by privateers, not factory teams.

Another Nicholas Watts' piece: Juan Manuel Fangio leads Mercedes-Benz team mate Karl Kling and a Ferrari during the 1954 French Grand Prix

In any case… the Mercedes-Benz racing history is rich and full and many of the high points of Mercedes-Benz racing history are captured in the artwork I discovered on the Freck’s Auto Art website. I opted to purchase a print of Sterling Moss (driver) and Dennis Jenkinson (navigator) running their record breaking 1955 Mille Miglia race in, what is considered, the most famous Mercedes-Benz racing car of all time, 300SLR #722. That’s the piece pictured at the top of this post… notice the crumpled front passenger’s side fender, that happened during a brief off road excursion during the race.

If you’re not familiar with the Mille Miglia, you should be. It was a thousand mile race (Mille Miglia, in Italian means 1000 miles) held more or less annually, on the public roads of Italy, between 1927 and 1957… save for the years during the occasional World War and a few other interruptions over the years. The Targa Florio was another race held on the public roads of Italy, it carried on until the early 1970s, until speeds we so high and it became so dangerous, for all involved, that the event was ultimately banned.

I look forward to receiving my signed Watts print soon. Once I get it I will take it right to the frame shop and then it will be mounted on my office wall. In my experience, Freck’s ships promptly and carries a wide variety of automotive art representing all the great races, racers, and cars from the pre war period to very recent Formula 1 and Le Mans events. Be sure to visit the Freck’s Auto Art website to get something very special for that automotive enthusiast in your household this holiday season, they will love it!

The Mercedes CLK LM at Laguna Seca, California 1998, painted by Nicholas Watts.

Are you looking for unique, original automotive artwork for your home, office, man cave or ‘garage-mahal’? What would you do if you had everyday access to millions of dollars worth of new cars? A new Minneapolis based company, ‘Dealer Decor’, specializes in high quality studio based automotive photography that offers automotive enthusiasts and dealerships an artistic, visual alternative to the usual OEM produced posters and promotional materials.

Company principle Joe Ringus is a fine art photographer who happens to manage the artistic side of the advertising efforts at a local Mercedes-Benz and Nissan Dealership in Minneapolis. He has applied his unique photographer’s eye to the high end automotive products that that surround him everyday. He has taken these machines into the photo studio and turned out a series of provocative images that would look wonderful on any dealership or automotive enthusiast’s walls.

The images that Ringus and Dealer Decor turn out would look perfectly at home in a Mercedes-Benz product brochure. Details of the cars, things that most people might glance over or never notice are discovered and explored by Ringus’ keen artistic eye. Every curve and nuance of Mercedes-Benz sheet metal, the way the light moves over and around it, is put on the stage of his camera’s lens. The high resolution digital images are printed in full color, on high quality canvas which is then stretched over a wood frame. Each piece is shipped ready for hanging, they come out of the box and are ready to hang on your wall.

A Dealer Decor piece in a dealership office.

Standard prints from the Dealer Decor Collections can be ordered in a variety of sizes depending upon the size of the space in which they’ll reside. Standard prints are available in three sizes, 24″ x 16″, 30″ x 20″ and 42″ x 28″. Prices range from $285 to $360.

Dealer Decor caters primarily to automotive dealerships who have a lot of wall space to cover, but the company has started to work with individual automotive enthusiasts looking to decorate their offices and garages. Prints from the Dealer Decor Collections are available to individuals, there is no minimum order. Special projects are occasionally undertaken, whether it involves a specific model or even a client’s own vehicle. Ringus’ hands on, collaborative artistic approach in the studio opens up possibilities for all types of vehicles. Prices vary on the size and scope of each individual project.

Visit the Dealer Decor Website to see more details of their artistic process and many photographs in the current collections.