Silent Running: The Impressive Mercedes S 500 Plug In Hybrid

A few days ago I had the golden opportunity to accompany Marc J. Christiansen and Johannes Schlörb from fuenfkommasechs.de.

We had a blast.

Chromjuwelen.com: WHERE'S THE BEEF?

"Your stories, your international network, your multidimensional brand Chromjuwelen — DUDES, YOU ARE SITTING ON A GOLDMINE!" — that's what Chris and I often have heard since we launched Chromjuwelen.com back in 2005. But as stated in "It’s time to get focussed" we suspect that we buried — faced with so many funky and irresistible interweb opportunities — our Unique Selling Proposition — STORYTELLING. So it’s high time for digging. First of all for our USPs, then for gold.

We decided we'll to do it publicly, with opened visor. In short: We'll use storytelling to hack our broken storytelling. Virtually as a a self-prescribed therapy. To illustrate our mission, we'll borrow Wendy’s famous claim as our battle cry. 'Cause "WHERE'S THE BEEF?" hits the nail on the head. Especially these days, where the media scene seems to explode and everybody affirms he's making millions. We don't believe the hype.

We've got a long list of topics we would like to discuss, including things like money (of course), reach, trendsetters, language and culture — just to name a few. So stay tuned and let us know in the comments what you think. And of course, we still speak Deutsch. So don’t hesitate.

Höing Sportmotoren: Porsche Carrera 3.2 Teardown

"If in Europe, have Matthias build you a motor" – recommends Mr. Magnus Walker. If you want to know why, follow this link and learn more about Matthias Höing.

This little stop-motion video, made by Sören Städe and Johannes Grau, shows Matthias tearing apart a Porsche 3.2 engine (part 1). To convert it into a hot rod engine (part 2 — coming soon).

If you like engines, you'll love this stunning flicker book. 

Dear Auto Industry, It's time To Roll Up Your Sleeves And Get To Work

Our friends from Amy & Pink just posted this Rammstein video of "Mein Herz brennt". There's one sentence in Amy & Pink's article, which made me laugh:

"Etwas, das dein großer Bruder, der jetzt um die 40 ist, hört, wenn er an seine Exfreundin denkt, die ihn wegen Torsten, dem stellvertretenden Filialleiter des lokalen Tengelmanns verlassen hat." (Rough: "Something your 40 years old brother is listening to, when he thinks of his ex-girlfriend — who left him for Torsten, the manager of the local supermarket.")

A moment later the laugh sticked in my throat.

For some time past we are asking different automotive industriy, marketing and media decision makers about the average age of their readers and clients. And without the ability of attesting it — the average age seems to be something between 35 and 50 years. If not even higher. Once again, this is just a gut feeling. But it seems car enthusiasts are at the least 40+.

So – compared to Amy & Pink's article – are (we) car enthusiasts just as the above mentioned old (fashioned) brother? Recapitulating the majority of our meetings we had with the German Auto(motive) Industry recently, I would go so far to say: Yes, we are.

Here are some more interesting details. Sorry for linking to German articles, but I am sure — if you ask a search engine — you'll find similar articles written in your language as well:

• Adolescents prefer smartphones/communities to driving licenses.

• (Maintenance) costs for automobiles are way too expensive.

• Media usage behavior is changing dramatically and irretrievably. Which means: Ads and offers don't reach younger people.

• Brand values are in danger to age (and to die) — as they aren't connected to younger, inspiring (lifestyle) scenes.

• It seems more than a few decision makers don't understand the opportunity of converting a brand into a sender. Which is crucial at the moment.

• Journalists/bloggers mutated into rat racing SEO-bots. But will search engines reach a younger – and much more skeptical – target group?

• ...

Ok, there is one (courageous) star in the (media) sky which gives hope, because he is doing a lot of things properly. But what about the rest? And what about the auto industry suppliers? If the trends will prove to be true — will any younger person ever be interested again in the product differences of tires, dampers, wheels? The risk of being buried in oblivion is high.

Dear Auto Industry: Awake – Dein Herz brennt. It's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Bethink yourself of your core (brand) values and start communicating — but be aware of all the filters that are installed to avoid annoying advertisement. Please start surpriseing us again — like Tesla does, like Car2Go does. But stop acting that stony. 

If you need any help, let us know.

Chromjuwelen Électrique: Full Version & Bonus Videos

Not all that long ago we made a self-attempt: we eBay-ed a 1964 Imperial Crown and drove it from Los Angeles to Las Vegas – and back to Los Angeles. As you can imagine, we had a blast. You will find the video here. This time we switched to the other extreme: We travelled in a smart fortwo electric drive from Paris to Le Mans (Classic). Yup. Battery-driven. Of course – we know this electrified fellow isn't made for long distances. Even worse – we knew it will not be easy to find enough charging stations. But hey, that exactly was the challenge. If anybody of us speaks fluent French? Er ... no.

My favorite scene? Arthur's tribute to Stephen Brooks and all the dubstep video jockeys at 09:38.

