©2004 May not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author. This includes publishing at other websites.
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the 50th Anniversary of the Mercedes-Benz SL sports car are (from left to right) Stan Smith, Ken Rosewall, Guillermo Vilas, Virginia Wade, Margaret Court and 2004 inductee, Stefan Edberg.
Euro Delivery Updates
7% Savings
First a reminder that Euro Delivery offers a 7% savings off total vehicle price on the C, E, S-Class and CLK Coupe (AMG & S600 excluded). The $720 destination charge does not apply as well, increasing the discount to as much as 9%. Cars not listed above are available on European Delivery at no savings other than the $720 destination charge. There are limitations, and if you're interested, let's talk. The M and G-Class vehicles are not available on Euro Delivery, but there is a Bubba Delivery program at the factory in Alabama for the M-Class. The already sold out SLR is not available for European Delivery.
Standard Package
One night lodging at the customer's choice of selected 5-star hotels, fifteen days of zero-deductible comprehensive insurance (the customer can purchase additional insurance prior to delivery if he/she plans on staying longer in Europe), two taxi coupons, one breakfast or lunch coupon at the European Delivery Center, ground transportation of the vehicle from any of the 13 established drop-off points, ocean shipping and marine insurance, customs duty and clearance, European and U.S. wharf charges, VPC processing and delivery to this dealership where we state inspect it and prep it for delivery again.
Black Forest Alps Rally
This is an exhilarating option to the standard package, for just $1200 extra (one or two people). You will experience a 6 day, 5 night, self-guided "rally" tour that takes you from the Mercedes-Benz factory in Sindelfingen through the Black Forest and then into the Austrian Alps, where the Arlburg Pass will bring you close to Innsbruck. Then you will head north to scenic Munich, Germany. You will leave the keys to your car with the concierge at the hotel (Bayerischer Hof is first choice), and he will get your car to E. H. Harms for forwarding. A taxi will take you to the airport.
Navigation Systems
Navigation DVD for Europe is available at the Delivery Center for all vehicles equipped with Navigation Systems except C-Class and CLK-Class.
The manufacturer has informed us that only U.S. navigation DVD's exist for the C-Class and CLK-Class and therefore the Delivery Center cannot provide a European Navigation DVD.
For all other models equipped with the Navigation System, you may select one DVD that covers Europe at the time of delivery. You will be asked for a major credit card, which is swiped and the slip is filed at the Delivery Center.
When the car is dropped off at one of our regular drop-off points, operated by E.H. Harms, the DVD is to be given to their representative, who will forward the DVD to the Delivery Center. The credit card slip is destroyed upon receipt of the DVD there, and your credit card will not be charged.
If the DVD is not returned within three months of the delivery date of the car, your credit card will be charged for 440 Euros.
U.S. Delivery
Approximately 6-8 weeks after you drop off your car, it will arrive here. We'll put a state inspection sticker on it, prep it, fill the tank, and let you know it's here. If you've paid cash for the car, you'll pay for Texas Registration then, including sales tax then. Those who finance have already put that into the contract, of course. We usually handle trade-ins at that time since most people have to drive their cars until the new one arrives. We'll get Texas license plates within 3 weeks. It's a pretty painless process.
The 7% discount has brought a massive increase in European Deliveries. Virtually everyone who does one wants to do it again with their next car. I highly recommend it if you have the time.
Unsung Heroes
Some cars sell better than they should (Jaguar, Hummer before the bubble burst, for example). Some don't sell as well as they should. We have some I feel should be selling better. Here's why:
E500 4-Matic Station Wagon
Station wagon sales in the US are slow. Women don't want their mother's car. I'm sure the next generation will want station wagons instead of minivans. After all, children raised in minivans should be having children now. The E500 Station Wagon is the finest wagon in the world. Of course it started as one of the finest cars in the world, and MB did everything right. They only make it in full-time all-wheel drive. If you can afford to put your loved ones in a Mercedes E500 wagon, you can afford the 4-wheel drive upcharge. This adds to the safety factor more than we appreciate here. With 4-Matic and ESP, it's very hard to make this car slide. That's appropriate for mothers taking 3 kids to school. It also has the marvelous, adjustable Airmatic II suspension. You can raise and lower the car and have three levels of suspension firmness, normal, Sport I and Sport II. I named them differently. Lincoln, Mercedes, and BMW. The soft/normal position is quite gentle but without float. People used to undersprung American luxury cars won't think it's bumpy. The Sport I position is appropriate for old-line Mercedes owners who think normal is too soft. Sport II is firm, equivalent to a BMW 5-series but a bit smoother. In Sport I and II the car sets 20 mm lower than it does in normal. You can also raise it 20 mm above normal for that bumpy street with 9 speed bumps. This also softens the ride. This would be appropriate if your mother-in-law is in the back seat sipping tea, and you want to stay in the will.
