IN THIS ISSUE

• The Autobahn Brief
• First Sunday Drive
• Recent Events
• Upcoming Events
• Members' Mercedes: 1966 230 SL
• News: The New AMG GT 4-Door
• New Members & Anniversaries
• Classified Ads
• Leadership Updates
• From the Editor’s Garage

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Dear SFBA Members, 

Hope this finds you all well as the summer months begin. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Sacramento Section voted to be dissolved and those members have now been transferred to our section. That being said, I want to personally welcome members from the Sacramento Section and hope to see you at one of our upcoming events. 

My wife and I were unable to join the fun on the May First Sunday Drive, however, I’ve heard that it was good day with over 20 Mercedes in attendance. Many of those were first timers. The drive was off the main highway with some nice scenery and roads that were fun to experience. The FSD ended at a nice restaurant for lunch where most stayed. Please keep Sunday June 7th open for the next First Sunday Drive (details in the newsletter). The Mercedes AMG Group will be joining us so this will surely be a fun time.

Regarding the newsletter, we are looking for folks/businesses that might want to advertise in the newsletter. It could be a win/win situation for all. Advertising for you and something in it for the members. If you are interested, please contact Tyler Enos (tyler12e@icloud.com)

Our next quarterly Board Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, July 11th, 11:00am, at the Mercedes Benz dealership in Pleasanton. All members are welcome to attend. If you have any ideas/information you would like to share with the board, please join us. 

Again, Welcome to our new members from Sacramento! Happy Driving!

June 7th, First Sunday Drive: Blackhawk to Clayton via Mount Diablo

Meeting Point: Starbucks Coffee 4000 Blackhawk Plaza Cir, Danville, CA 94506

Meeting Time: 9:15 AM – 10:AM

Departure Time: 10:00 AM

Intermediate Stop: Mount Diablo – Long-Term Parking, then walk up to peak

End Point: Peet's Coffee at 5458 Ygnacio Valley Rd #10 Concord CA 94521

Led By: Raj Mahey

Our scenic drive starts at Blackhawk Rd, and continues on Mt. Diablo Scenic Blvd, leading to twisty/winding Southgate Road and Summit Rd to the summit of Mt. Diablo State Park. Bring cameras and binoculars for spectacular views at the top before we head down Northgate Road to Walnut Creek and continue towards Clayton. Our drive will end at the boundary of Concord and Clayton.

We will be joined by: AMG NorCal Lounge, Silicon Valley AMG, and the AMG Private Lounge.

Linked below are each of the locations we will be at, and the full FSD Directions Map.

Recap: May First Sunday Drive, 2026. Our May 3rd First Sunday Drive was a wonderful success, with over 20 cars & lots of members. We gathered at Peet’s Coffee before heading out through the stunning winding roads in the Mt. Diablo foothills. The route offered a great mix of shaded redwood roads, scenic backroads, and open countryside, making for a perfect Mercedes-Benz morning.

After a smooth and enjoyable drive, the group arrived in Crockett for lunch at The Dead Fish Restaurant, where everyone had a chance to relax, visit, and enjoy the waterfront atmosphere. Thank you to Janet for organizing and leading the drive, and to all who joined us for another successful First Sunday Drive.

OAM Father's Day, June 21.

Father's Day is less than one month away. Please join us on June 21st under the wing of a Vintage Aircraft at the OAK Aviation Museum on Earhart Rd. Even the address is FAMOUS !!

We need 5 more drivers! From 10:00 am to 4:00 pm in the side yard of the Museum. Hot lunch vouchers will be provided to the Drivers of each car.

Bring your own shade as there is not much in the yard. Sun Hats for sure and a Water bottle which you can fill inside the museum. There will be a Coffee trolly this year roaming around...New this year!! She deserves a bit of change for a tip as she will be out there all day without shade. Cannot wait to see you at the OAM on Father's Day, my friends.

