2011 marked the 17th Annual German Car Fest. Held again at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Shakopee. Saturday June 11th couldn’t have been any more beautiful, the weather was perfect.

The turnout this year was great, in terms of total number of cars as well as the wide variety of different German auto makes and models that showed up. There were more than 130 cars in attendance, 43 of which were Mercedes-Benz vehicles, more than 40 BMWs, 30+ Porsches as well as Volkswagens, and a number of rare makes like Borgward, Lloyd and Opel.

The German Car Fest is our club’s biggest event of the year, it’s also the most important in terms of club visibility in the community, it was great to have such a good turn out, thanks for your participation. If you couldn’t make it this year, mark your calendar for next year.

The club is considering some changes for the 2012 German Carfest, a change of venue may be in order for the next event. Wherever it ends up and in whatever form, the tentative date is June 9, 2012.

Club members came from as far as Owatonna and Rochester for the event.

Among the many American cars was a 1938 Maybach Staff Car originally ordered new by General Josef Dietrich, Commander of the 6th Panzer Division in Nazi Germany. Between 1921 and 1941 Maybach built only 1,900 cars.

After the museum the group ventured to the local Maynard’s restaurant for several hours of good food and conversation.

As usual Paul and Chris Bergquist did a fabulous job of arranging the tour and hosting the event.

Group photo of some of the attending club members: Chris and Paul Bergquist, Peter Nyberg, Mary & Bill Malinen, Hans Friedbach, John Sutter, Kurt Drews, Dick Lind and John Fair, Mark Flaten (taking photo). Not pictured: Greg Thompson, Jim and Judy Kruger and Kruger’s grand daughter Samantha.

Please join your fellow Mercedes-Benz Club members at Lord Fletcher’s on Lake Minnetonka, Sunday morning, February 12, 2012 at 10:30am for a Valentine’s Brunch.

As usual, Lloyd and Shirley Hubbard are the event hosts. Please be sure to sign up and RSVP before February 6th, 2012. If you have any questions feel free to call Lloyd and Shirley at (952) 474-7385.

There is a full page event flyer on page 5 of the Holiday issue of the Northern Star which is available for electronic download here on the website, it is also in the hard copy mailed to each club member’s home, on that page there is a registration form you can mail in.

The Mercedes-Benz Club Twin Cities Section will be holding a Spring Tech Event “The Art and Science of Paintless Dent Removal” hosted by Don Kavanagh at Dent Kraft in Wayzata.

The event will take place Saturday, April 14 at 10:00am. Coffee, doughnuts and light breakfast refreshments will be on hand.

Don will explain and demonstrate the art of paintless ding and dent removal for modern as well as classic vehicles. Whether a vehicle is the casualty of a hail storm or just had a few parking lot dings, paintless dent removal, when performed by an experience individual, can put a car back to its original state.

The event will begin promptly at 10:00, Dent Kraft is on the Frontage road along I-394, right next to BMW of Minnetonka.  Visit their website by clicking this link.

Dent Kraft
15736 Wayzata Blvd
Wayzata, MN 55391
(952) 473-8000

Please RSVP to event organizer if you plan on attending: DAVE BORTNER – dave@freedomboatservice.com or call him at (612) 590-5110.

The Walleye 1000 is a non competitive rally tour that will take place over two days, Saturday and Sunday, June 9th and 10th 2012. Participation is open to interesting classic, sports and grand touring cars, foreign and domestic, model year 1979 and older. From the patinated to the pristine, from works in progress to completed projects, Blue Chip collectibles to vintage Fright Pigs, all are welcome and encouraged to participate in the old car hijinx and debauchery that will likely unfold during the inaugural Walleye 1000 Vintage Rally on the scenic back roads of Minnesota.

The event will cover 400 – 500 miles of scenic, fun to drive, two lane Minnesota roads . The inaugural Walleye 1000 is a two day event departing from the Twin Cities early Saturday morning. The route will head north, a little west and a little east to an undisclosed location where rally participants will lay siege to a cheap motel and sleep for the night.

Sunday morning, rallyists will get their cars running again for the ‘round about return to the Cities. There will be a finisher’s banquet Sunday evening where prizes of questionable value and awards of questionable taste will be distributed while we all eat dinner together and recount the trials and tribulations of the recently completed journey.

The event route and full event details will only be disclosed in participant rally packs to be distributed at registration the day of the event.

Entry fee is $275 per vehicle (Team of two = Driver & Co-Driver) includes Rally Pack and Route Notes, Saturday Dinner, Saturday Night Accommodations, 2 Event T-shirts, Rally Decals, Finishers Dinner Sunday Evening.

Contact MBCA Member Dave Tobin for more information. (651) 216-126 five. or email dave (at) daveknowscars.com – Visit the event website at www.walleye1000.com

New events, updates and corrections have been added.

Calendar – 2012-Feb. 3, 2012

Off. – Coord – 12-28-11

Ellingson Car Museum, 20950 Ellingson Drive, Rogers, MN

Contact: Paul Bergquist – 952-937-1822  PBASSOCINC@aol.com

Ellingson Flyer

A stroll through the museum will take you on a nostalgic trip through the automotive past. Enjoy seeing 100 vehicles, including cars, trucks and motorcycles, from the early 1920′s through the muscle cars of the 60′s and 70′s. Historic videos, pictures, memorabilia and a doll collection are also on display.

Enjoy a lunch with our group at Denny's Classic Diner after the tour.

We guarantee MBCA Members and guests unlimited entertainment and adventure — from golfing, car shows and exploration at nearby Grand Canyon to boutique shopping, day spas and five-star restaurants — we encourage you to make a Fall vacation out of this year’s festivities.