It seats 7 in a safety cage with 8 air bags, 4 seat belt pretensioners, and electrohydraulic brakes that are simply better in emergencies than any brakes on any vehicle without them. So safety and comfort are unparalleled in a station wagon. As for "Wagon-y" things, it has a luggage cover and a safety net so you don't pull a Tom Mix and get hit in the back of the head with your luggage. It also has a hidden storage compartment no thief will find. Of course it has all of the E-Class features.
C230 Kompressor Coupe
The little coupe sells well but not spectacularly. It's frustrating. Every time I see some Gen X or Yer driving a coupe that costs over $25K, I want to grab him, shake him, and say, "You idiot! You could have had the safety of a Mercedes-Benz instead of that deathtrap!" But I usually stifle myself.
Mercedes made a coupe of the C-Class chassis and stuck to its guns. The back seat fits two guys 6'2" tall, 225 lb. If they'd lowered the roof and made the rear seats suitable only for cast members of The Wizard of Oz, the car wouldn't be practical, but it would look better and probably sell better.
But consider this:
8 Air bags, 4 seat belt pretensioners
Mercedes-Benz safety-cage and crumple zone
30 m.p.g. + on the highway (32 automatic '05)
0-60 in the 7 second range.
6-speed manual or 5-speed electronic automatic
Antilock brakes with Brake Assist
Electronic Stability Program
Options include the panorama roof and Harman Kardon Logic 7 Surround Sound.
Nothing in its price range comes close to this, and most of them have 36/36 warranties instead of 48 months or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first.)
2005 ML Series
Yeah, they dropped the ML55 AMG. @#$%^! Yeah, they've been building it since the 1998 model year. Yeah, the 1998s had lousy reliability and cup holders. But they've never stopped improving them. 3400 changes one year, probably over 4,000 changes from 1998. They lead the J. D. Power Initial Quality Survey for their class. Only the little, Camry-based front-wheel drive Lexus beats it, and only by a tad. When I sell one I don't expect to see it for a year or so except for the 1,000-3,000 mile visit and free 6,500 Tire rotation. They're GOOD.
The cup holders work like a charm.
Again, 8 airbags, 4 seat belt pretensioners, antilock brakes with Brake Assist. Additionally the ML has a truck-style ladder chassis below with a Mercedes-Benz monocoque body on top. This gives both upper and lower crumple zones front and rear (with easily replaceable crash boxes on the frame). No one else has this. If the ML isn't the safest vehicle to be riding in during a crash I don't know what is. Note I didn't say SUV. I said vehicle. It weighs over 5,000 lb. with people and fuel. In a crash situation it has everything going for it, mass and engineering. Mercedes cuts no corners in safety.
The 2005 Special Edition includes a lot of freebies, and
the market price of MLs is quite low in comparison to the competition-none
of which has 8 air bags and the other MB safety features standard.
Passenger Air Bag Deployment
You're alone in your car, and a suicidal oak decides to jump in front of you. After the crash you realize your air bag has deployed. If you're in a Mercedes-Benz, the right side air bag has not deployed. If you're in a BMW, Lexus, Volvo, Audi, Cadillac, or Infiniti, it has. Your ears know it. Your insurance company knows it.
Why should an air bag deploy when there is no one there?
-Because the company was too cheap to put in an occupancy sensor. That means that company cut corners on a safety item. What other corners did they cut on safety?
Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning occurs when the tread on your tires is unable to remove all of the water between the tire and the road. The result is loss of control. The usual result of loss of control is a crash.