If you would like to volunteer your Mercedes for display, please contact Janet Welter at 510-418-9332 or jgw105@aol.com

July 5th, First Sunday Drive: San Rafael to Novato.

Meeting Point: Peet's Coffee, 5800 Northgate Mall #146, San Rafael

Meeting Time: 9:15 AM – 10:AM

Departure Time: 10:00 AM

End Point: Ayawaska Hilltop Restaurant, 850 Lamont Ave., Novato

Led By: Bernard Pump

We will drive the scenic backroads of Marin and Sonoma from San Rafael to the Marconi Conference Center State Historic Park in Marshall and then to the Ayawaska Hilltop restaurant in Novato. The Marconi Center has three restrooms and refreshments that can be purchased. Ayawaska is casual Peruvian restaurant. For those who wish to stay for lunch, we will be sitting at high-top tables in the bar area and on their outdoor patio.

Want to view our event calendar for all of 2026? Simply visit our website online to see what our plans are! We hope you can join us for all our events this year. Visit our site by clicking below:

Joe Barta’s Papyrus White Pagoda: Passion meets Precision

Joe Barta’s 1966 Mercedes‑Benz 230 SL in Papyrus White, crowned by its elegant Pagoda hardtop, is far more than a beautifully restored classic. It represents patience, precision, and a lifetime appreciation for craftsmanship done properly.

For nearly four decades, Joe and his family have called Palo Alto home. After a rewarding career in the biopharmaceutical industry, Joe retired from consulting to focus on family, travel, and the careful stewardship of classic Mercedes‑Benz automobiles. The discipline and attention to detail required as a microbiologist would later define his approach to restoring vintage cars.

Joe found his first Mercedes in 1991 through a classified advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle, long before online marketplaces existed. The 230 SL he purchased was an Italian‑market car, first licensed in California in 1974. It arrived with remnants of an early car phone installation, patched front fender side‑marker holes, and subtle evidence of a minor front‑end collision—details that revealed themselves gradually. One of Joe’s most cherished photographs shows his young daughter sitting in the passenger seat, a quiet family moment forever linked to the car.

As Joe’s knowledge deepened, so did his involvement with the broader Mercedes community. He restored a black 1959 220S Cabriolet with the help of many south bay craftsmen that earned First in Class at the 2004 Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance, a car he still describes as one of the most perfect he has ever handled. He also restored a W180 sedan, an elegant anthracite‑gray example affectionately named “Pearl.” Throughout these projects, Joe relied heavily on the support and expertise of the international community, including MBCA and the W113 Pagoda SL Group.

That shared knowledge proved essential when Joe ultimately entrusted the 230 SL to the Mercedes‑Benz Classic Center in Irvine for a full, uncompromising restoration. The car was completely disassembled, its slightly bent front frame rails straightened on factory jigs, and every component—paint, chrome, mechanicals—returned to factory‑correct perfection. The effort was rewarded with a Second in Class honor at Legends of the Autobahn in 2018.

The light‑painting portrait accompanying this story was created one evening at the Palo Alto Art Center, where Joe and his wife were longtime members. Today, mindful of Bay Area traffic and distracted drivers, Joe limits his driving to quiet Sunday mornings on Highway 280, protecting what he has worked so carefully to preserve.

For Joe Barta, the true reward has never been just the finished car. It lives in the people, the shared knowledge, and the satisfaction of preserving automotive history with care and integrity. His Papyrus White Pagoda stands as a graceful testament to a life guided by precision, respect, and enduring passion.

If you are interested in showcasing your Mercedes-Benz, please contact John Gayler at john@gaylers.net. John is a professional photographer and a long time Mercedes-Benz owner and MBCA member. He would take professional photos of your car and showcase right here for all to enjoy. John has generously volunteered his time to take stunning photos of your car at a location of your choosing.

Star Fact

Mercedes-Benz was the first automaker in the U.S. to receive SAE Level 3 certification for a production car system. Its DRIVE PILOT system can let drivers take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road under specific approved conditions, unlike normal “driver assist” systems that still require constant attention.

