Previous Events

SAFE DRIVERS - SAFE FAMILIES and DEFENSIVE DRIVING SCHOOL
MAY 5th 2013

 

A perfect sunny day in the suburbs to test the skills of young as well as more experienced drivers was the right backdrop for the first 2013 driving event of

 the Toronto Section. Well known instructors Frank and Mary Alice Cozza, Paul Bailey and Terry Kiwala traveled from the United States to Toronto, Canada to sample some Canadian hospitality, food and to share their Defensive Driving skills with our group. Roy Kuck in his 1994 300E cabriolet and his grandson Zack Davis also joined us from New York State.

The weekend started on Saturday night with a magnificent buffet at the WokofFame restaurant. Early Sunday morning, the set up and cone arrangement got the event started off on time.

The Safe Drivers - Safe Families event was coached by Doug Dees, Norbert Egli, Lauren Howe and Harald von Langsdorff. 

Both groups went through the classroom demonstration on proper seating, technical inspection of their cars including - the often neglected - tire check, followed by the driving clinic.

Collision avoidance and the slalom maneuvers completed the activities before lunch followed by figure eights and the grand finale of the mini autocross which was the highlight for all participants.

The Safe Drivers group met again in the afternoon to discuss situational awareness and were debriefed by Lauren Howe on what they’d learned

during the day. Students also had a chance to give their feedback - to further develop the course.

Timing for the autocross resulted in the following winners.

Best Overall

1. Michael Hoegl (DD course)
2. Tristan La (SD-SF course)
3. Marcus van Bers (DD course)

Women

1. Joyce Hughes (DD course)

Young Drivers

1. Tristan La
2. Yida (Derek) Lin
   
3. Kieran Fitzner

 

The afternoon ended with gifts of appreciation for our American friends who travelled to Toronto as well as prizes for the winners of the autocross.

The group retired to the residence of Toronto Section President Harald von Langsdorff to celebrate the successful event
with some fine wine & cheese thanks to Harald’s wife Gill and beer & pizza on the patio overlooking the nice country side and pond. Here the US visitors also got a good night sleep for their return the next morning.

Requests for a repeat of this event are already pouring in.

Thanks again to all the volunteers who made this possible. Including the Trillium BMW Club who generously offered us to use some of their pylons.

See the pictures here: 

See the videos here :  

 

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The new GLK with a new 4-cyl diesel engine was also on display that featured a beautiful soft blue exterior that highlighted the new design features of the 2103 models. I wanted to wait for one of those but since the 2010 B Class saved my wife's life in that horrid accident, we decided to buy the white 2013 B Class which we have named "Baby Beluga".
 

The AMG Driving Academy representatives were there talking about their courses for 2013 as well as a display of the AMG vehicles which are very popular. For those that enjoy off-roading in luxury, a gold covered G Wagen was on display for those that wanted to have something different on the truck.

 

The highlight of our tour was the 2013 CLA, a four door that looks like a coupe. We heard that the first cars arriving in September 2013 will be very similar to the vehicle on display. Go to the video section on our Toronto Section website and watch the Super Bowl commercial. This is guaranteed to be a best seller and will no doubt be copied by the other manufacturers as was the CLS.

   

The accessories booth had items at a 20% discount from the normal retail prices which members took advantage of including myself. The ECO bikes, Smart cars and Sprinter with various available configurations were also on display.

 

The tour ended with a visit to the private Mercedes-Benz lounge where you had to be an MBCA member or show your Mercedes-Benz key fob to gain entrance.   

The show will move on to Quebec City, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver before the special vehicles will be flown back to Germany.

Check our Previous Events webpage for more pictures.

Christmas Dinner and Annual General Meeting, December 1, 2012

This year we tried something new and we all feel it worked very well. We changed the venue to the Royal Ambassador in Caledon. An upscale, yet surprisingly affordable event venue.

The evening started with the Annual General Meeting where we discussed the past year and outlined the course for the next year. Congratulation to the Board members who were all re-elected.

Next was Cocktail Hour. Here we could enjoy a large screen presentation with pictures and videos from the past year including STARFEST in Phoenix and mingle with old and new friends.

We had a wonderful 5 Course Dinner with an abundance of choices and all of the highest quality.

During dinner we could enjoy more videos and pictures from the past season. Very exciting are the new club activities planned for 2013 that will include a driving school and the Legends of the AUTOBAHN Concourse (you’ll find more information in the next edition of STARLite.)

 

The final highlight was the drawing of the door prices and raffle tickets. This year our gift tables were almost breaking under the weight of some very fine jewelry - thanks to Exclusive Jewelry Sales, Mercedes accessories – thanks Mercedes-Benz Downtown, more gifts from Mercedes-Benz Durham, German SONAX car care products – thanks JRP,  and last but certainly not least free Service A or B – thanks OAKRIDGE Auto. Nobody was going home empty handed.

Thanks for making our 2012 Christmas Dinner the most memorable in many years. What a great end of the club year and start into the Holiday Season.

Fall Wine Tasting Tour, October 13-14, 2012

Saturday, October 13, 2012.

The tour commenced with 15 members meeting for a delicious lunch at the Peninsula Ridge Winery in Beamsville at noon, followed by an informal tasting of their fine selection of wines.  Peninsula Ridge is situated on the Niagara escarpment with beautiful views over Lake Ontario.

