smart: The new fortwo & forfour

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Although smart is not exactly what engages our primarily interest – since our "Chromjuwelen Électrique“ documentary (embedded above) we kinda like this little fellow.

smart just presented their brand-new fortwo and forfour. Some say both models look a Cygnet – we have to admit we like the Asiatic Manga-styled face. Finally the car has something that looks like a bonnet!

Life Is Good.

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Blåvand, Denmark, April 2014. All toys belong to Helge, I just enjoyed 'em.

Mopar Spring Fling 2014

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The Mopar Spring Fling just made it clear: It’s high time to exchange the 1964 Imperial for a plain-Jane Mopar. Btw – thanks for giving me a ride in your HEMI monster, Helge!

The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class

"Hamburg, May 15, 2013. This evening, the new flagship for luxurious motoring landed in Hamburg on board an Airbus A300-600 DHL cargo plane. Mercedes-Benz had the new S-Class flown in exclusively from its birthplace in Stuttgart for its world premiere at Airbus in Finkenwerder.

At the delivery centre for the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft and a benchmark in travel comfort, Mercedes-Benz unveiled its new luxury saloon in front of around 750 international guests from the worlds of politics, industry and media. Flanked by the 20 current Mercedes-Benz models and musically accompanied by the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the new top-of-the-line model from Stuttgart rolled across the tarmac as part of a spectacular show.

In a dazzling display, it took up its position at the head of the Mercedes-Benz family and drove onto the stage with its first passenger, the global superstar Alicia Keys."

BAM!

Even after a couple of days, it's hard to find the right words. Although I am personally not a fan of high tech stuffed cars, the new S-Class with it's three engineering priorities "Intelligent Drive", "Efficient Technology" and "Essence of Luxury", extends the boundaries of technology on many levels.

Not to mention the fact Mercedes-Benz threw a mind-blowing party. Five German star-rated chefs specialising in different culinary styles each cooked their own dish, Alicia Keys had come specially to Hamburg just a few days ahead of the start of her European tour. And with 19 musicians under conductor Prof. Johannes Schild, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra played various pieces that had been specially composed for the world premiere of the S-Class by the internationally successful film composer Marius Ruhland.

Chapeau, Mercedes-Benz.

Two Car Shows On Two Continents In Five Days

Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force

Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force

Wolfgang Würth, smart electric bike

smart electric bikes, Niketown, Beverly Hills

The Jim Henson Company, smart forjeremy

Jet-lagged and tipsy: Mathias "MC Winkel" Winks and some muppet

James Bond Aston Martin DB5 Coupé, LA Auto Show 2012

Decadent lunch with Marcel Winatschek (Amy & Pink), David Fischer (Highsnobiety) and Mathias Winks (Whudat)

"A brand is your friend" — Word.

Slammed W108 with mascara (caption borrowed from Clemens Gleich)

Now, with a Chromjuwelen branding, this Opel Kadett is worth over a million. No — wait: Five millions.

Bon appétit!

Yes, you can. You can visit two car shows (LA Auto Show, Essen Motor Show), three world premieres (Mercedes-AMG SLS AMG Coupé Black Series, Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force, smart forjeremy) and several parties in five days. Here's a quick journal:

• Tuesday, November 27th (early): HAM-FRA-LAX

• Tuesday, November 27th: Arrival Los Angeles

• Tuesday, November 27th: Beverly Hills on smart electric bikes

• Tuesday, November 27th: Presentation Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force

• Tuesday, November 27th: Presentation smart forjeremy at the Jim Henson Company

• Wednesday, November 28th: LA Motor Show

• Wednesday, November 28th: Santa Monica

• Wednesday, November 28th: Departure (LAX-MUC-DUS)

• Tuesday, November 29th: Arrival in DUS

• Tuesday, November 29th: Dinner with Chem-Tools

• Friday, November 30th: Essen Motor Show 2012, meetings

• Friday, November 30th: AUTO BILD Race Night

• Saturday, December 1st: Essen Motor Show 2012, meetings

• Saturday, December 1st (late): Back in Hamburg

• Sunday, December 2nd: BRAINDEAD

• Monday, December 3rd: BRAINDEAD

What I learned: You need a really good condition (err ... really?). And some good friends, who help you.

