Our Club is managed by a Committee; our contacts are:

President: Andrew Witheford pombact@mbclubs-act.org.au		Vice-President: Adam Couacaud vicepresident@mbclubs-act.org.au		Treasurer: Brad Aitken treasurer@mbclubs-act.org.au
Secretary: Tony von Brandenstein secretary@mbclubs-act.org.au		Committee Member: Graeme Steadman		Committee Member: David Stone

Assisting the Committee are the appointed positions:

• • Club Plate Registrar: David Williams
  • Concours Director: Peter Mulquiney – concoursdirector@mbclubs-act.org.au
  • Delegate to the Council of ACT Motor Clubs: Andrew Witheford – CACTMC@mbclubs-act.org.au
  • Librarian: John Green – librarian@mbclubs-act.org.au
  • Magazine Editor: Neil Mansini – editor@mbclubs-act.org.au
  • Magazine Group: Proofing vacant, distribution Denis Power
  • Merchandise Officer: Adam Couacaud – sales@mbclubs-act.org.au
  • Membership Secretary: Michael Zeitlhofer – membership@mbclubs-act.org.au
  • Events Director: David Stone – motoring@mbclubs-act.org.au
  • Public Officer: Pat Walsh
  • Sponsorship Officer: Pat Walsh
  • Webmaster: Lukas Tan – webmaster@mbclubs-act.org.au

Additional details:

• Committee Positions Duties
• Committee Position Nomination and Proxy Form

Club History

On Saturday 1^st May 1976, an advertisement was placed in The Canberra Times seeking Mercedes-Benz owners who may be interested in forming a club to help each other with maintenance and restoration issues and to enjoy themselves socially, with the common thread of an interest in the Mercedes-Benz marque. This idea has progressed to the club’s constitution, where the objects of the club cover the three-fold aims of knowledge of the history and technical understanding of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, social fellowship with other members, and monthly touring events which combine that social fellowship with enjoyment of our fabulous country while travelling in our “marvellous Mercedes”.

The club is administered by a committee, which meets regularly to oversee the club’s varied activities, and is also supported by several businesses in the Canberra area, including independent vehicle service establishments and the authorised Mercedes-Benz dealer and official repairer, as well as other vehicle-related businesses.

As one of the six Mercedes-Benz clubs in Australia authorized by Daimler AG, the parent company in Stuttgart, Germany, the ACT club was, in 1999, one of the 50 founding member clubs of the then Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Club International GmbH also based in Stuttgart. Now known as Mercedes-Benz Club Management, a component of the Mercedes-Benz Museum GmbH and the company’s Classic arrangements, this organisation provides a valuable link to the parent manufacturing company and its Classic Centre for spare parts and other support. The Mercedes-Benz Club Management now oversees some 70+ Mercedes-Benz clubs worldwide that interact through contact at the club president level as well as by exchanging club magazines to keep others informed of relevant happenings in their part of the Mercedes-Benz world.

Our high-standard club magazine, STAR ACT, is published bimonthly. This provides members with news, views, personal glimpses, coming events and post-mortems of past events, along with free “For Sale or Wanted” ads for members’ cars. A well- stocked library provides members with access to a variety of Mercedes-Benz magazines from around Australia and the world, as well as technical manuals, particularly for the older models and many books.

The club’s members are drawn mainly from the ACT and surrounding areas of NSW, ranging from 18-year-old students with an interest in the marque and looking forward to their first Mercedes, to more mature members who have experienced several decades of Mercedes-Benz ownership. Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in the marque, whether or not they actually own a Mercedes-Benz vehicle. The members’ cars range from a few of the early post-war classics to the current models. About 165 members own a combined fleet of about 350 Mercedes-Benz vehicles. These include 1950s chassis based limousines and Roundies (known as Pontons outside Australia), 1960s Finnies (also known as Fintails or Finbacks or by the German term HeckFlosse) and later Compacts with a colourful history and a bit rough around the edges. These latter models can be acquired for under $6000 and just like the competition winners of their age may be eligible to be registered as a historic vehicle for club use for about $104 annually. A few members own some of the more exotic models or even new models straight out of the showroom, costing quite a lot more. Irrespective of age, cost or value, each vehicle is of value to the club, and provides its own enjoyment to those who own or ride in them.

Each year since its inception in 1976, the club has conducted an annual Concours d’Elegance, in which members present their cars for display and judging, where each speck of dirt (not a “factory option”) is hunted down and disposed of in the quest for trophies. These events attract several participants from the affiliated clubs in other states as well as local members, which is reciprocated when some of our members venture to challenge for the silverware at the Concours conducted by the other state clubs. Additionally, every 2 years since 1976, all the Mercedes-Benz clubs in Australia come together, rotating the duty of host club for a National Rally. In 2006, this event was held in Canberra, and attracted over 260 Mercedes-Benz Club members coming from all over Australia. The rally saw 5 of the Australian clubs represented by approximately 120 Mercedes-Benz cars with members of Western Australian club members flying the 4000kms to Canberra. Enthusiasts from New Zealand and the United Kingdom also attended.

In 2013 the Club hosted an Australia wide gathering of the “Pagoda” (W113), a sleek two door sports car of the 60s and 70s to mark to 50th anniversary of the release of this vehicle. The event attracted a gathering of 58 gleaming cars from four states and the ACT in front of Parliament House. It set a record for the largest gathering of Pagodas in the southern Hemisphere.

For membership enquiries you can contact the club:

Mail to: PO Box 1093 Woden ACT 2606, or
Email: membership@mbclubs-act.org.au.