A Car For All Seasons

Renowned Canadian artist Tom Forrestall has been painting since the early 1950’s, but he could have never anticipated getting a commission from Mercedes-Benz.

Over 30 years ago, when Tom found success with his art, he invested in a brand new 1980 Mercedes-Benz 300 SD Turbo Diesel, a solid car for his large family.

In 2012, he had his trusty car stored with the O’Regan family, owners of the local Mercedes-Benz dealership. He and his friend Dr. Mary O’Regan discussed what to do about it, and hatched the idea of “A Car For All Seasons”, where he would paint his depiction the 4 seasons directly on his old car, which was still in lovely condition.

Mercedes-Benz Canada embraced the idea, and with approval from the Daimler head office in Stuttgart, they purchased the car and commissioned Tom to paint it.

Tom at work

All the trim was removed from the car, and Tom set to work. It took 5 months for Tom to create his masterpiece. Afterward, the car was varnished in 18 coats of clear varnish, with sanding and polishing between coats. The trim was then reattached.

The final result is nothing short of astounding! The seasons, and the transitions between them, are beautifully depicted, all in vibrant colours.

Interspersed here and there are bits of Mercedes-Benz history, with portraits of Mercedes Jellinek, Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz; there are also representations of the various Mercedes-Benz logos through the ages.

Mercedes Jellinek

Gottlieb Daimler

Karl Benz

I really hope that Daimler will see fit to have this beautiful artwork in their museum so it can be enjoyed.

Alfred Neubauer

Born on March 29 1901, Alfred Neubauer fell in love with the automobile as a young boy.

After WWI, he became a racecar driver for Astro-Daimler. He then moved with Ferdinand Porsche to Mercedes, where he would find his life-long professional home. By 1926, it was apparent that Neubauer was a much better manager than driver. He was soon recruiting quality drivers such Rudolf Caracciola to the team.

While manager of the race team, he brought into play various ways to communicate to the drivers during the races, such as hand signals and pit-boards, presenting them with useful information like race position, laps remaining, when to pit for fuel, etc. These communications methods have been adopted for races worldwide.

As a large man with a booming voice, Neubauer commanded attention and respect from his team and the officials. He was strict but fair on the track, and incredibly entertaining as a dinner host.

He led his team to great success before and after WWII, with Mercedes winning the Mille Miglia (1931, 1955), the Targa Florio (1955), six European and Grand Prix Championships (1935, 1937, 1938, 1954, 1955), along with wins at Le Mans (1952) and La Carrera Panamericana (1952).

Neubauer retired as race team manager in 1955, and passed away in 1980.