I would like to thank Mercedes-Benz/smart for the hospitality, Klaus Rasch for saving me from the police in Santa Monica, Thomas Backe and Dieter Hofem for picking me up in DUS, Manfred Prescher and Stefan Müller for the wonderful Race Night — and DOTZ/AEZ for gallons of coffee.

And not to forget — thank you David Fischer (Highsnobiety), Mathias "MC Winkel" Winks (Whudat), Marcel Winatschek (Amy & Pink), Michael Kaune (QVEST) and Matthias Arens (Quality) for teaching me lessons in "Lifestyle, Ego-Blogging and Fashion"!

smart forjeremy: Haters Gonna Hate

The smart forjeremy rises

Jeremy Scott: "Few can afford"

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam aka M.I.A. aka "Missing in Action" aka "Missing in Acton"

Dr. Annette Winkler (smart), Jeremy Scott

Landed: smart forjeremy

Winged smart fortwo electric drive

White

smart electric drive forjeremy

I have to admit I didn't know who Jeremy Scott was when Mercedes-Benz/smart invited me to join their exclusive "smart forjeremy" event in front of the LA Auto Show 2012. A quick search later I learned that he is a fashion designer who has built a reputation for outrageous designs favored by pop stars and celebrities: Madonna, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears — just to name a few.

Shame on me, but I am no fashionista. I may know some things about Winged Warriors, but neither I had heared about "The Wing(ed) High Tops", nor about the "Teddy Bear Shoes". As well I am really awful at things like pop music. After some of my diehard old school petrol heads heared that I would fly over to Los Angeles to watch the presentation, I saw a lot of scrunched up noses. "A guy who is into gaudy fashion is doing a car? And he is doing what — a winged plastic car? Are you kidding me?"

Well, I think the smart forjeremy is cool. And let me explain, why. The fact, that a car manufacturer — in this case: smart — cooperates with an artist — in this case: Jeremy Scott —, impresses me. It is sovereign and courageous, because it creates something new. And for smart it is long overdue to get such a remix, if you ask me.

And regarding those who dislike this project: You know how it is — haters gonna hate. It is always the same. But if you've got haters, you'll probably have done some things right …

Chromjuwelen Électrique: Full Version & Bonus Videos

Not all that long ago we made a self-attempt: we eBay-ed a 1964 Imperial Crown and drove it from Los Angeles to Las Vegas – and back to Los Angeles. As you can imagine, we had a blast. You will find the video here. This time we switched to the other extreme: We travelled in a smart fortwo electric drive from Paris to Le Mans (Classic). Yup. Battery-driven. Of course – we know this electrified fellow isn't made for long distances. Even worse – we knew it will not be easy to find enough charging stations. But hey, that exactly was the challenge. If anybody of us speaks fluent French? Er ... no.

My favorite scene? Arthur's tribute to Stephen Brooks and all the dubstep video jockeys at 09:38.

Chromjuwelen Électrique features:

• smart

• Mercedes-Benz Classic

• Blenheim Gang

• Chartres

• Le Mans Clasic

• Frank Jacob (Springbok Sportwagen)

• Jochen Maas

Music:

• La Horse

• "Getting Along"

• mercedes-benz.com/mixedtape

• szoll

• "broke"

• soundcloud.com

• Tarpans

• "Rivers"

• mercedes-benz.com/mixedtape

• Advencher Club ft, Kai

• "Need Your Heart"

• soundcloud.com

• Edvard Grieg

• "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 - I. Morning" (performed by Musopen Symphony Orchestra)

• musopen.org

• EmoShock

• "Kaboul"

• soundcloud.com

All filming & editing: Faust & Heisler. For a full (German) Travelogue visit chromjuwelen.com.

Chromjuwelen Électrique: Trailer

We had a blast. Thanks to smart & Mercedes-Benz Classic for letting this happen!

The "Director's Cut" will be released September 2nd. In the meantime – here is our (German) Travelogue and a full loaded gallery.

Chromjuwelen Électrique: Are Friends Electric?

Not all that long ago we made a self-attempt: we eBay-ed a 1964 Imperial Crown and drove it from Los Angeles to Las Vegas – and back to Los Angeles. As you can imagine, we had a blast.

Now it is time for another self-attempt. But this time we will change to the other extreme: We will travel in a smart fortwo electric drive from Paris to Le Mans (Classic). Yup. Battery-driven.