Chromjuwelen Électrique features:

• smart

• Mercedes-Benz Classic

• Blenheim Gang

• Chartres

• Le Mans Clasic

• Frank Jacob (Springbok Sportwagen)

• Jochen Maas

Music:

• La Horse

• "Getting Along"

• mercedes-benz.com/mixedtape

• szoll

• "broke"

• soundcloud.com

• Tarpans

• "Rivers"

• mercedes-benz.com/mixedtape

• Advencher Club ft, Kai

• "Need Your Heart"

• soundcloud.com

• Edvard Grieg

• "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 - I. Morning" (performed by Musopen Symphony Orchestra)

• musopen.org

• EmoShock

• "Kaboul"

• soundcloud.com

All filming & editing: Faust & Heisler. For a full (German) Travelogue visit chromjuwelen.com.

Chromjuwelen Électrique: Trailer

We had a blast. Thanks to smart & Mercedes-Benz Classic for letting this happen!

The "Director's Cut" will be released September 2nd. In the meantime – here is our (German) Travelogue and a full loaded gallery.

From 2006 to Present – All Chromjuwelen Videos (plus a previously unreleased one)

I know I had to do this one day. I kicked it all too long down the road and it has been sitting for too long on my to-do list. But today was the day – I could not stand my unprofessionally way any longer sending people who are interested in our videos and how we act in front of a camera a bunch of loose links via email. 

The problem was not the Sisyphean task to collect all of our Chromjuwelen videos, which are living scattered throughout several video platforms and accounts. To be honest. The reason was much more: Some of our older video are really … er … AWKWARD. I am talking of that kind of videos you rather try to forget. Like this one: "Power Big Meet Västerås 2006". Yeop, that dumpling you can see in the video ... it's me. Sweet.

Anyway. I would like to use this opportunity once again to thank everybody who supported us since the beginning with their time and their video knowledge: Axel Bienert, Tatjana Böcher, Carsten Brix, Tobias Faust, Boris Heimberger, Arthur Heisler, Icke & Er, Kris Karathomas, Dean Malay, Jürgen Pander, Dennis Petermann, P.Y.P. Film, Olli (Redomedia), Christian Suhr, Sven Wiesner, Jan Wigger, Henning Windelband.

So, taking a deep breathe – here we go, follow this link!

Oh wait. While we are on it. We upped a video which has been previously unreleased – our coverage form the Flashman Rallye 2011. Enjoy!

Chromjuwelen Électrique: Are Friends Electric?

Not all that long ago we made a self-attempt: we eBay-ed a 1964 Imperial Crown and drove it from Los Angeles to Las Vegas – and back to Los Angeles. As you can imagine, we had a blast.

Now it is time for another self-attempt. But this time we will change to the other extreme: We will travel in a smart fortwo electric drive from Paris to Le Mans (Classic). Yup. Battery-driven.

Of course – we know this electrified fellow isn't made for long distances. Even worse – we know it will not be easy to find enough charging stations. But hey, that exactly is the challenge.

Our aim is to shoot another "Chromjuwelen En Route" video. This is why we are accompanied by our friends faust & heisler. If anybody of us speaks fluent French? Er ... no.

Our first appointments will be with our French soulmates from the Blenheim Gang – since we are in France, we have to learn more about "Français Moteur Culture". And if you do not follow the Blenheim Gang yet – do it now.

Btw, "follow" – stay in contact with us via Twitter, Instagram (Chromjuwelen), Tumblr or the time-waster social network!

(Image borrowed from Mercedes-Fans.de)

Continental Extreme: Chromjuwelen En Route Road Movie

And finally — here it is. Our "Continental Extreme" video. The latest Chromjuwelen En Route road movie starring five German blokes on a Motorkultur-expedition. Intention: To draw an analogy between Las Vegas (SEMA) and Dubai (Motor Show).

Co-starring among others not only our 1964 Imperial Crown, but also family and friends like Klaus Rasch (race-dezert.com), Mike Musto (ridelust.com), Ryan Friedlinghaus (West Coast Customs), Sven Gramm (BRABUS), Bear Garcia (Hooligan Customz), Frederik Faidhi (Select Nano), Sam Badawi (1000 Dunes), David Mitri (1000 Dunes) and Phil McGovern (crankandpiston.com).

Thanks to everyone who joined our film premiere at the EAST Hotel in Hamburg. We had a blast!  

Deichkraft: Tri-Axle Two-Stroke Diesel Godzilla

"Diamond T" "980 M20" GM-Diesel "Detroit-Diesel" "6-71" "Hot Rod" "old style" "old school" Truck 1940 diesel-power tank car real-rod Herrenrod cooldstart "cold start" www.deichkraft.com

Eine neue Operater-Centrale bietet nunmehr höchsten Fahrkomfort bei minimalem körperlichen Einsatz...

real men dont need instructions Wintertime in the north of Germany lifesaver saves lifessaver

I am not quite sure when I first have had heard of "Deichkraft", but it must be some years ago. A good friend of mine sent me a shaky video of a tri-axle Dimond T 980 N20 truck, which has been converted into a roadster. But it was not only the fact the basis of Deichkraft is a tri-axle truck which is for that reason alone kinda odd — the steampunked hot rod comes with a GM two-stroke diesel.  

From that day on I wanted to meet Carsten Plötner, who is one of the blokes behind that project. Last weekend the moment has finally arrived — we met each other at a birthday celebration. I am sure all others guests were a little unhinged by us, because we chatted the entire time about cars, the narrowmindedness of some German hot rodders and possible Deichkraft destinations.

Carsten, what about bringing your little Chromjuwel to the Race 61 and Rust 'N' Roll? But before you do that I will pop in to have a ride!