Today I went to a cars and coffee event organized by the Mercedes-Benz club. It was a bit different to normal, as the theme was ‘Bring your other car’. The idea was that many club members probably own a car that is not a Mercedes, and that there would be interest in showing those cars off.
I thought there would be some interesting cars in attendance so I went along in my Citroen DS. I figured the Citroen would be very different to what most Mercedes club members are used to.
Bringing the DS fit too, as of last week, the DS is now registered with the Mercedes Club. The Citroen club have introduced draconian new rules governing historic plated cars. There are minimum attendance requirements and requirements for volunteering. With regular work travel, sometimes at late notice and family commitments, I wasn’t all that interested in having the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head. I find it all rather sad, as car clubs all need new younger members. These rules are going to make it a retirees only club. When I raised the issue, I got a very defensive reply, so instead of having an argument, I just moved the car. Both the Mercedes club and the Jaguar club were happy to have the car, so at least I had options.
As I expected there were some very nice cars on display. My favorites were the Morris Minor, the Rolls Royce Corniche and the Borgward. The Morris was a convertible version in lovely condition. As well as those cars, there was a nice Toyota Cressida, a Porsche 911, a ford Muscle car, three ranger rovers and a number of other modern cars such as BMW, Bentley, new Mini, VW and more. It was quite an interesting collection.
The event was held in a grassy area behind Cheltenham Sports Club. This is a nice central location that was easy to get to. I think it was better than the last location, as all the cars could park together. I was parked next to a W140.
The other highlight was seeing my old 1979 280SE W116, and meeting it’s new owner. I was really happy to see that he’s joined the club and really enjoying the car. Its a nice car and its great that it has gone to a good home.
I understand the ‘Bring your other car’ event is to be an annual event. I think its a great idea. It doesn’t stop people who only own Mercedes from bringing one, but we get to experience other interesting cars too.
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