Hydroplaning usually occurs because, (a) the tread design is poor, or (b) the tires are too close to bald to function in the rain. With modern tires of medium to high quality, (a) is usually not a factor. The usual cause is bald tires.
Two of my customers have had such crashes in the last few months. One blamed the ESP, saying the ESP caused the crash by braking a wheel incorrectly. The other blamed ESP, saying it failed to stop the skid.
Let's examine these. The first, that ESP somehow caused a skid, isn't backed up by either the design or experience. When ESP fails any self-check, it defaults to OFF. A light comes on. You will KNOW it has failed. The fact that the "!" light is flashing as you slide off the road indicates not that it is causing the situation, but it is trying to alleviate it.
The flashing "!" means you have or are dangerously close to exceeding the laws of physics, and the ticket might be very expensive. ESP is trying to help.
But you have to give it something to work with. That means Tread.
The second, that ESP failed to stop the skid. ESP does not defy the laws of physics. If you have tread, and therefore traction, it will stop that skid in its tracks. I spent 15 minutes on a flooded oval demonstrating that to myself and the others in the car, trying to do everything possible to make the car skid and spin. With ESP turned off, it was easy.
Tire Maintenance
1. Check tire pressures at least once every month. Mercedes says every 2 weeks. Tires lose an average of one pound a month, even Michelin and Pirellis. Underinflated tires (a) wear out quickly and unevenly and (b) have substandard cornering, braking, and ride characteristics.
2. If tires can be rotated, they should be every 6,000-7,000 miles. Some cars have "Staggered" wheels, meaning the rears are wider than the fronts, with correspondingly wider tires. These, obviously, can't be rotated. These usually have high-performance tires (V, W, Y, Z rating). High performance tires wear out more quickly than medium performance (H rating) tires). They also cost more to replace. But with staggered wheels all you can do is have a professional look at them to catch early signs of uneven wear (alignment problems or balance problems).
3. Replace tires before the last minute. Tires have wear bands in the tread, indicating 1/16" of remaining tread. The tires should be replaced BEFORE these bands are even with tread. If you're concerned with hydroplaning, then they should be replaced no later than 1/8" of tread. (I check them by feel when I fill the tank.)
4. Be sensitive. I usually replace my tires when I feel them beginning to slide in rainy conditions. This will occur long before 1/16" of tread depth.
5. Driving with less than 1/16" of tread can be illegal, and, if a contributing factor in a fatal accident, can result in serious legal repercussions.
Expensive Tires
I'm aware that high performance tires are expensive and wear out quickly. To make things worse, they cost 1.5-2X what H rated tires cost. However, you are driving an expensive car. Even Z rated tires are not a major cost factor compared to, say, depreciation. Yes, you will spend more money on tires than you will maintenance for the first 40,000 miles on cars with high performance tires.
Expected Life
Expect rear tires to last less than 20,000 miles on cars with high performance tires that can't be rotated. Fronts usually last longer. Replace rears with the same make and model tire that you have when the rears wear out, and keep using the old front tires until they're at the same point in wear. If you replace all 4 tires at once you'll be spending more money than you have to.
If you change brands, get all 4 at once. If you change
tire models, change all 4 at once unless the change is just to get the latest
version of the tire you have.
C-Class Lug Bolt Letter
I found your newsletters while researching an issue for a friend of mine. If you could take a few moments to share your thoughts on a Mercedes-related dilemma, I'd sure appreciate it!
Long story short, he owns a 2003 C240 sedan. He had a flat, called AAA, who dispatched someone (with a tow truck, I believe). The wrong bolts were used, the car was driven, and M-B ended up fixing it for $1200. From your newsletters, I learned it's a story you're all-too-familiar with.
The garage's position is that my friend handed the mechanic the [incorrect] lug bolts, so it's my friend's fault/responsibility. AAA's first position was that it was between my friend and the garage. (As an aside, this didn't make sense to me since my friend contracts with (and pays) AAA, and AAA contracts with (and pays) the garage. Subsequently, though, AAA sent my friend a letter stating they accepted the garage's explanation and considered the matter closed.)
