Habibie's Mercedes Benz most attractive in show
Habibie's Mercedes Benz most attractive in show
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of people took a close look at a silver
1954 two-door Mercedes-Benz sedan, which was on display along with
300 others in the parking lot of the Front Row restaurant on Jl.
Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta on Sunday.
The car was possibly the most attractive automobile at the
one-day exhibition, titled Mercedes-Benz Classic Contest and
Sale, due to its unique design.
"She's beautiful, isn't she? You know what? She belongs to Pak
Habibie," the driver of the Mercedes 300 SL told The Jakarta
Post, referring to former president B.J. Habibie.
"She has quite a history, though. Why don't you ask that man
over there. He's Pak Habibie's private secretary," the driver
said, indicating a man with gray hair called Rubianto.
Rubianto knew all about the long history of the German-made
car.
"The car was found in a village in Jambi by a medic. The Mercy
once belonged to a rich villager who had eleven wives. The car
was abandoned in the 1980s after the rich man died," Rubianto
told the Post and other curious visitors.
"It was his eleventh wife who inherited it and abandoned it.
The car was later considered by locals as a sacred thing that
fell from the moon due to its unique exterior," he said.
Rubianto said the car was later bought by a collector who then
sold it to Habibie because he could not repay the bank for money
borrowed to restore the car after its long period of neglect.
"Pak Habibie heard there were two of this limited edition car
in the country, so we are looking for the other one," Rubianto
said.
The car was among about 300 Mercedes-Benz automobiles on
exhibit.
Chairman of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Club Indonesia (MCC),
Ridwan Pohan, said participants of the event had come from
Yogyakarta, Surabaya in East Java, Bandung in West Java, and
Bogor, some 60 kilometers south of here.
"About 100 of the cars are here for the contest," Ridwan said
adding that there were two categories in the competition.
"The first one is the vintage cars contest where originality
of parts is the most important thing. The other category is the
customized contest where we judge an owner's creativity to modify
his or her car," Ridwan said.
The panel of jurors said it was hard to qualify a car for the
first category.
"Old Mercy's with original parts are almost non-existent,"
juror Yulianto, a collector of two classic Mercedes, said.
"So I can say that they all have been customized."
Anniversary
The event which was held to commemorate the first anniversary
of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Club Jakarta also attracted visitors
looking for cars to buy.
Forty-nine-year-old businessman, Benny, was seen carefully
inspecting several cars which were for sale. Each car had a piece
of paper on its windshield telling the type, the price and the
owner's cellular phone number.
"I am thinking of buying this type," Benny said, indicating a
280 S type.
"But I think I'll look around some more," Benny said adding
that there were many other units from which to choose.
A senior member of MCC, Ronaldi, said that the number of
participants was unexpected.
"It's a surprise to have participants as many as today," said
the collector of old Mercedes-Benz sedans.
Ronaldi said the club would change its name to the Mercedes-
Benz Club Indonesia soon so membership would not be restricted
only to classic car owners. (jaw)