Mercedes Benz Pageant 2012

My Photographic Journey in life has allowed me to see some amazing automobiles and spend time with some amazing petrol heads. But one event that i have always been craving to go to is this. The very Exclusive Mercedes Benz Pageant. And this year i was lucky enough to attend and witness some of greatest cars to come out of Germany's finest Automobile Manufacturer! 

Over 300 cars participated in this fine event that is organised by DIMO on an annual basis. Waking up really early and boycotting lectures was all worth it. 

It was a beautiful day too. The Sun was out and there were plenty of clouds! Just the way i like it. Always makes a lovely backdrop. Mind you I'm not that savvy with all the Mercedes Benz models, so please do excuse me on that. 

I will be featuring some special cars in future posts, but for now lets just take a walk around so that the people who missed it can really see what this pageant is all about.

A bunch of old S Classes were lined up at the entrance. Just this one shot depicts the  quality of the cars that were here. Most of them looked like they just rolled off the showroom floor. The attention to detail was just mind blowing. 

But you have to expect it with cars like these. Mercs were bought by people who had the money to maintain them. So most of them would be in pristine condition. And some of these cars have been handed down from Father to Son and so on. Take this 1965 W110 Mercedes Benz 'Tail Fin' for example. It had a lovely shade of Brown and one of the coolest number plates ever! 

Brown has never looked so good on a car. Come to think of it, i saw quite a few cars in this shade. And dare i say it they looked good. Keen Eyes would notice a lovely detail on this car.....

Yup, it even had a Three Pointed Star on the flag pole/Antenna. I'm not really sure what it was. But it sure does look cool. The devil is in the details they say. 

It was called the Tail fin, because of its tiny fins at the back. Something that was made popular by the big American cars of the era. But the Germans had very subtle fins...

Hardly Noticeable , and in later models they were merely a little ridge on the rear quarter panel. 

You cant go wrong with an American Import S Class. The difference was in the headlamps, where instead on one whole light you get two Circular ones integrated into the same housing. Just makes a world of difference to the look. 

Imagine seeing one of these in your rear view mirror! So gangsta this car is! Love it! 

What did i tell you about details. The Chrome on this car was polished to such a high sheen that it made my eyes hurt! Oh and this lovely shade of green was a popular choice of colour too!

This just knocked my shoes off sky high! I'm officially in love with this shape. I'm not sure what it is, but it was a model destined for the USA. Hence the size of the thing. Cool details include Blue and Silver Two tone paint! Oh and lots and lots of Shiny Chrome!

Gansta level 10! Another big S Class from the history pages. Another brown car that was in near to perfect condition.

I can see many a Sheikh driving around in one these! 

Its amazing how well maintained these cars were. Wonder whether they are ever driven or just tucked away in a corner....

The interior too was a sea of brown leather! Fantastic seats these cars had. 

One of my good friends W123 Turbo Diesel. A Big Thank You to Oscar for taking me around the show! 

His car was the first and only car to be brought down to Sri Lanka in Turbo Diesel form! 

Fancy a baby blue one maybe? 

This car was been judged by the adjudicators. They took quite awhile to go around this car. Maybe because it was so darn good! 

Just look at that. Thumbs up on the colour choice i must say!

In German, Perfekt! 

Gotta love station wagons! Supposedly one of two cars in Sri Lanka! 

Whats this measly Corolla doing here? Poor guy got lost i suppose.....

Takes you back in time dont they? Just plain Beautiful!

Birds of a feather flock together! The whole arena was organised in such a way that similar cars were together. 

Probably the most popular Mercedes Benz model in Sri Lanka, and all over the world. The W124 E Class. 

This was just a quarter of the line up. There were a few hundred of these i suppose! 

But you can never go wrong with a white one! Trust me, people would respect you more if you drove one in this plain colour. Don't ask me why though! 

A very clean W124 on some tasty wheels. It had a special sports package body kit too. Nice! 

Another popular model! Mainly known for its Triangular shaped tail lights, the ever so famous C Class. Nice number plate too!

And the Round Light model E Class! Lovely! 

Some W180B Appreciation! 

Now onto the more modern models......

The new SLK 200! Something about this car, its not a pretty car as such. And don't you think its more suitable for a girl rather than a guy??

The black car is the previous generation model.

It had a lot of Formula 1 design ideals. Mainly in the front end....

See a resemblance? Well the way the nose cone is designed and the front bumper are quite similar to that of a F1 car....

The latest one though, well looks awkward from the front end don't you think? 

