Message from the Presidium


    President

    Dieter Mäurer


    Dear model car collectors,

    When Bertha Benz made her famous 106 km trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim (and back 3 days later) in August 1886, the sole purpose of this trip was to dispel the reservations of her fellow men about the vehicle, the development of her husband, and thus subsequently made the economic success of the company possible. Bertha Benz was only hoping for the sale of a few cars and certainly did not suspect what a profound development it would trigger worldwide. And not only on the streets, but also in the homes. It is not exactly known when the first miniature of an automobile was created. What is certain is, that parallel to the success of the automobile, the triumphant advance of model cars also began.

    The Mercedes-Benz Modellauto-Club e.V. was founded in 1986 with the aim of supporting the friends of model cars with the ‘star’ in their hobby. For 34 years now, we have been reporting on new products in our own newspaper, naming sources of supply, helping with the procurement of miniatures and creating our own special models in all current scales.

    Dev Kuruppu has been living in Australia for many years and is committed to the model cars with the star on the hood. His commitment to give collectors in Australia a home with its own homepage and the official emblem of the MBMC deserves the highest recognition.

    The board wishes Dev every success and all model car enthusiasts just as much fun with their common hobby, the collecting of the “little stars”. May many collectors feel addressed to, and find in the MBMC an additional support for their hobby.

    October 2020

    - The Presidium of the MBMC

About MBMC

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1986 - the year the automobile turned 100. This year the Mercedes-Benz Modellauto-Club e.V. (MBMC for short) was born. Four passionate collectors came together to found the club in November 1986 and to have it registered at the Stuttgart District Court. In addition, the then Daimler-Benz AG gave the green light for registration as the “umbrella organization of all Mercedes-Benz model car clubs”.

In the course of time, collectors of all scales between 1:220 and 1:4 have gathered in the MBMC to devote themselves to their common hobby. There are also numerous collecting areas, starting with series collectors, friends of old and new Mercedes-Benz cars, commercial vehicles, buses, racing cars, special vehicles, etc.

At the beginning of 1987 the club's own MBMC-Journal was published for the first time, which is still published quarterly - with a multiple improved, complex layout - and provides the members with interesting information and reports on more than 40 pages.

Over the years, the MBMC has repeatedly succeeded in staging regionally and nationally. With one of the largest model car exhibitions ever, over 60 showcases with more than 2000 models were presented in the Daimler-Benz Museum in 1988.

In the next few years, the club made further appearances on a wide variety of occasions: Participation in presentations of new releases from the Mercedes-Benz brand, at the IAA in Frankfurt, in museums, at model car fairs, radio and television appearances by members and their collections or their special ones Models, reports in various publications in the model scene and beyond.

The MBMC supported well-known book authors and editors of specialist magazines and special publications with information, data tables and background knowledge about collecting.

Club life takes place at regular gatherings in six regional round tables, which are spread across Germany. In addition, the MBMC succeeded in founding and actively operating strong club representatives in the USA and the Netherlands. The most upstream satellites are the MBMC representatives in South Africa and Canada.

The Mercedes-Benz Model Car Club has a permanent membership of more than 500 collectors who are dedicated to the models and club life. It should be emphasized that it is not just men who have dedicated themselves to collecting Mercedes-Benz models. We can proudly declare that we meet our “women's quota” in the club. The "hard core" meets annually for the general assembly, which is to be held according to association law.

As the annual highlight, these gatherings are always accompanied by a social evening with an extensive raffle, in which around 100 people - club members with accompaniment - take part. These meetings also document the excellent cooperation between the club and the Mercedes-Benz organization, without whose support progress would not be so easy.

In addition to the club presentation, the MBMC always offers its members exceptionally popular models that are limited and have a high collector's value. Since it was founded in 1986, more than 45 special models have been launched, all of which have the club logo printed on them. The miniatures projected by the MBMC are the result of good contacts and long-term relationships with various manufacturers. Most of scale models from various HO manufacturers, especially from HERPA. Small series models are also developed for the MBMC and made available exclusively to members. In addition, other accessories "around the star" such as Tie sliders, car badges or MBMC pins are given to the members in order to demonstrate their club membership to the outside world.

In addition to an extensive, club-owned MBMC database, in which countless model descriptions and other information are collected, the MBMC offers other services for its members. One should mention the MBMC shop, which can offer members various models and accessories at special prices.

Furthermore, specialists from various areas of the model car sector are available to process inquiries and information. The MBMC news-flash, which is even more up-to-date than the MBMC Journal, presents new models of the Mercedes-Benz brand as news information.

The goals of the MBMC, already mentioned in 1986, are still valid:

  • Support for members in collecting Mercedes-Benz models

  • To convey information about old and new Mercedes-Benz models as well as their role models and history

  • To organize and help shape model car exhibitions and collectors' meetings

  • Maintain contact with dealers and producers

  • To give suggestions and support for the production of special models

  • Development of a Mercedes-Benz model car archive

  • Support of Daimler AG in the presentation of new vehicles or at trade fairs (e.g. by providing suitable model cars for display case decoration)