Mercedes-AMG has officially pulled the cover off the upcoming 2027 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, and this one is not simply another electric Mercedes with an AMG badge. It is the first model built on AMG’s dedicated electric performance platform, known as AMG.EA, signaling a major new chapter for Affalterbach. Instead of adapting an existing Mercedes EV, AMG has engineered this car around performance from the start, with three axial-flux electric motors, an advanced high-performance battery, and the kind of power figures that would have sounded impossible only a few years ago. 

The headline numbers are dramatic. Reports indicate the GT 55 will produce around 805 horsepower, while the GT 63 is expected to deliver up to 1,153 horsepower, with Mercedes-AMG claiming a 0–60 mph time of about 2.0 seconds for the GT 63. That places this four-door AMG squarely in hypercar territory, but with the comfort, space, and usability of a grand touring sedan. It is aimed directly at high-performance EV rivals like the Porsche Taycan, while still trying to feel unmistakably like an AMG. 

Perhaps the most interesting part for longtime Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts is how AMG is trying to preserve emotion in an electric era. The new GT 4-Door can simulate the character of a V8, complete with a performance soundtrack, simulated gear changes, and a more dramatic driving feel than the typical silent EV experience. Whether one sees that as theater or tradition translated into modern technology, it shows that AMG understands its customers do not just buy numbers. They buy sound, drama, response, and personality. 

For the Mercedes-Benz Club, this car is worth watching because it represents more than a new model. It is a statement about where AMG is going next. The brand that gave us thunderous V8 sedans, Black Series legends, and autobahn-dominating grand tourers is now trying to bring that same spirit into the electric age. The 2027 AMG GT 4-Door may not replace the emotional pull of a classic combustion AMG for everyone, but it proves Mercedes-AMG is not stepping quietly into the future. It is arriving with 1,000-plus horsepower, four doors, and plenty of attitude.. but it's a bit ugly...

Written By: Newsletter Editor.

New members

Gerardo Cordero-Carrillo

David Crane

Matthew David

Aparna Joneja

Richard Lazzerini

Helen Meyer

Jeremy Taylor

Sacramento Section Members

Member Anniversaries

Dakarai Aarons | 5 YEARS

Phil Sherman | 5 YEARS

Erno Ordasi | 15 YEARS

Lou Piccinini | 20 YEARS

Do you have a Mercedes-Benz you would like to sell to an appreciative buyer? Please contact us at sfbambca@gmail.com to submit a classified ad to the Golden Gate Star.

Note: This is a FREE SERVICE to members!

I’m happy to report that the club survived another month of perfectly reasonable people using a Sunday morning as an excuse to gather in a parking lot, admire each other’s cars, discuss tire shine, compare route notes, and then drive several beautiful miles to lunch as if this was all completely normal behavior. Which, of course, it is.

Our May First Sunday Drive from Castro Valley to Crockett was exactly what these drives should be: good roads, good company, and just enough curves to remind everyone why Mercedes-Benz put so much effort into engineering things we mostly underappreciate while sitting in traffic. Janet Welter led the group from Peet’s Coffee through the redwoods, backroads, Alhambra Valley scenery, and onward to The Dead Fish in Crockett, where the only thing better than the view was not having to explain to anyone why lunch tastes better after a proper drive.

That is really the magic of this club. Yes, the cars are beautiful. Yes, some of them are fast, some are rare, and allegedly some have enough warning lights to qualify as a holiday display. But the real joy is the people who show up, laugh, share stories, and understand that a Mercedes-Benz is not just transportation. It is a very elegant way to turn “grabbing lunch” into a full event.

So, check the calendar, wash the car, fix the one tiny rattle you swear was not there last month, and come join us for the next one. The roads are better with a few stars on them!

See you on the road,
Tyler Enos

Newsletter Editor