Additional Gold Award winners trophy from the International 190SL Group Texas Convention

We received this through the post from the International 190SL Group last week - much appreciated all, especially as our other trophies are in the boot of our 190SL whilst it awaits shipping over to the UK.

Prizes, Prizes!

Here are shots of the car with the prizes won at the International 190SL convention held at Fredericksburg, Texas and shots of Will Theresa and myself.
Best in Show, Gold Class Award and Furthest distance travelled by individuals attending.
As mentioned in other posts below I am extremely grateful for all the hard work put into the rebuild of this fantastic car by Will, Steve and all the rest at Team Samples - a true Gold Class team! Thanks for everything guys, especially the fun along the way. If you need work doing on your 190Sl then Will at S&S Imports is the guy to turn to.

And of course not to forget Steve who kindly dyed his hair the same colour as the car!

 

Final day of driving the car in Texas, down by White Rock Lake

A couple of quick photos of us in the car on the last morning before we returned home driving the car at White Rock Lake, Dallas.

Day 3 at the 190Sl International Group Texas convention - Enchanted Rock State Park

Our final day of driving saw us head out to the Enchanted Rock State Park which features a massive pink granite dome linked to much local native American and settler folk lore.  Many photos were taken by us unwary none Texans from atop some nearby rocks before someone kindly pointed out that it was just the type of area that rattle snakes tended to hide out.

Day 2 at the 190Sl International Group Texas convention - The Texas White House

Day 2 saw us drive out to the home of the late President, Lyndon B Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird.  A fantastic scenic drive through Texan hill country, memorable for the fantastic views, great roads and the smell of a road kill skunk!
We stopped first at the LBJ cemetery when the late President is buried alongside his wife and other family members and then moved on to the ranch for a guided tour.

Afterwards we drove back towards Fredericksburg via more great countryside to the Wild seed farm for lunch and a chance for Theresa to drive the car around the car park once it emptied.

 

Day 1 at the 190Sl International Group Texas convention -drive to Grape Creek Vineyard

After the Concours on the morning of Day 1 we drove out a short way to one of the many vineyards around the area.  Excellent wine tasting and a great drive out, just sufficient after the long drive down the day before.

Day 1 at the 190Sl International Group Texas convention - Concours

We drove the 250 mile trip down to Fredericksburg with only 168 miles on the clock since the completion of the rebuild with Steve in the 280SL and Will in the team support truck plus Sean Parker in his (by UK standards) Monster truck.
No problems with the car other than a minor carb adjustment by Sean which had it running even better. 50mph winds made the first drive rather eventful and as they subsided we lowered the top and pressed on to the hotel with big smiles on our faces.
The following day (day1 of the Convention) we were up relatively early and after a good Texan breakfast were cleaning the car in readiness for the Concours.  She attracted many great comments, particularly around the Dark Blue colour which many thought was black until the sun shone on the car.
Judging came around and a panels of experts came to inspect individual elements of the car.  The end outcome was that the car won the Best car in the Concours and was awarded the only Gold Class award as well.  Quite an achievement for Team Samples who are now to be known as Gold class Team Samples!  A great achievement for the car, the first time it has been on a major trip in about 15 years.
Huge thanks to Will Samples, Steve Ady, Steve Crowley, Sean Parker, Manuel and all others who put such hard effort into rebuilding the car to such a high standard.  A huge thanks to Will for all his friendship and support over the last 10 years, for allowing me to come and camp out at his Ranch for days at a time each year and work on and learn about the car.  You have been a star and a real friend.

Here are shots of some of the other fantastic cars at the convention.