Revving up the past

Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Rally brought together physical reminders of a past long forgotten as 77 vintage cars rolled up in their shiny best Mercedes-Benz invented the car 137 years ago and ever since, has constantly re-invented itself as it drives into an electrified future.

- HORMAZD SORABJEE

The line-up at the MBCCR 2023 included a 230SL Pagoda that resembles temples in the Far East; a 190SL that once belonged to Maharani Gayatri Devi; a 500K, which set the benchmark for grand tourers back in the 1930s; and a Nurburg, widely believed to be among the best surviving examples of its kind.

It's likely that when the German brand celebrates its 150th birthday, its model range will only be EVs. Like most of us, it's a future that founder Carl Benz (who took the streets with his three-wheeled 'Patent Wagen' in 1886) could never have imagined.

No wonder the excitement over vintage and classic car events is growing. It's a collective desire to rekindle the romance of the past.