Messerschmitt kirjoitti:Voi perkele että on hieno!

sepulaakeri kirjoitti:

Messerschmitt kirjoitti:Voi perkele että on hieno!

INDEED!

I`m so jealous!

if i change or add something... dark rear lights and dark(or clear) front blinkers and supercharger under the hood... after that it should be a perfect car on my opinion. even like this easily top5 ever!

lassi-s kirjoitti:HOLY F**K. that looks awesome why drive a ferrari, when you could drive a old mercedes, what looks much better/cooler than ferrari.

sepulaakeri kirjoitti:have u broken ur engine or what is this photo about??

karra kirjoitti:

sepulaakeri kirjoitti:have u broken ur engine or what is this photo about??

I guess cars like this will never be finished to the end ... there's always something to improve . Just counted the number of cams is 32 .

48hp kirjoitti:Almost forgot...

There's a little bit of Finland in the trunk of the wide body. It's been quite the conversional piece, lol.

[ http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g420/48hp/The%20Wide%20Body/429f164e.jpg ]

Author: Henric Nieminen
Photography by: Ted Zombek

Return of a Legend
Article by Henric Nieminen
Photography by Ted Zombek and Henric Nieminen


The day is overcast but bright, illuminating a field of shiny sheet metal. One cluster of darkness, three cars, stands out in this bright gathering of pristine, colorful examples of Mercedes-Benz heritage. Within this exclusive group of three is one with an ominous stance, the dark mystery of its lines suggesting a unique story to be told.
In fact, the liquid black coupe crouching silently on the grassy hillside is the culmination of five intertwined stories. This tale begins years ago in Finland, then touches the home of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart and the workshops of AMG in tiny Affalterbach before finally reaching San Francisco and Los Angeles. But this isn’t just a story of places; it is a story of people.


Three Generations and Mercedes

World War II was not kind to Finland. Transportation is key in every war and transport maintenance was critical for Jaako Nieminen, one of a small number of chief mechanics responsible for keeping the Finnish army mobile – a responsibility that continually honed and tested Nieminen’s skills.

In the years after the war, he passed on his practical attitudes and experience to his son Martti, who supplemented them with formal technical training. Then an old girlfriend spoke of opportunities in Americas.
Nieminen emigrated to New York in 1965 with nothing more than hope and his craft. It took him six months to save the plane-ticket fare to the states, and by the time he landed in New York, that girlfriend’s life had taken a different turn. Aided only with a letter in English describing his abilities and training – a letter written by a fellow countryman on his behalf – he found work at a small garage specializing in Mercedes-Benz cars. There he befriended another expatriate mechanic, Otto Meyer, a native German.

In the grand spirit of immigrants of previous generations, Nieminen, Meyer, and Meyer’s wife struck out for Seattle. But the Northwest didn’t feel like home and they soon headed south to San Francisco, where Meyer opened an auto salvage yard in the East Bay, specializing in Mercedes. Nieminen became a partner in a Mercedes service shop across the bridge in San Francisco.

Martti Nieminen is my father. He found a life and a Finnish wife on the West Coast, and I was born a few years after they were established in San Francisco. This is where I grew up and where he would pass on the mechanical skills and aptitude he learned from his father. When I was 15 years old, he presented me with my first car, a 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit diesel. It was straight, it was shiny, it was a black four-door hatchback – but it was missing one key element – The 48 horsepower engine.

Smiling and using his broken English, my father said, “You havit a year to figure dat out.” And for the months that followed I dove in head first. Fortunately I was able to find a rebuildable block, and with his tutelage and assistance, managed to get the little hatchback on the road. This was my first experience in restoring an automobile, the same car in which I passed my first driving test. My father and I later shared numerous restoration projects.
Martti retired in 2001, at the age of 60, and by then the seeds of my appreciation for German automobiles had taken firm root. Though I would make my career in film production, I treasured the skills and savvy passed down from my grandfather and father.

laineracing kirjoitti:Olisiko kellään muotteja leveille lokareille? Twinturbossa ei renkaat mahu renkaat kääntyyn 60astetta,tarvis taikoa leveempää lokaria!