{automotive} Tobie and Lynne are Mercedes-Benz lovers. They were the perfect couple for the pilot shoot & interview we did for Mercedes-Benz! Have a look at the Mercedes-Benz Extraordinaire site over here for the interview. You can even read it in French. Lynne and Tobie, thank you so much; we had loads of fun! dna – Desmond ‘n Antonia

Tobias (43) and his wife Lynne (34) love their Iceberg white Mercedes-Benz W114 from 1975 and they drive it in and around Cape Town, South Africa, a city filled with vintage Mercedes-Benz cars. Tobias is obsessed with cycling; he is a BMX legend and he is a real entrepreneur: employing more than 40 people, he owns Fittees, a clothing factory focusing on t-shirts and raw selvedge denim, a screen-printing workshop, a BMX workshop, as well as four clothing stores called Hello Again. This dude is on a mission to conquer and more. Lynne is a vegan hippie mom looking after their children Reuben (3) and Leo (1) and she is working on becoming a childbirth educator. In addition, she is a trend forecaster and is also in charge of Hello Again’s women’s wear production, interior design and window displays. The Groenewald family lives in Vredehoek, above Cape Town city’s bowl on the slopes of Table Mountain with nice city, harbor and sea views. His one year old Mercedes-Benz W114 is Tobie’s first Mercedes-Benz. He calls it his ‘Merc’.

Tell me about your Mercedes-Benz.
Tobias: It’s a Sunday car, we drive it once a week. It’s for leisure and pleasure. We drive it to special events. During the week I drive my bakkie (pick up truck) while building and opening shops and on the weekends I’m on my bicycle and in my Merc.
Lynne: Yeah, it’s not a car for rushing around. It’s a cruiser. You gotta relax, take it easy and cruise down to town.

Where do you like to go with your Mercedes-Benz, what are your favourite spots in Cape Town?
Tobias: On Sunday mornings we drive around Table Mountain and go to Clifton beach with the whole family and the dog.
Lynne: Our son Reuben always sits in the front seat like an old man, very proud, he loves the Merc. Another spot is The Plantation, an urban park close to our house, where Tobias is busy building BMX jumps. From there you have an awesome view.

What was important for you when you bought your Mercedes-Benz?
Tobias: I wanted a vintage Merc. I saw this kind of Merc driving around in Cape Town, without head rests, that look is pretty distinctive. I looked for two years until I found this one. It’s still pretty original. My dad had a Merc like this when I was three years old. He was a car dealer, he had many Mercedes-Benz cars and he was the one who found it for me. It was hidden in a car dealership in Bloemfontein. My dad had never shared any emotions when buying cars. But when he told me about this car, he was really excited. I bought it without seeing it. I went to Kimberley, 1000 kilometers away from Cape Town, to fetch it. The first time I saw it, I immediately wanted to get back on the road – it was exactly how my dad described it.

Your Mercedes-Benz sounds like a car for good times…
Lynne: Driving along the coast at 80 km/h, windows open, a cool breeze from the ocean and listening to Rodriguez, that’s the best.

P.S. Lynne dreams of a cherry red Mercedes-Benz SL 450. “That’s what I want. It’s the most feminine and elegant car.”

Photography by Desmond Louw and Antonia Heil
  Text by Antonia Heil