MBcoupers do their first National Convention - May 2002

Photos Below

Jim Baubel's Report

May 07, 2002

From May 2nd to 5th, MBCoupes members gathered in force in Las Vegas, NV for the 1st Annual MBcoupes National Meet. Hosted by Mike and Gail Ramay of Antioch, CA, and Linda and Bob Cavazos of Las Vegas, the event drew one 300CE and 18 SEC Coupes.

Peggy Nervig (300CE), along with Ken Bucks and copilot Jeff Tresness, Gary Dempsey with his co-pilot Judy, and Barry Corno, joined Mike and Gail along with Jim and Charo Baubel in Stockton, California for an SEC caravan to Las Vegas. They were joined later by Ken Hopkins and copilot Carl Sanders. Thanks to the efforts of Mike Ramay in securing walky talkies, the convoy was able to stay more or less together throughout the run, which at times was at or near double the double nickel. The group was almost caught by the Highway Patrol doing 90 out of Barstow, but vigilance and luck kept the intrepid group free of citations. However, the trip was not without incident, as Steve and Peggy,s 300E caught a rock on the hood and windshield, a can of shaving cream exploded in Gary Dempsey,s car, leading to some rough humor on Concours day, and Jim Baubel,s AC malfunctioned but was repaired by Mike on the road. Carl Sanders suffered a seizure just outside Las Vegas, but ! we summoned paramedics on the phone and the Fire Dept. and ambulance also arrived. This turn of events forced Ken Hopkins to abort most of the event but he still made it on Concours day for a little while with his wife Karin who had flown in. Rounding out the SF Bay area contingent was Mark De Francisco and Eddie Lee who drove down separately.

Vic Krauss with Galicia and Shlomit Kalma drove up from San Diego in their Koenig wide-body (formerly owned by Barry Bonds), Dave Johnson and his wife Judy, and Eddie Chin came in from Los Angeles. Bergwerks principals Steve Lemberg and Carl Genberg arrived in 3 hours from LA, with an average speed of 100 mph, and Steve reported hitting 150 mph. Andrew Seidel as well as Carla and Paul Maguire came from Tucson Arizona, and Jack Middlebrook,s famed Satish prepped 560 Euro came from Ft. Meyers FL. Never one to miss the camaraderie and fun of an SEC get together, Bruce Tranter flew in from New Jersey with his girlfriend Linda Garganus. Attila Makranczy flew in a few hours later. From Las Vegas itself were Bob and Linda Cavazos and Rex and Nusie Barnes.

The kickoff on Thursday was seeing the sights on your own in Las Vegas, and evening found 16 SECs and the CE lined up below the deck of the Bahama Breeze sunset deck, overlooking the parking lot with the cars. It was an awesome sight to see so many coupes parked together in one place, and a chance to renew old friendships made on and off line, and for many of us, put a face to a name for the first time, and of course, our first opportunity to check out the various coupes. Interestingly, virtually none of the coupes were bone stock, most were lowered, with aftermarket wheels and euro lights at the very least.

Neither rich enough to be first owners, (in most cases!) nor poor, this clearly was a performance and enthusiast-minded group. Convivial SEC conversation was the order of the day, over drinks that led to an informal dinner.

Friday morning found a line of coupes outside the Golden Nugget for a run up to the Mt Charleston Lodge. Seventeen cars stretched their legs on SR-95 out of Las Vegas, streaking up the interstate where speeds of 120 mph and above can be easily, and in some cases was, attained by the SEC drivers. However, nothing goes perfectly, Vic Krauss, slow leak on a wide rear tire of his wide-body became a nasty blowout at 90 mph, and Jack Middlebrook came to the rescue. A quick whip round from the stopped caravan yielded a set of lug nuts for the standard sized spare and Vic was soon back on the road. Bob Cavazos with Carl Genberg, Steve Lemberg, and Paul Maguire following missed the turnoff and added an extra 40 miles to the tour for themselves plus some triple digit speeds trying to catch up to the main group. Threading its way up the winding road to Mt Charleston a long parade of SECs and the CE was quite a sight to see from any angle. At the lodge, the cars were again assembled in a line for group photos and we had more SEC talk over lunch. Paul Maguire sold more SEC coffee mugs to the group of eager buyers. The group finally dispersed for a quick run back to Las Vegas, and on the way back some 0 to 60 and 60 to 0 runs with the G-Tech Pro were held. Back at the Golden Nugget, many of the SECs and their owners claimed the sixth floor of the parking garage and at any given time several could be found cleaning and polishing their steeds. By the morning of the Concours, this activity was frenetic. Evening left everyone free to enjoy the nightlife and culinary pleasures of Las Vegas.

