Santa Cruz Valley Car Nuts 18th Annual Collector Car Show

The Santa Cruz Valley Car Nuts Annual Collector Car Show was held on January 28, 2012 on the golf course at the Tubac Golf Resort in Tubac, AZ.  This year marked the 4th consecutive year that the Chaparral Section has participated in the show, and the presence of the Mercedes-Benz marque was definitely felt by the huge crowd of spectators and the approximately 500 participants.

The absolutely beautiful Arizona winter weather allowed us to showcase 15 Chaparral Section Mercedes-Benz vehicles registered for the show, plus 3 additional registrations for the Mercedes-Benz Class #20. The layout of the parking area allowed ONLY Mercedes-Benz vehicles to be parked in the row which actually helped to showcase the immaculately prepared cars.  The only way to top off the detailed preparations and the great support from the show organizers would be for one of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles to be selected “Best of Show”.

In the inaugural Mercedes-Benz Class #20, Debbie Rietman was awarded 3rd place with her 2004 SL500.  Second place went to Jim Dretler with his 2011 SLS AMG.  The first place winner in the was Hans Hohle with his 1962 190B.  But the best was yet to come.  With over 200 spectators and show participants looking on, the “Best of Show” trophy was awarded to… Hal Ashton and his 1955 300SL Gullwing.  This is the second consecutive major Tucson area show that Hal and his 300SL have been awarded “Best of Show”; the earlier show being the Tucson Classics Car Show in October 2012. Congratulations to all of the show winners.

The Chaparral Section wishes to thank member Bill Hooper for his efforts in organizing our participation this year, and especially for planting the seed and then following through to convince the show organizers that there really should be a Mercedes-Benz class in the show.