My friend's position is that he didn't hand the guy anything (as he was in a suit and didn't want to get dirty), and that after the spare was installed and he started to move the car, he reported to the "mechanic" that it "didn't feel right". The response he got was to "drive it to work, it'll be fine."
My questions for you...in your opinion:
(Note: our area is heavily populated and there are plenty of high-end cars, including Mercedes-Benz; in other words, the odds of the dispatched mechanic NOT having encountered a C240 previously are probably quite low unless this was his first day on the job).
1) What exactly do the standard bolts jam into (i.e, damage) when used with the steel spare wheel?
The long bolts leave the wheel loose. It damages the hub, rotor, and calipers.
2) Would a trained technician/mechanic notice unusual resistance while tightening the standard bolts on the steel wheel?
I would think anyone with a room temperature IQ would know the @#$% wheel was loose and wobbling in his hands, but then I have been known to underestimate stupidity before. When the bolt is tight, the wheel is an inch or so from being tight against the hub. I can understand that getting by an inexperienced owner at night in a bad neighborhood, but there's no excuse for it getting past someone who changes flats for a living.
3) Should a trained technician/mechanic already be aware of the existence of the required shorter bolts?
Yes. This has been around for several years, and AAA in Texas has paid claims for similar damage. The word should have gotten out to all AAA garages.
Additionally, it is impossible to remove the spare tire from the trunk without encountering the bolts. The spare wheel has a warning sticker explaining in pictures to use the short bolts, not the long ones and shows a picture of the owner's manual. Thus the person mounting the wheel does not even have to know how to read, so a victim of our fine public schools could successfully change a C-Class tire.
If there were no short bolts in the trunk at the time of delivery, and if the salesman didn't mention the problem, it's my personal belief that the store shares some responsibility. On the other hand, if the customer was given an operator's manual, the store is probably off the hook.
4) Should it be immediately apparent to a trained technician whether he is using the shorter bolts (e.g., are they a different color), or is it only obvious if comparing them side-by-side with the standard bolts? In other words, even if my friend handed him the wrong (standard) bolts, how obvious would it have been to a trained technician/mechanic?
I think it would be apparent to an untrained chimpanzee, but I could be wrong. I don't have any chimpanzees around to test the theory on. If the "trained technician" had looked at the wheel's warning diagram, the wrong bolts would have been quite obvious. (Look at the diagram. You'll see.) They are not a different color. (I'm not a trained technician, but if I put the wheel on with the wrong bolts, I would @#$% well know the wheel wasn't tight. I would have known that when I started changing tires at age 12. You cannot tighten the wheel down with the long bolts. They stick out, and the wheel wobbles in your hands!)
The "he handed me the wrong bolts" story doesn't hold water. The "technician" took the standard wheel off, removing the standard bolts. He then reinstalled them. Unless he handed them to the customer and said, "here, hold these," then the customer couldn't have handed them to him. The "technician" is lying through his teeth. AAA should be able to figure that out-if they wanted to. My experiences with AAA have been all bad, so I might be a little biased.
5) Do any other M-B models share this "feature" of the spare using different length lug bolts?
CLK and some SLK models.
I'm not a lawyer or anything - just trying to help a friend get his due.
Thanks in advance!
Greg in NJ
I'm not a lawyer, either, but if AAA doesn't reimburse him, I suggest you and he tell every person you know to cancel their AAA membership. If a AAA affiliate did $1200 damage to my car and wouldn't pay for it, I'd be in small claims court as soon as I could schedule it. I don't know about small claims court in New Jersey, but in Texas that would solve the problem.
Remember, YOU DON'T NEED AAA. Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance will send a REALLY trained technician in a marked Mercedes-Benz vehicle to change your flat tire, jump start your battery, or give you 2-3 gallons of gas AS LONG AS YOU OWN THE CAR. During the warranty they'll do warranty work, like replace a fried battery, for free, too.
1-800-FOR-MERCedes
Good luck.
Mercedes-Benz Sports Cars, Tennis Hall of Fame Celebrate 50 Years
MONTVALE, NJ Professional tennis legends gathered at the International Tennis Hall of Fame to induct its newest members during festivities for the 50th Anniversary of the Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. In conjunction, several tennis legends also celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the legendary Mercedes-Benz SL sports car.