Of course – we know this electrified fellow isn't made for long distances. Even worse – we know it will not be easy to find enough charging stations. But hey, that exactly is the challenge.

Our aim is to shoot another "Chromjuwelen En Route" video. This is why we are accompanied by our friends faust & heisler. If anybody of us speaks fluent French? Er ... no.

Our first appointments will be with our French soulmates from the Blenheim Gang – since we are in France, we have to learn more about "Français Moteur Culture". And if you do not follow the Blenheim Gang yet – do it now.

Btw, "follow" – stay in contact with us via Twitter, Instagram (Chromjuwelen), Tumblr or the time-waster social network!

(Image borrowed from Mercedes-Fans.de)

Continental Extreme: Chromjuwelen En Route Road Movie

And finally — here it is. Our "Continental Extreme" video. The latest Chromjuwelen En Route road movie starring five German blokes on a Motorkultur-expedition. Intention: To draw an analogy between Las Vegas (SEMA) and Dubai (Motor Show).

Co-starring among others not only our 1964 Imperial Crown, but also family and friends like Klaus Rasch (race-dezert.com), Mike Musto (ridelust.com), Ryan Friedlinghaus (West Coast Customs), Sven Gramm (BRABUS), Bear Garcia (Hooligan Customz), Frederik Faidhi (Select Nano), Sam Badawi (1000 Dunes), David Mitri (1000 Dunes) and Phil McGovern (crankandpiston.com).

Thanks to everyone who joined our film premiere at the EAST Hotel in Hamburg. We had a blast!  

The Most Amazing Location Ever For A Birthday Celebration

Actually, I should have been at the 82nd International Motor Show in Geneva today. But I could not accompany my partner Chris, so he had to go alone. The reason for not going "Hunting the new A-Class" with Mercedes-Benz was I was invited to a birthhday celebration which I did not want to miss. 

The party was held at the Prototyp Museum Hamburg. Of course — I know the Prototyp Museum Hamburg from different events. But being seated in the middle of the exhibition was simply stunning. My seat was just next to Otto Mathé's "Fetzenflieger", a car I got bond with especially in the last months ...  

NAIAS 2012: Detroit Out Of Focus

I just had to borrow thess beautiful photos from Dylan Culhane my travelling companion Kai Petermann just posted on his brand-new site "For Love And Glory". They are just gorgeous. Please make sure you do not only pay Dylan Culhane a visit, but also Kai's main site stilsucht.de. Kai is by far one of the best truffle pigs I know out there, and if you want to know what is hot and fresh – just follow him. In this regard, Kai, you make me blush. Thanks for your opening "For Love And Glory"-article!

While Kai has been in Detroit with Ford, I was invited by Mercedes-Benz – as a guest of their tradtional New Year's Reception and to be present at the unveiling of their new generation Mercedes-Benz SL. As soon as my Aperture has navigated me through my pictures, I will post some details. 

Needless to say the SL is a beauty, isn't it?

Continental Extreme: Chromjuwelen En Route Travelogue

You may still remember our last Chromjuwelen En Route tour called "Continental Extreme". And if you do so, you probably wonder what happened to us and our self-attempt with the 1964 Imperial Crown. And why you have never heard any time later about that project. Here is the simple answer: It took us donkey's years to sight our material. And to understand what happened. In Los Angeles, in Las Vegas, in Dubai.

3000 photos and several hard drives filled with video material later we get a breath of an idea: WE HAD A BLAST! We just published our (German) travelogue, including a selection of 332 photos ("Los Angeles, Las Vegas (SEMA 2011)", "Dubai (Dubai Motor Show)"). So is time to get lost. Our Chromjuwelen En Route Road Movie will follow in January. 

At this point we would like to thank once again some guys for their help:

• Klaus Rasch (race-dezert.com): Thanks for helping us buying and overhauling the Mopar! And thanks for feeling like home every time we are in LA.

• Mike Musto (mrangryinc.com, ridelust.com): Dude. This has been the fourth time (!) I was trying to ride your #§%#* Winged Warrior. And I failed again. It must be jinxed. But you know what? I will keep on trying. Hell Yeah.

• Frederik Faidhi (select-nano.ae): If you will ever be in Deutschland ... can you help us polishing our Imperial Crown? Just kidding. Thanks for your open sesame!

