Sisters man brings rare cars to town

Sisters resident Gerhard Schnuerer collects rare automobiles. His collection includes mostly Mercedes-Benz cars but also has some other unique vehicles and BMW motorcycles. He transported four cars from his collection to town recently to be photographed for a spread in Star Magazine.

Gerhard and wife Rosemarie immigrated to this country from Germany in 1963, educated but penniless. Gerhard found work as an engineer, and in 1976 started what turned out to be a very successful business designing, selling, installing and servicing power backup equipment for data centers. About 12 years ago he turned an interest in Mercedes-Benz cars into a passion.

He knows as much as can be known about each vehicle in his collection. "The history of each vehicle is very important to me," said Schnuerer. Each car comes with an interesting story.

The 1911 Benz is the second-oldest car in the collection. This car was 20 times more expensive than a Ford Model T, its American competitor.

The car's original owner, Charles M. Hayes, a Chicago railroad man, went down with the Titanic before he received delivery of the car. He had traveled to England where he was to be knighted for his work on Canada's second Trans-Continental Railroad. The trip home for Mr. Hayes and his party of six, three men and three women, was to be aboard a new ocean liner. After the ceremony he and his traveling companions boarded the Titanic for her maiden voyage. On that tragic night the women made it into a lifeboat, the men didn't.

The car changed hands several times before Gerhard came to own it. The most recent owner, prior to Gerhard, was Don Ricardo, most famous for leading the NBC Radio Orchestra in the 1930s. He was also a classic car collector and racer who set a yet-unbroken land-speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in a Mercedes-Benz Gull Wing 300SL.

Only 19 1938 Mercedes-Benz 230 S Special Roadsters were built. These cars were designed for off-road, rally-type racing for the German National Auto Club, which was under the control of the Hitler regime. These rallies were basically propaganda for proclaiming German superiority. One of the races was the Alpine 1,000, a race on back roads from Munich to Vienna. The rules stipulated that the drivers were on their own. So they were navigators, mechanics and, if need be, doctors. The cars had large trunks to hold tools, spare parts and supplies.

Gerhard's is the only model with a 2.3-liter engine left in the world.

The 1958 Mercedes 300SL Roadster was inspired by the gull-wing race car. It is known as the benchmark for perfect proportions for sports cars. "This is one of my favorite cars," said Schnuerer. "It has the rare combination of high performance and timeless design."

Gerhard personally restored his 1966 Unimog, with accompanying trailer, which was used by NATO in the Bosnian War for radio communications.

Unimog is a German acronym for universal motor machine. The versatile Unimogs were built in Germany mostly for the military, but were also used by fire departments, airports, etc. Some of their many uses were as ambulances, snow plows, and for transporting troops. They are known for their high ground clearance without being top-heavy, and for their extremely low gear ratios, allowing for climbing very steep grades.

Gerhard will keep this vehicle here in Sisters to use for off-road fun.

He also owns an 1897 Benz Mylord horseless carriage. Manufactured for the British Royal Family, there were only a dozen made. Now only two exist. It, after a 10-year restoration, like the others in his collection, is in mint condition. The other is in the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

Sisters is a second home for Gerhard and Rosemarie. Their main residence is in Southern California, where they are known for generous charitable giving and sponsoring an annual "Toys for Tots" event. A highlight of the event is going for a ride in one of Gerhard's rare machines.