My very own Moments of Passion

I have been watching too much videos narrating the long journey of the world's famous premium brand, what else if not Mercedes-Benz. As a matter in fact, I have been a big fan of this brand ever since I was a little boy and wishing that someday I will and must own this brand and ensure that it parked properly under my house porch. That was 23 years back when I had my first ride in a 1975 Mercedes-Benz 230.4 which was owned by my uncle and it was the greatest moment that I ever had when first riding in it. I guess I am destined to be a long life Mercedes-Benz fans and driver as I would like to share my very own moments of passion with this brand and how I experienced nothing but the best engineering from this brand.

I smiled with tears in my eyes each time watch the video narrating how this brand evolved from scratch to where it stands today in the eyes of the world as the well known premium brand. And now I am working in the automobile industry being the business consultant for the world well-known premium tuners; BRABUS Kuala Lumpur and being a business consultant here, I have put myself a dream that I must own at least one brand new Mercedes-Benz clads in BRABUS body kits to enhance the appearance of my dream ride. But for now I am more than happy to have own a Mercedes-Benz; a 1991 Mercedes-Benz 260E. I don't care whether people call it an old junk or besi buruk or kereta orang tua, I dont give a damn because I worked hard for it and I deserve to pamper myself with my ever dreamed car. 

Everytime driving the W124, each time I attended several functions held at five stars hotel, people still opens the door for me and even offered me their vallet parking and I am talking about a 20 year old Mercedes-Benz and still the respect that I got from most of the valet boy is "Wow, masih mengancam kereta ini ye abang" a

nd I responded to him with one big honest smile. Yes, that old junk is still a head turner amongst those who appreciates the badge that stands proudly at the edge of the front bonnet; the three pointed stars. By having this kind of impression inside a 20 year old car (have you ever wonder how would a 20 year old non-Continental cars look like) my love and passion towards this brand grows stronger. This car should not be thrown away or even send it to the junk yard because this car is a good car better than any new cars out there (non-Continental cars).

What would one expect in a 20 year old cars like Mercedes-Benz? No power windows, no power steering, engine not powerful and everything is outdated but the car that I am driving; I call her Old Maria Mercedes (a lovely Spanish name) was built with features that is 20 years ahead of its time. My car comes with a catalytic converter (back then no catalytic converter), BEHR climate control air conditioning system (non-Continental cars only feature this in 1992 and Mercedes since 1985), ABS as standard features and I can do a long list of what available inside this model that I am driving. And the most impressive thing and I loved most inside this car is the maintenance; EXTREMELY LOW! I dont think that a 20 year old non-Continental car is cheap to maintain as once they come up with new models, older models get obsolete and no more spare parts. But Mercedes-Benz is different, even in Sindelfingen, they still produce spare parts for all older Mercedes-Benz vehicles; hence this car is an indestructible car as parts are vastly available and cheap too!

Old Maria Mercedes never lets me down to date as she drives me further and further each day and I would only spend my time with her on the road whilst my wife enjoys her ride inside her snoozing. But she stil dont understand that she does not sits inside a normal car but an over engineered machine that has features beyond of any other cars. Old Maria accelerates gracefully and she is a very good girl as she is not that thirsty each time I feed her with petrol. Feeding her with one full tank of petrol would enable her to takes me some 500km in one full tank and I am talking about a 20 year old Mercedes-Benz that only use mechanical injection engine not electronic fuel injection. And yes, talking about the engine, mostly they said that engine is not powerful like those land of the rising sun brands but to me, it is more than enough to carry her weight and drives me in comfort and safe. I had once being offered by a friend of mine to plunk the land of the rising sun engine inside my Mercedes but I refused simply because I still believe with the performance of the current engine. Still capable of doing high speed will show you that this car is capable of doing 200kmh without problems that even a errr.... I must say newer Camry would be surprised. And off course this makes my love and affection with her grows stronger than ever; I am driving a legend that pioneers in all technologies  back then and to date and this makes me proud to have own a wonderful car like the W124 series Mercedes-Benz. 

As long as I am still alive, I will take good care of Old Maria just like how her previous owner took care of her for the past 10 years. I will always love my Old Maria irregardless on how people perceive her being a demanding old lady to takes care of her. To me, this is the brand that I have been longing to own and I own it and there is not sign of regrets of owning. Old Maria, my wish is to transform you to your utmost pristine looks back when you first rolled out from Sindelfingen factory in Germany 20 years ago. I really hope that our relationship will continue and your existence in my life is the greatest thing of all. I am just being passionate and been waiting for ages to get you in hand. I love you Old Maria Mercedes. And this video pays tribute to your parents as my token of appreciation for pioneering in all technologies ahead of other times. Thank you Karl-Benz and Gottlieb Daimler (Daimler-Benz AG) for building such a magnificent cars beyond other times.

Lots of love,

Fadhil Zhafri

2315 hrs

Shah Alam