Around the World in a Mercedes
It had always been Jim Rogers' dream to experience first-hand all those countries to which, as a former professional Wall Street investor, he owed his fortune. As a young off-shore hedge fund manager, he not only made a profit when stocks around the world were up, but also when they dropped drastically. At age thirty-seven he decided to retire and look for other adventures. According to his bestselling book Investment Biker his situation by then allowed this luxury.
Today, at age fifty-five, he is preparing for a trip around
the world - for the second time. The first one, from 1990 1992, he
and his then girlfriend completed on their BMW motorcycles. In a little
more than two years the two traveled 65,067 miles (104,693 kilometers) on
their bikes, as well as thousands more miles in the air and on water. They
drove through China, the Siberian Taiga and Tundra, traversed the hot Sahara
desert and struggled to cross snow-covered alpine passes in the Andes Mountains,
as he described in Investment Biker.
One has to wonder what could possibly motivate a wealthy American
to tackle such hardships again. Jim Rogers' arguments sound simple and convincing.
As we all know, the second millennium is coming to a close. Someone should
chronicle what is happening in the world during this historic time. He's
not interested in headline-making events, he wants to shed a light on the
political, economic and social situation in the various countries. He plans
on broadcasting live via the internet, radio and television stations, spotlighting
how these countries present themselves in the last year of this millennium,
in the year 2000 and in the first year of the new millennium. His journey
will therefore begin on January 1, 1999 and end on December 31, 2001. As
an added attraction the well-versed Wall Street investor will pass on valuable
information to visitors of his web site on where and how to profitably invest
their money.
Jim Rogers is an athletic and agile man who daily spends up to two hours at fitness training because he aspires to be among the finishers in the famous New York Marathon again. Yet for his second trip around the world he is not taking his motorcycle. A regular sport utility vehicle was also out of the question; he deems them too conventional for his mission. His goal is to drive up in a sports car, if possible a convertible, even in the most remote parts of the world. He wants to draw attention to his trip wherever he goes and use the powerful communications tool "automobile" to enter into spontaneous discussions with people. He and his companion Paige Parker (29) need an all-terrain, communications-friendly sports car and it is just such a car that is being built for him in California now.
His search for a suitable vehicle initially took him to the largest Off-Road-Show in Munich, Germany. There he received the tip to get in touch with Harold Pietschmann who lives in Los Angeles. Harold Pietschmann, a respected journalist and specialist for off-road vehicles, in turn referred him to Gerhard Steinle, who had just begun to build up his own business, Prisma Design International, in Irvine, California. Previously, Gerhard Steinle had established and was president of Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design of North America, Daimler-Benz' first design studio outside of Germany. He set up and headed the studio from 1990 – 1997. Rather than return to Germany when his expatriate contract expired, he preferred to start up his own business just a few blocks from the Mercedes studio. An interesting offer such as this was right up his alley. Originally, Jim Rogers wanted to mount a Porsche on a Toyota S70 chassis with a diesel engine, but Pietschmann was quickly able to convince him otherwise. He felt that the Mercedes SLK offers the ideal combination of a sporty convertible and a safe coupe. When early research showed that the short chassis Mercedes Gelaendewagen had the same wheelbase of 2,400 mm as the SLK, they had found the right combination. For luggage and spare parts Steinle and his U.S. designer colleagues Danny Ellis, a well respected and experienced car designer, and Dan Caruthers who contributed with young and fresh ideas, created a clever trailer which echoes the lines of the SLK rear when seen from behind.
The sunburst-yellow SLK with black leather interior and the
G300 Turbodiesel with permanent four-wheel drive are currently being "married"
by Metalcrafters in Fountain Valley, California. The outcome could be christened
the "GLK". The production facility of the world-renowned prototype
builder "The Gaffoglio Family/Metalcrafters, Inc." is only ten
driving minutes away from Prisma Design International. All the dramatic
Chrysler Showcars of recent years originated here, as did the 1995 Mercedes
AAV Prototype, which served to whet the appetite for the M-Class. The exciting
M-Class based movie versions for Steven Spielberg's film "The Lost
World Jurassic Park" were also manufactured here. Now one of
the most challenging tasks is to connect the hundreds of cables from the
SLK body and its interior parts with the G300 chassis and its Turbodiesel
engine. Supporting Metalcrafters in this difficult endeavor is Mercedes
technical specialist Dieter Stenzhorn.
The "GLK" is expected to be rigorously tested both
on-road and off-road in November of this year. All possible driving scenarios
will be simulated and explored under Harold Pietschmann's leadership.
Jim Rogers' journey will begin on January 1, 1999 in Iceland,
which will be celebrating the 1000-year anniversary of Leif Eriksson's discovery
of America. Iceland is located on the confluence of the tectonic plates
under the American and European continents. It is the only place in the
world where he can drive in America in the morning and in Europe in the
afternoon. The next stop will be the westernmost point of Ireland. After
traversing Great Britain the journey continues to France. An important stop
in February 1999 will be Graz, Austria. There, at the Gelaendewagen factory,
Jim Rogers will be presented with his companion vehicle, a Mercedes G300
Turbodiesel with long wheelbase. It will serve to transport the crew for
live broadcasting.
This G Wagon and the two other Mercedes vehicles united into
the "GLK", are being provided by Mercedes-Benz of North America.
The U.S. car importer has recently accelerated its unprecedented new-product
offensive and continuing value strategy. The company is breaking its own
sales records and is aiming to end up the year as the best-selling imported
luxury car brand in the U.S. When Steinle contacted his former colleague
Joe Eberhardt, Vice President Marketing at Mercedes-Benz of North America,
Joe liked the idea of celebrating the company's success by sponsoring a
unique history-making Mercedes project. He and the other Mercedes-Benz executives
unhesitatingly offered to provide all the vehicles, while the parent company
in Germany, Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft, will give worldwide support
in service and parts.
The entire
journey is being broadcasted on the internet |