Having debuted in 1954 to remarkable acclaim due partly
to its "Gullwing" doors and race car genes, all five generations
of the flagship sports car with the latest limited-production, 604-hp
2005 SL65 AMG supercar were present with tennis heroes. Present were
Stan Smith, Ken Rosewall, Guillermo Vilas, Virginia Wade, Margaret Court
and 2004 inductee, Stefan Edberg. Mercedes-Benz has been the preeminent
sponsor of ATP Tennis since 1996.
Customer Letter to MBUSA
(This letter and response give both sides of a new policy change at MBUSA. I didn't write either, so I can stay out of the line of fire.)
Wanted to give you some customer feedback on doing away with the maintenance included for 4yr/50,000 miles starting with model yr 2005.
I believe that it is a mistake. As a loyal MB customer (we're on a third in six years) I doubt whether we will purchase a new one in 3-4 years if you do not include maintenance through 50,000 miles
BMW and Audi do, although Lexus does not. I guarantee you I will look hard at a model that includes maintenance vs. one that does not.
I hope your sales #'s continue to grow but I think you might find a hiccup.
Wes Weiner, COL, U.S. Army
Thank you for your recent internet inquiry; we appreciate your patronage of our products.
We have carefully reviewed the maintenance services and customer care initiatives we provide to our customers. After we began offering Mercedes Maintenance Commitment in model year 2000, to complement our Flexible Service System, we began receiving complaints from customers indicating that the program was creating confusion in terms of what was covered and when. The program covered basic maintenance items such as oil and filter changes, cabin dust filter and engine air filter elements and miscellaneous system checks. As you know, customers still had to pay for remaining maintenance costs, including more significant costs for wear items, which sometimes caused unanticipated customer confusion and consternation. (Usually brake pads and rotors were the items customers wanted MBUSA to pay for, CRR)
After monitoring this over time, we decided to start over from scratch based on the input we received from owners. We decided, as of Model Year 2005, to reinstitute fixed service intervals so that our customers' cars could be serviced at a more regular and predictable schedule. We will provide what we call The Service Welcome, consisting of a First Visit between 1,000 and 3,000 miles for a vehicle diagnostic check, introduction to service personnel, as well as a scheduled tire rotation at around 6,500 miles. This is a service not typically covered under "included maintenance" programs, but one which our customers indicated would be helpful and they are covered with the purchase of the vehicle. For vehicles with staggered-width tires, the initial rotation is replaced by a tire inflation check and tire inspection.
We think that this new initiative will better meet the needs of the majority of our owners. We appreciate you taking the time to share your opinions on this change and assure you your comments have been reviewed by the appropriate individuals within the company. The opportunity to state our position on this matter is appreciated.
Kathleen Durning
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
Customer Relations
The price increase for 2005 models released so far has
been nominal. The dollar is down in relation to the Euro in an effort to
stimulate the U.S. economy by encouraging exports and European tourism.
3 services (13,000 miles, 26,000 miles, and 39,000 miles) should be under
$1,000 total, probably well under. The cars would have had to go up more
to cover that maintenance. MBUSA is trying to keep the selling price of
the cars down.
Miscellaneous Ravings
Learning from History
Methinks that MBUSA should look to history. When Isaac M. Singer invented a sewing machine that worked, if he had thought like MBUSA he would have tried to sell them without paying for or training first class salesmen. He didn't. He hired the best salesmen he could find and paid big commissions as incentives. He understood. Here he had a product there was a great pent up demand for, a life-style changing, industry changing item, with a patent on it, so he had no competition, but he still knew nothing gets sold until someone sells it.