Not the sexiest of the bunch, but i see this trend in modern Merc's. Not as drop dead gorgeous as the ones before.

Take the first generation CLS for example. This is my all time favorite Mercedes Benz. The only Merc that i will ever buy (I'm a BMW enthusiast if you didn't know). How can you not love that shape eh? Well someday I will own one of these baby's! 

And look what they did with the new one! *Face Palm* yes i agree it has presence but where's that fluidity that the first one had? 

It does know how to show off though! Overkill i think though.....

Another rare car, it was with its modern counterparts. E Class Coupe, Prefer one of these Beauties to a new one! 

A Convertible W124! Lovely Stock Chrome wheels it had. Just behind that was a first generation SLK. 

Modern E Class Convertible, with some tasty AMG Alloys! Still will have the old one over this! 

Right next to that was this, slightly modified car. Twin Fogs and some big wheels. Not a big fan of the wheels though. 

I got a special feature on this car. Its not just an ordinary CLK 200. Find out in our future posts! 

Its nice to know we have such nice cars in Sri Lanka.......

Ray Ban's and Mercs go so well together don't you think?? 

I don't know what model this is, but its drop dead fantastic! I guess the Aristocracy of our country used this lovely example.....

Classic lines never fail to make you fall in love! 

Now this model here is special. Supposedly there are only 7 cars like this existing in the whole world and one of them is over here. This was also the model that was favored by Hitler during the World War.

At that time, plastics was non existent. Hence why that parcel rack is made of pure wood. And so was the whole dash board. Looked like a huge wardrobe in there to be honest with you! 

Now this was my favourite area of the whole show! Welcome Ladies and Gents to the SL Arena! 

First generation SL in W121 form, which means it had a 1.9l In Line 6 Engine. It also came with the fantastic 3.0 L engine as seen in the 300SL. Sadly we don't have any of those here.....

And another one in the perfect colour for these cars. Silver! 

Oh another one in this funky cream shade. Have always be attracted to the looks. The smooth shape is to die for!

Fancy one in Teal i suppose? Naa, one in black with a red leather interior. That's more like it! 

Realized how big the grille Emblems were on these cars. A famous trait now seen on most modern Merc's too! 

Probably one of the most prestigious Automotive Clubs in Sri Lanka. Got to Thank them for pulling off such a great show! 

Another one of my favorites! A second generation SL. A full feature on this soon! 

Loved the colour on this car. Notice the detail in the Mercedes Benz logo....

Another car in a lovely shade of teal. Unique colour i must say. 

This here is a second generation 280SL. A car just like this in the same colour was driven by the character Devon Miles in the original 80's Knight Rider in a few seasons.

Rendered Speechless!

Old Vs New. Which one will you have? Keen eyes will notice that the old car was running on Pirelli P2000 Rubber! 

After i saw this R129 it is officially my favorite car out of the whole show. This Mercedes Benz was just epic. From that very unique colour choice.....

To the fat deep dish alloys! Gotta love the chrome lip! 

How can you not love that? Expect a full feature on this too!

Playboy eh? 

Well got to be, when you drive a fancy car like that! 

Now this was the ultimate Play Boys toy! 

A proper SL. A 500! Now that means this has 5.0 L V8 Pumping out 300 Horses! Hell yeah! 

Black paint, and some big wheels and your set to go out for the night! 

Wrapped in tons of luxurious leather and suede! Oh wood trim too....

Another shot of those lovely wheels! 

This was a SL350 face-lifted version. 

Walking inside the BMICH Premises your greeted by this huge poster. Still trying to figure out who those people are though. 

Some of the awards that were presented to the participants and winners of the various competitions that were going on. The Mercedes Benz Club is like one big family. You see whole families coming together to the pageant and just enjoying the festivities. Thumbs up to the organizers! 

Inside there were quite a lot of Mercedes Benz and DIMO merchandise. One object that really caught my attention was this model of a 300SL Gull wing. I was going to buy it for myself until i saw the price tag. Yup Rs 47,622! No sale sadly. Oh they even had a Computer USB mouse and Flash Drive too in the shape of this car!

Some of Merc's latest models were been showcased in the middle of the hall. 

Brand new CLS 350 anyone? 

And then it was time for me take my leave from these lovely ladies! 

Had a wonderful time i must say. It was a great experience seeing all these cars in one place!

A big Thank You to my friend Oscar and also to DIMO for organizing an event like this. Hope to be back here one day with my own Merc. Full features on unique cars coming soon! 

By Charith Kulasiri