Keystone

Oktoberfest at Harry's Hofbrau has been a tradition for the San Francisco Bay Area Section for the past 50 years. Sandor Drobilisch, who is our section's historian, remembers these events vividly. We really enjoyed seeing the members who we hadn't seen for almost two years due to the pandemic. We really appreciate Harry's Hofbrau for reserving the private lounge for us to enjoy the gathering privately and for serving us ice cream after the meal. Making the event more fun and interesting, we shook our tailfeathers to the beat on the Oktoberfest Chicken Dance Song and concentrated on not knocking off "The tower of Babylon" on the game of Jenga.

The vintage car races event at the Sonoma Raceway organized by Classic Sports Racing Group was fantastic!  There was a total of 16 Mercedes-Benz showed up, including a 1957 300SL Convertible, which was an eye catcher at the corral.  Most of the SFBA members were the 1st timers, and Joel Camarda, our vintage car racing grur, guided us and answered all of our questions regarding the race and the Sonoma Raceway. Most of us had taken the advantage of the rides by signning up our favorite vintage race cars ranged from Lotus to Ford GT40 MK II. And at the same time, by knowingly that our gererous donation will help in support of the Speedway Children's Charities. Personally, I had signed up for the 1965 Louts Super 7, Mr. Robert S. Davis, the driver and the owner of this fine vintage race car. The ride was breathtaking, my whole body was glued to the back of the seat when he stepped on the gas pedal, I could feel the G Force at work on every turn at excessive speed. The downside of this exhilarating ride was that I wasn't able to have the same experience with my SLK "at full throttle" on the public road when heading back home, LOL!

This was not a typical First Sunday Drive.  A few of us woke up at 6 o'clock in the morning, and gathered at Leann's Cafe in Burlingame, which opens 24 hours.  We had a nutricious breakfast before we headed out to Sonoma Raceway at 8 am sharp.  A caravan of Mercedes-Benz roammed through the streets of San Francisco and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, and an AMG owner had to test his ferocious engine sounds while passing through the tunnels.

We arrived at the Sonoma Raceway just one minute to spare before 9 o'clock, and a few more members with their Mercedes-Benz were waiting for us at the gate. Our section members are very generous and had donated a large sum of amount to the Speedway Children's Charities, which the CSRG (Classic Sports Racing Group), gave us our own corral to park. The reason we needed to be at Sonoma Raceway at certain time was to make sure we had to option of signing up and selecting our favorite vintage cars to ride on. 

Der 5. September war ein herrlicher Tag für die Mercedes-Fahrt, obwohl es etwas heiß war.  Since we are driving German Mercedes cars, I thought I would begin in German.  However, for those who are language challenged, here it is in English: “The 5^th of September was a splendid day for the Mercedes drive, although it was rather hot.”  The drive was superbly organized by Philippe Do Carmo, who drove his magnificent 1967 250S Mercedes, similar to the one I once owned.  Forty persons and four dogs came in thirty automobiles, most of which were Mercedes, ranging from the 250 S to a C63S AMG Twin Turbo and lots in between including my CLK55 AMG.  Even so, we were joined by several non-Mercedes autos, which included a beautifully restored 1957 Ford Thunderbird, a couple of hot Corvettes, and, lo and behold, a Lamborghini Gallardo.  Philippe’s tour took us through Danville and the backcountry of the East Bay to Pleasanton over some very hilly and windy bucolic roads, before making a stop midpoint at Las Positas College for a group photo.  Fortunately, we were all provided with driving instructions complete with mileage.  This was very important as many of us were stopped by red lights on the way and the leaders were no longer visible.  From the college, we proceeded to Pleasanton where Philippe introduced us to an excellent Japanese restaurant for lunch and a marvelous patisserie for coffee and their special pastries afterward.  It was a fun day with great participation. -by David Meinhardt