Saturday morning, 10 am, found MBCoupes members at Bob Cavazos, office and parking lot at ClearBlue Technologies, doing last minute polishing, vacuuming and detailing their cars up to the very moment judging began for the Concours event. By then the group knew one another well, and members were going up to one another and asking, "Is there anything I can do to help you? Steve Lemberg and Bob Cavazos were judges and Mark De Francisco tallied the numbers on his laptop and judged the judges, cars. Eddie Chin and Carl Genberg made some 0-60 G tech pro runs in their Renntech cars. After a group lunch, Mike Ramay and Carl Genberg led a tech session on timing chains and H & R spring installations.

Concluding festivities and a banquet was held that evening at McCormick and Schmicks Seafood restaurant with about 32 people attending. Trophies and ribbons (courtesy of Mike and Gail Ramay) were awarded for first second and third place in the Concours. After 3 ballots, a tie for first place had finally been broken and Jack Middlebrook’s 91 Euro spec 560 SEC that had been gone through and redone under the auspices of Satish Tummala won the trophy. With its stereo, euro features down to the headlight wipers and actual 560 euro motor sans cats with headers exiting through a Remus exhaust, this car clearly was the ne plus ultra of a 560SEC. Building on a low mileage original, given to Satish and told to "make nice the Pearl Black beauty is a treasure which rightly claimed the prize.

Without a doubt, the second place trophy (and arguably the first place) belonged to Gary Dempsey with his unique ,88 white with black leather interior car. By acclaim, his car was the most highly detailed of the group. Bumper chrome like a mirror and throughout the event, at any given time, he worked harder than anyone else at constantly detailing the car leaving nothing untouched, and proved that working hard to make a mint car even better can be done, but the price to be paid is lots of sweat and labor. Before setting out on the trip, he taped the entire front end as a defense against bugs and road grime. It,s those details that pay off.

Third place went to original owner Dave Johnson and his stunning 84 Euro 500 with factory velour seats and headlight wipers. The deep olive paint is so dark it may possibly be unique and the only or one of the very very few one painted as a coupe

For door prizes, Randy Steele's EPS Parts furnished two Mercedes Benz digital tire pressure gauges and Rusty Cullens of Rusty Parts provided a set of floor mats, while Mike Ramay provided a bucket of auto detailing supplies as a consolation prize in the Concours. Barry Taylor of AMG West provided two original AMG catalogs, and Bergwerks gave away two baseball hats and a one-touch window kit.

Barry Corno was surprised with a birthday cake for his 55th!

As one of the trophy winners pointed out, this event really set the bar for Chicago and other future SEC gatherings.

These things don,t just happen - it takes a lot of work. Mike Ramay provided the impetus for the get together and was involved with everything from emailing schedule updates to printing out custom name tags and Concours judging sheets to soliciting door prizes, arranging for walky talkies, and coordinating hotel and meal arrangements, and wearing out cell phone batteries. Likewise, Bob Cavazos ran point from Las Vegas and helped the event happen by securing accommodations for the group, picking venues for us to meet, planning the Concours and providing the location for it, and planning the Mt Charleston run. Aside from Peggy Nervig, a real car nut, the women who attended as significant others or spouses deserve recognition for their support, and it was voted that the next time we meet, there would be a ladies appreciation day.

And finally, there's the enthusiasm of the attendees, we the SEC drivers - without us there would have been no event that by any measure was such a resounding success.

Photos are being sent to Satish who will shortly have them posted.

Jim Baubel
'91 560SEC
San Francisco