A TIME FOR FAMILY & FRIENDS

My first Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was in 1979, and it was an important event for me. I live in Mexico, and in Mexico we do not have events like that, so it was completely new to me. To go for the first time and to see all those cars — such magnificent cars! — it was really, really impressive.

Now I am a bit spoiled because I’ve been going to Pebble Beach for years. Fortunately, I’ve been able to go every year since 1979. Nothing has stopped me — no health problems, no family problems, no business problems. I have been lucky. I collect cars for several reasons. The most important reason is that I love cars, I enjoy them very much. Another reason, just as valuable, is that I get to meet a lot of very interesting people who share my passion for cars.

I think it is very important for a collector to be able to share his enthusiasm. I like to share my cars with all my friends, and I like to see and share their cars too. I think that’s why I like to go to the Pebble Beach Concours — because that’s a place where people share their enthusiasm for cars. Each year it’s exciting to see what new cars my friends are bringing, and it’s a pleasure to show them what I am bringing. We all want to win, of course, but in the end, if a friend wins, you feel happy for him. I think that’s quite important. The Concours is a gathering of friends who share the same passion.

I have always loved cars.

My father used to say that the only toys I ever wanted him to buy me were little toy cars. Together we would fix up those cars, putting on the wheels that came off, tightening up the loose pieces, touching up the scratched paint and so on.

In 1949, with the help of my father, I bought my first car. It was not a collector car; it was a used 1937 Chevrolet. But I fixed it up. I painted it myself, I put in new upholstery, and I fixed

everything. I feel I enjoyed this car as much or more than any other car I have owned, in spite of its humbleness. I promised myself that I wouldn’t sell that car until I was able to buy a new car. I was tempted to buy another used car, but I didn’t. I kept that car until I bought my first new car in 1953. That car was a beautiful, cherry-colored, two-door Chevrolet Bel Air.

I’m known now for collecting Mercedes, but at that time I couldn’t afford a Mercedes. I could only look longingly at them. I used to go to the Mercedes-Benz dealership just to look at the cars; that was my weekend entertainment, my pastime. When the Carrera Panamericana races came to Mexico, I went to the road to see those races, and of course I was a fan of the Mercedes cars, the famous Gullwings that they were racing then. I just always liked them.

I also liked what we called “the old cars.”

The Kellers' 1898 Benz Victoria Hugo Grun Cabriolet garners a second place ribbon at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours.

When I was fifteen years old, I found a 1930 Duesenberg LaGrand Dual Cowl in an old car lot in Mexico. It was the only such car in Mexico. The owners kept it under a little tin roof, and they wanted 5,000 pesos for it. I used to go to see that car, though I didn’t have the 5,000 pesos. After I started working, I got together the 5,000 pesos and went to buy the car, but then they wanted 20,000 pesos. So, okay, I worked some more. After a few years, I went to buy the car with my 20,000 pesos, and then they wanted 50,000 pesos for it. A few years later, they advertised the car in the newspaper and they wanted half a million pesos! Then the car disappeared from Mexico altogether. Eventually it reappeared, already restored, in California. To make the story short, I finally bought the car, and it is now in my collection in The Pyramids. My “serious” collection started in 1966. That’s when I bought my first “collector car” — a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300S Coupé. At the time, I was taking a course in administration from the Harvard Business School in Mexico. A friend of mine who was also taking the course had this Mercedes-Benz 300S. I often asked him, “Would you like to sell it? Would you like to sell it?” And he said, “No, no, it’s not for sale, Arturo. Sorry.” But the course was a year long, and I was patient. One day, my friend arrived late to class. “What happened?” I asked. “Oh my car broke down,” he said. “I’m going to get rid of it.” I said, “Okay, I’ll buy it.” But he said, “No, I don’t want to sell it. I want to trade it for a new car.” Then, immediately, I bought a new 1966 Ford Galaxy and sent it to his office, and I took home the Mercedes 300S Coupé. And I’ve had that car ever since, and it, too, is in my collection.

Soon after that, in 1970, I bought what was perhaps the only prewar Mercedes that was available in Mexico — a 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320. A friend offered to help me restore it. He said, “Arturo, we’re going to make this a hundred-point car.” At that time, I didn’t know what “a hundred points” meant. But my friend restored the car, we painted it a light yellow, and everybody was very, very happy with the car. Of course, when I went to Pebble Beach in 1979, I learned what a hundred points really meant. And I realized that my car — the car my friend thought and told me was a hundred points — was eighty-five at most.

That same friend invited me to the first auction at Harrah’s in 1978. I went, and it was like being in a toy store. At that time, the cars were not so expensive, and on top of that, the exchange rate was very good for Mexico. So I bought several cars at the auction, among them a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Convertible by Gangloff and a 1937 Hispano-Suiza K6 Convertible by Pourtout.

At that time in Mexico, we were not allowed to import any cars — not old cars, not new cars, no cars at all. It was just impossible to bring cars into Mexico.

Fortunately, I met a nice man who was restoring cars in Reno, Nevada. I took the cars to his place, and he restored and kept the cars for me until I built a place in California to keep them. That was the beginning of my collection. The Pyramids ranch was built around the cars, starting with a garage and a road so we could use and enjoy them.

I was an entrant at the Pebble Beach Concours for the first time in 1983. I showed the Hispano-Suiza K6 Pourtout that year, which received Second in Class. I was really happy. The following year, in 1984, I showed my Murphy-bodied SSK, and

again, I got Second in Class. Again I was pleased. In 1985, I showed the Bugatti. And still again, I got second place. Then I said to myself, “No, I don’t want this. I have to work harder.” I hated to get another second place. I wanted to get first place.

I was able to buy a beautiful Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Roadster that used to belong to a famous collector. It was in very good condition, but I decided to make it the best. A friend of mine recommended a restorer in California and also helped me with the restoration. We finished the car in time for the 1986 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

That year was a great year, as it was the one hundredth anniversary of Mercedes. I took a total of six Mercedes-Benz cars to the show. Deborah and all my children came with me, and each of us was in charge of one of the cars. Now we were really happy because the six cars brought home six prizes: two first places in different classes, two second places behind our own cars, a special award given for the Most Significant Mercedes, and Best of Show. What a wonderful day! More than we could ever dream of.

Since that year, the Pebble Beach Concours has become a real family event for us. The whole family is always there. Nobody misses it. Right now [in the year 2000], there are eighteen of us: my wife Deborah, my four children with their spouses, eight granddaughters and me. We all ride in the cars. We go over the ramp together to accept the trophies if we get a prize. Now my children and Deborah are starting to show the cars themselves. The Pebble Beach Concours is a better gathering than Christmastime, because at Christmas the children also like to be with their spouses’ families. Pebble Beach is the one day that all the family is always together.

One of the times we enjoy most at each Concours is early morning on the polo field when all the cars are unloaded from their trailers. We try to get to the polo field by six o’clock, and we watch the owners and their crews take the cars out one by one and start them. It’s like opening presents!

I enjoy that very much, even though it’s very early.

Of course, we have cars to get ready ourselves. Each year since 1983, we have been showing cars. Two or three cars. Every year I say to myself, “I’m going to take only one car this year,” because I want to enjoy more of the other cars, more of the people, more of the show.

Well, maybe one car to be shown by me and one car to be shown by the children. . . .