Article and photos by John Gayler
To celebrate Father’s Day the SF Bay Area chapter partnered with the Oakland Aviation Museum by participating in their “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” special event on a blue-sky sunny Saturday June 19th, 2022.
Ian Wright, Director of Operations for OAM hosted our section members with a unique opportunity to be participants
The Oakland Aviation Museum is housed in the original Boeing School of Aeronautics, opened on Sept. 16, 1929, was an entire school dedicated to training pilots, mechanics, and other personnel specifically for Boeing Air Transport, and later for the US Army Air Corps and US Navy.
Mercedes Club members were invited to park their vehicles under the wings of the aircraft and co-host a car show for the hundreds of families visiting that day. Coordinating is a team effort with several members creating this opportunity, and nineteen members and guests taking advantage to enjoy the day and share their enthusiasm and car knowledge with the community.
A wide variety of vehicles spanning 60 years of Mercedes Benz history were put on show with consistent interest during the day from the public and from other members.
Event organizer Janet Welter not only arrived in her Mercedes, but she was also able to show off her late husband's Glasair II high-performing kit aircraft, now an exhibit inside the museum.
As vehicles arrived, they were guided into place under the wings of an enormous sea plane and jewel of the Oakland Museum. The Short Solent MK III Flying Boat featured walk-through tours, showing how the wealthy traveled across the world. It also starred in the Indiana Jones movie “Raiders of the lost Ark” as a Pan AM Clipper, with footage shot while being restored on the ground in Oakland.
A bonus for the MBCA members was the opportunity for a private tour of the museum before the gate opened to the public.
Drivers and their guests used the substantial wingspan for shade during the day, plus it also provided a compelling photographic subject complimenting the aerospace portion of the Mercedes Benz history - Did you know - the three-pointed star signifies the drive toward universal motorization with its Daimler engines used for land, sea, and air? The current Mercedes Benz logo combining the three-pointed star from Daimler with laurel leaves from Mercedes, was created and registered in 1925, shortly before the merger between Mercedes and Daimler was completed.
