Can't pass up replying here to the mention of MB pick up trucks.

Sorry Bill for continuing this non MB abomination.

This morning I had breakfast with a business associate and his wife in Hamburg. They were clearly not car people, but if you have a meal with me it's impossible not to discuss cars. He had already learned that I have a place in the country and don't live in the city. His English was as bad as my German, but we managed to communicate. When I told him that I drive a Mercedes he was very surprised. He asked if I had a pick up, and I said yes, but I use it only for a truck.

He and his wife were very amused about the number of people in the US (he recently visited our offices in Texas) drive pick ups. They were both totally amused at this. When you stop and think about it, there are many people today driving pickups for cars. It took someone from a different culture to make me think about this.

I'll bet that if I went through our parking garage in Richardson and did a survey, I would find that at least 50% of the pick ups in the parking garage wouldn't have a single scratch in their empty beds. This is, of course, a Texas thing.

Of course, MB makes trucks, and they make some cabover flatbeds that most folks would consider to be the pick up trucks of Germany.

Have a great day,
Larry