Calendar updated May 19.

Jan. 18, Aero-brunch. Dining at 94th Aero Squadron.
Feb. 22, Board Meeting. Section meeting at Crown Eurocars of Dublin.
Mar. 28, New Members Party. Social evening of food, drink, and conversation. Invitation is forthcoming in the mail.
Apr. 19, Brunch & Learn. Brunch is at the 94th Aero Squadron from 11:00 AM, followed by a technical event at Germain Mercedes-Benz at Easton at 2:00 PM. Attend either or both.
May 13, Board Meeting. Section meeting at Germain M-B of Easton. Members are welcome to attend.
May 23, Autocross. Sport driving event with Porsche Club and OSU Sports Car Club at OSU.
June 13, Touring Event. Road trip to Marietta, OH. Lunch along the banks of the Ohio River, sternwheeler ride, shopping. On your way home, take OH-555 for the most entertaining twisty road driving in the state!
June 27, Autocross. Sport driving event with Alfa Romeo Club and OSU Sports Car Club at OSU.
July 24-26, Pagoda University. This is a joint MBCA and Pagoda SL Group event at the Alexander’s home. A "must attend" event for enthusiasts of the 1963-1971 W113 SL.
Aug. 12, Board Meeting. Section meeting at Crown Eurocars of Dublin. Members are welcome to attend.
Aug. 22, Autocross. Sport driving event with BMW Club and OSU Sports Car Club at OSU.
Sept. 20, The 8th Annual All-German Car Show. All German brand vehicles welcome. Held at the Germania Club, Columbus, OH. Held in conjunction with Germania's 50th Annual Oktoberfest.
Oct., Touring event (TBD). Scenic drive with specific events and stops at points of interest planned.
Nov. 11, Board Meeting. Section meeting at Germain M-B of Easton. Members are welcome to attend.
Nov., Tech Session at Crown Eurocars of Dublin. Topic TBD.
Dec., Holiday Party. MBCA Section dinner event.

If you have any interest in joining MBCA, or attending an event to see what we're all about, just send me a Private Message through this board or mail me here: CentralOhioMBCA@gmail.com

The MBCA discussion forum for our events is here:
http://mbca.cartama.net/showthread.php?t=29297
(No login to view, post as a guest)

 

We had our new member party. There were about 23 people there, 5 of which were new members with 4 of those bringing a spouse. So, 9 of 23 were new to MBCA. It was a fun time visiting with everyone, and all the food brought by the guests was great!

 

On April 11, section leaders from the MBCA Great Lakes Region met near Cleveland to discuss ways to improve the club. It was a beneficial meeting with several good ideas exchanged. Lots of new initiatives and optimisim generated.

 

On April 19, the Central Ohio Section MBCA had a "Brunch & Learn".

First, we filled our stomachs with a brunch at the 94th Aero Squadron (http://www.94thaero.com) where they have an amazing array of food available.

Then we drove over to the Germain Mercedes-Benz of Easton's (http://www.germainmercedesbenz.com) service department to fill our brains. They demonstrated various aspects of detailing, paint repair, and alloy wheel repair. Nice services! The parts department had their M-B apparel on display, with steep discounts for us. They also prepared a number of bins of older NOS parts sorted by chassis number. A garage sale at a dealership! Finally, each guest also went home with a key chain and a dealershp $500 discount card (15% off parts & service up to a $500 total).

Sorry, no pictures. Next event - autocross!

 

Would any of you Mercedes-Benz SUV owners be interested in joining up with the Ohio 4x4 TrailRiders (http://www.ohio4x4.com) for some novice off-roading one day? Every year they have a Novice Trail Ride (http://72.41.91.149/forum/showthread.php?t=7034), so I was thinking we could join in on this event next year. Our calendar is full for this year.

So, what do you think?

 

We had a great turn out of 32 drivers at our first autocross of the season. The participants were from the following clubs (and guests):
- Mercedes-Benz Club of America, Central Ohio Section
- Porsche Club of America, Mid-Ohio Region
- OSU Sports Car Club (Ohio State students)

Fastest time of day went to a 1977 Porsche 911 that was custom set up for autocross/racing. Next was a 1995 BMW M3. Third was a 2002 Mercedes-Benz SLK32 AMG. It was a fun day with a great variety of cars. Full results are at our website: http://www.mbca.org/central_ohio/past_events.htm

 

After autocrossing, our next couple events were membership drive events where we promoted the club and tried to recruit new members. Our first was at Crown Mercedes-Benz in Dublin, OH. (http://www.crownmercedes.com)

 

Our second E Class party was at Germain Mercedes-Benz of Easton (http://www.germainmercedesbenz.com).

These promotional events are very useful because we create a lot of awareness about the MBCA. It's amazing how many owners/enthusiasts don't know the Club exists. We're trying to change that, at least in Central Ohio!

 

Interested in joining the MBCA? For the $45/year membership fee you get:

- Six issues of The Star per year.
- 10% off parts & labor, service & repiars, at Central Ohio M-B Dealerships (Crown and Germain).
- Meet fun and interesting people to socialize with and network.
- Many diverse local events and several top quality national events.
- Up to $1,500 off purchase of a vehicle at M-B dealerships (MBCA Loyalty Program).
- MBCA Members-Only Raffle.
- Designated club Technical Director to help with maintenance & repair issues.
- Germany trips organized and let by Club members.
- Free classified ads in The Star and on-line.
- Club store.
- On-line discussion forum.

Join here: www.mbca.org

 

On June 27 we had our second of three scheduled autocross events. This time the clubs involved were the OSU Sports Car Club, the Alfa Romeo Owners Club, and the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, along with any personal guests. As always, there were no classes, just get out there and drive what you own and have fun.

I couldn't post the .pdf results as the file was too large. Here are some pictures of non-Mercedes-Benz cars. The link is to a 16 minute video showing M-B cars on the course. It looks slow from outside the car, but things are happening quickly in the driver's seat! http://blip.tv/file/2330576