• Phil McGovern (crankandpiston.com): Damn. We have to come back. And not only for the reason we have to do this dune thing with you guys.

Mates – we take a bow.

Mission: Impossible 4 Ghost Protocol, BMW Munich

"Mission: Impossible 4 – Ghost Protocol (Phantom Protkoll)" just had it's European premiere in Munich, at the BMW Welt. Accompanied by Tom Cruise aka Ethan Hunt, Paula Patton, und Simon Pegg I had the privilege to enjoy massive explosions, fabulous car chases and tons of sci-fi gadgets.

Usually we meet a lot of brand officials at events like these – but it seemed BMW, our host, followed the movie motto "Ghost Protocol" at that evening. Well – if anybody @BMW reads this: Thank you for the invitation!

Busted!

Yeop, we've finally met our soulmates from Crank & Piston in person (... as you can undoubtedly see). They are doing an amazing job — head over to their awesome site an get lost!

* Note to self: Send an invoice to Monster Headphones for product placement ... 

Oldtimer-Tankstelle Brandshof

Hamburg's hottest place in town: Oldtimer-Tankstelle Brandshof. Just hit one of the images for more photos.

Mercedes-Benz: COMAND Online Apps

A few weeks ago Mercedes-Benz invited my wife — who works as a contributing editor for an UK based lifestyle magazine for over ten years now — to Palo Alto. For those who aren't familiar with all the interwebs tech talk: Palo Alto is kind of the epicenter of all the Silicon Valley high-technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Tesla Motors, Facebook and Google. When Mercedes-Benz founded the Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. in 1994, the headquarter in Palo Alto was the first Research & Development Center of an automotive company in Silicon Valley.

Mercedes-Benz invited selected media people to provide insight into their latest tweaks of their multimedia System "COMAND Online". Only a few months after the launch of the new multimedia generation, Mercedes-Benz is extending the range of integrated apps: new apps for Facebook, for Google Streetview and Google Panoramio will be available for COMAND Online from this autumn. Additional apps which have already been introduced are Google Local Search and Weather and the facility for downloading a route which has previously been configured on a PC using Google Maps and transmitted to the car.

Over a dozen additional apps are planned in the medium term. These are currently under development, in some instances in collaboration with innovative start-ups such as the US talk radio operator Stitcher, the Twitter short message service and the popular music providers Pandora in the USA or Aupeo in Germany, for example. The new apps will be usable by all customers who drive a Mercedes-Benz with COMAND Online and will be provided by Mercedes-Benz via the so called Daimler Backend Server — so customers can update their COMAND Online without going to a Mercedes-Benz dealer. An overview specifying the telephones on which the COMAND Online apps can be used is available at the website www.mercedes-benz.com/connect.

For sure, I am not the target group — as I use all those apps already on my mobile phone. But for everyone else, who is not such a nerd as I am, this is just a perfect way to get hands on the mobile internet.

Err ... wait a second ... can I jailbreak it?

Style Deluxe Opening Hamburg

A few shabby snapshots of Olli's shop opening (Style Deluxe Hamburg) I took with my mobile phone. The event was sorta family gathering — all the top nobs found their way to Style Deluxe's new location in Hamburg Bergedorf. Sourkrauts/Volksrodderz, BSG Racing, Faust & Heisler, Motoraver, Heliumcowboy, Jo Fischer, Cars From USA, Jens Dell´Ali, Carlos Kélla, Reinhard Garbers, Jules ... to name but a few.

Mr. Kaps, Mr. Cremer — Chapeau!

ADAC Trentino Classic, Italy

We just had a blast racing with Dirk Hattenhauer (Sonax, BSG Racing) in a souped-up 1977 Opel Ascona B through Italy (first photo). Our friends from Sonax invited us to accompany them on the ADAC Trentino Classic. To see all photos just hit one of the images above. Or follow this gallery link.

New Family Chromjuwel: 1972 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5

I just bought a new family jalopy. A 1972 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 (W 108 S-Class).

This car – which was owned and driven by Helge "Motoraver" Thomsen and Felix "Kiez Kustoms" Hertel before – is a stunning beauty. Perfect patina, superb (rocker-)résumé, Mercedes-Benz V8. I think I am in love ...