 

After lunch we departed for a scenic drive along parts of the Niagara wine route and through Balls Falls, enjoying the fall colours while winding our way east towards our second stop of the afternoon at Flat Rock Cellars in Jordan.  Flat Rock is situated literally on the top edge of the Niagara escarpment with beautiful views over their 100 acre vineyard and Lake Ontario. 

 

 

After sampling some of Flat Rocks wide selection of Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs we continued our winding drive through the country side, including passing through the shorthills and the villages of Fenwick and Pelham, before arriving at our final wine tasting destination for the day at the Henry of Pelham winery in west St. Catharines.  A few more members joined the tour at this point and everyone enjoyed a sampling of the sparkling wines available at Henry of Pelham.

The Saturday portion of the fall tour concluded with a scenic drive past the Decew Falls and the Morningstar Mill to the White Oaks Resort and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Those members staying overnight enjoyed a four course dinner that evening in the Sunhill Dining Room.

Sunday, October 14, 2012.

Sunday’s fall tour started with breakfast at the White Oaks. We welcome some new members for the Sunday leg before commencing the morning drive along the Welland Canal toward Lake Ontario and working to our first stop for the day at the Colaneri Estate Winery.  It took awhile to get everyone inside for the tasting as we all admired the Romanesque architecture, resembling a typical Tuscan village.  A formal tasting was carried out by a member of the proprietor’s family, showcasing several of Colaneri’s wines, including appassimento and ripasso styles.

 

The tour continued with a drive towards the Niagara River where we stopped to tour the Brock’s Monument where celebrations are currently underway for the War of 1812 Centennial.  Doug Dees, our resident historian, was kind enough to give us a brief history of the war and the fighting that took place at that particular location. The weather continued to cooperate with the sun coming out and the temperature climbing to 20C, so the Cabrios could enjoy some open air.

 

Following the Brock Monument tour, everyone piled into their cars to continue with a scenic drive along the Niagara River toward our next stop at the Reif Estate Winery, which is celebrating its 30^th anniversary since starting the winery.  Here several members carried out an informal tasting of some of Reif’s red and white wines.

The last leg of the Fall Winery Tour was a drive through some of the back roads to our final destination where we finished the Tour with lunch at the Ravine Vineyard and Estate Winery.  Ours cars were prominently displayed on the grass in front of the main restaurant while everyone enjoyed a glass of wine and a superb lunch.

See many more pictures here

Thanks to everyone that came out to participate in our fall winery tour and special thanks to Marcus van Bers, who organized and laid out the route for this magnificent two days.

We had a great time enjoying the company, the fall colours, the immense variety of wines and of course our wonderful cars.

 

Harald von Langsdorff

President

Mercedes-Benz Club of America | Toronto Section

 

 

The Toronto Section was pleased to again join PureMB.com at the Annual BBQ on Sunday, August 26th

Thanks to PureMB, Mercedes-Benz Downtown@Dundas and all the helpers and guest.

Here are a few photo:

More pictures can be found HERE

A video is Here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Showing Of The MBCA - Toronto Section At The 2012 Yorkville Exotic Car Show, Father’s Day June 17th

Despite the last minute invite by the organiser to participate in the 2012 Yorkville Exotic Car Show, our Toronto Section summoned its members and friends and were able to gather and represent the complete 60 years of the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. Mercedes-Benz Canada and Downtown were happy to supply the most current models as well as a 1958 300SL Roadster.

Here to model line-up:

W198 300SL - 1958

 

W121 190SL - 1959

 

W113 Pagode - 1971

R 107 - 1989

 

R 129 - 1991

R 230 - 2010

SLR McLaren - 2009

SLS AMG - 2012

R 231 - 2013

 

Neither the MBCA nor M-B Canada have been involved in this event before but we can now state with confidence that this is a very well prepared and run fund raiser and car show. Over 160 exotic and classic cars were displayed and several thousand people attended on Sunday.  The newly renovated Bloor Street was closed to traffic between Avenue Road & Bay Street for the entire day. Spectators got the red carpet treatment and could enjoy live music entertainment and vendor stations. The cars were safely presented behind stanchions and velvet rope and had additional security guards for protection.

In addition, our chronological lineup of magnificent SL-Class cars was indeed fascinating and very well received by the public as throughout the day we witnessed a constant crowd of visitors gathering in front of our section.

Pictures Roland Wilhelem

While the weather was generally nice and warm for most of the day, a few stray raindrops made us close the soft and retractable hard tops but only for a few minutes.

Thanks again to Mark Dube - 300SL, Roland Wilhelem - 190SL, Marcus Van Bers - 230SL, Don Booth - 560SL, Stefan Schader - 300SL-24, MB-Canada - SLR McLaren, SLS, SL550, Richard Kunst - SL63, for bringing out their wonderful examples of 60 years of Mercedes- Benz SL.

Here some links with additional event information, pictures and videos:

http://www.yorkvilleexotics.com

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/326910

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lypQv6v6DoM&hd=1

http://www.driving.ca/Mink+Mile+show+stirs+dreams+lotto/6812808/story.html

 

Harald von Langsdorff
President
Mercedes-Benz Club of America | Toronto Section
905.838.1980 | email MBCA (at) langsdorff.com | www.mbca-toronto.org

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