Navigation systems
I consider the navigation system option a real marriage saver. Consider the usual couple. The guy doesn't ask for directions because he's never gotten good ones doing that, and usually it involves talking to someone with bad teeth who starts speaking in tongues. The lady doesn't read a map worth a darn. He drives, of course, because it's the manly thing to do. This leaves the lady without the map gene trying to decipher this thing. Why doesn't she have the map gene? Scientists have finally discovered the map gene, but unfortunately it's usually also the gene that makes one want to look at action movies, contact sports, and nipples. Additionally the lady never took map reading at Fort Benning, Fort Knox, or Quantico. In fact, they don't teach map reading at any high school in Texas and only in colleges with Military Science. Of course, lacking the map gene, it wouldn't matter if they did. I'm sure girls don't take Home Economics anymore. It can't be politically correct to teach girls to be homemakers in school systems designed to produce dropouts and radical environmental terrorists. But if they did, it wouldn't have map reading as a necessary marriage skill. She can only cry when hubbie goes into scream-and-curse mode when she says, "I think that was our exit, the one marked last exit for 100 miles."
Solution? Get a GPS navigation system. The worst of them, the first generation, was a marriage saver. The current DVD based ones are very user friendly, and, starting at $995, cheaper than a marriage counselor or a divorce.
SNAFU
I learn from my old friend Massad Ayoob that Americans lives are in danger in Iraq because of one of Clinton's silly gun laws. The U.S. military is using the execrable Beretta 92F as the issue sidearm. I've never been impressed with them. They had slide failures early in their career, and having a slide fly off and hit you in the eye can ruin your whole day. They also shoot too small a bullet. Since WWI it's known to be about 50% effective in stopping fights with military hardball ammunition. Civilian cops stuck with it generally can use hollowpoint ammunition, which ups the effectiveness to over 90%. So we have a gun that requires you to shoot a lot of bullets to stop the bad guy. The military took the lowest bidder for magazines, and they don't work in the sand. OEM Beretta magazines or MecGar magazines work, and GIs are asking their parents/friends/wives to send them to them.
Because of the silly Clinton-era law, they can't buy OEM magazines that hold 15 rounds. They can only buy 10 round magazines. Hmmm, you're going into harms way with inadequate bullets, and you can't get high-capacity magazines that work. Doesn't that sound like fun?
Is this how we should treat the people upholding their oath to protect and defend this country against all enemies?
So, if you have a friend or loved one in Iraq, figure a way to send him good high-velocity hollow point 9mm. ammunition, despite, no doubt, regulations against same. And go to gun shows where pre-ban magazines are being sold and buy as many as you can afford. Since they're no longer being imported, $15 magazines are going for scalper's prices. GIs can't afford them on their subsistence wages.
By the way, the military could use hollow points since we're not fighting a declared war against a country, just a war against terrorists. They use hollow points in the .45s Special Forces use. Nice to see one branch taking the fighting aspect seriously. There's no reason on God's green earth that anyone in any branch of the military of the United States of America should ever go to war with inadequate equipment, but once more, there we are.
The 5%/50%, 50%/5% Rule
I've been listening all week to people calling for more taxes on the "rich," meaning anyone making $50,000/year or more. Calls came out for tax equality. Boy, am I for tax equality. Currently the top 5% pay 50% of all income taxes. The bottom 50% pay 5%. They're right. We need equalization, real equalization.
Combat Pay
When I went to Vietnam I was relatively well-paid. I got $1,000/month total as a captain. That included $65 combat pay. We laughed at the $65 then. It wasn't much even in 1969-70. Now, 34 years later, with all the inflation that has occurred, combat pay is $150. It really should be at least $1500-2000. Get real.
Kitten Repatriated From War Zone
BOULDER, CO. (AP) - Fort Carson Staff Sgt. Rick Bousfield of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team had a mission: Saving Pvt. Hammer. Pfc. Hammer is an Iraqi tabby cat the unit adopted after he was born last fall at a base in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. When Bousfield found out his unit was leaving Iraq in March, he decided he couldn't leave a member of his team behind. "He has been through mortar attacks," said Bousfield, a 19-year Army veteran. "He'd jump and get scared liked the rest of us. He is kind of like one of our own."
Pfc. Hammer got his name from the unit that adopted him, Team Hammer. Soldiers would tuck Hammer in their body armor during artillery attacks, and in return, Hammer chased mice in the mess hall. "He was a stress therapist," Bousfield said. "The guys would come back in tired and stressed. Hammer would come back and bug the heck out of you. He wiped away some worries." The kitten earned his rank after nabbing five mice.
When Bousfield learned his unit was going, he sent an e-mail to Alley Cat Allies, a national clearinghouse of information on stray cats, asking for help bringing Hammer along.
Alley Cat Allies raised $2,500 for Hammer's shots, sterilization, paperwork and a plane ride to the United States. Hammer left Iraq with his unit in March, then flew from Kuwait to San Francisco in cargo class. He traveled first class with an Alley Cat Allies volunteer to Denver. Bousfield met the kitten at the airport.
The Ford A/C Story
(Original source lost) It was a sweltering August day in 1937 when the Cohen brothers entered the posh Dearborn, Michigan, offices of Henry Ford, the car maker. "Mr. Ford," announced Norman Cohen, the eldest of the three. "We have a remarkable invention that will revolutionize the automobile industry."
Ford looked skeptical, but their threat to offer it to the competition kept his interest piqued. "We would like to demonstrate it to you in person."
After a little cajoling, they brought Mr. Ford outside and asked him to enter a black automobile parked in front of the building. Hyman Cohen, the middle brother, opened the door of the car.
"Please step inside, Mr. Ford."
"What!" shouted the tycoon, "Are you crazy? It must be two hundred degrees in that car!"
"It is," smiled the youngest brother, Max, "but sit down Mr. Ford, and push the white button."
Intrigued, Ford pushed the button. All of a sudden a whoosh of freezing air started blowing from vents all around the car, and within seconds the automobile was not only comfortable, it was quite cool.
"This is amazing!" exclaimed Ford. "How much do you want for the patent?"
Norman spoke up, "The price is one million dollars." Then he paused. "And there is something else: The name 'Cohen Brothers Air-Conditioning' must be stamped right next to the Ford logo!"
"Money is no problem," retorted Ford, "but no way will I have a Jewish name next to my logo on my cars!'
They haggled back and forth for a while and finally they settled. Five million dollars, but the Cohens' name would be left off. However, the first names of the Cohen brothers would be forever emblazoned upon the console of every Ford air conditioning system.
And that is why, even today, whenever you enter a Ford vehicle, you will see those three names clearly printed on the air conditioning control panel: NORM, HI and MAX
Curt Rich August 2004
A VERY hard to get E-55 AMG is in stock and available as of 0900, August 7, black with charcoal leather. Call if you're interested!
Kerry Honored by Vietnamese Communists
Terror in the Skies, Again? -- Interesting account of a glaring hole in our security, long, but worth the read.
The Washington Times Follows Up on Terror in the Skys Again -- Some liberal websites (Salon.com, for example) have tried to "debunk" the story. Snopes.com considers it false. But the Federal Air Marshals Association backs up the story.
And More on Terror in the Skies Again -- it gets curioser and curioser. "Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean nobody's out to get me," probably applies.
From WomensWallStreet.com
Thursday, August 5, 2004 Sense and Cents-Ability Bring Home A Hero - With All the Trimmings
Dollars and Cents. It feels great to earn 'em, invest 'em, and (ideally) watch 'em grow. And it can also feel great to give some of 'em away. Maybe you're not currently in a position to go all philanthropic with your cash, so here's a way to act like a charity maven in a cents-able way: donate your unused frequent flyer miles to a brand-new program called Hero Miles.
With Hero Miles you can help get a soldier home from Iraq or Afghanistan for a life event (such as birth, death, R & R) they couldn't otherwise afford by donating your unused frequent flyer miles. Here's how:
Nine months ago, the Pentagon started giving soldiers two weeks' leave to come stateside. The soldiers are flown by the military from Iraq and Afghanistan to three U.S. airports (Washington, Dallas, and Atlanta). But the buck stops there: the military doesn't pay for a soldier's domestic travel once he or she lands on American soil. You can help them travel that last leg home -- by donating your frequent flyer miles.
More than 540 million miles have been donated, enough for 22,600 round trips! Most major U.S. carriers participate in the program, including American, United, Continental, Delta, US Airways, Alaska, America West, Southwest and AirTran.
To learn more about the Hero Miles program, click here. http://www.heromiles.org/
For all things financial, visit www.WomensWallStreet.com
Daily Cents is researched and written by the WomensWallStreet editorial team. We receive no monetary compensation from any of the products or people mentioned in Daily Cents.