![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/mcbride2.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey2.jpg)
Big fat tires and everything
Ritchie Blackmore recently spoke to German national newspaper Die Welt. Quite curiously, his interview appears not in the arts or entertainment section, but in the automotive one.
Here’s the gist of what Blackmore the motorist had to say:
- He didn’t get his driver’s license until he was 39.
- He still keeps his first car — a Mercedes 300 SE — albeit it’s not in running condition any more.
- When in Germany, he likes to drive on quiet country roads as opposed to autobahn.
- Mercedes mechanics in Long Island charge way too much.
- He has been to so many castles in Germany that he’s perfectly qualified to write a guidebook. He proceeded to nail the lay of the land regarding most comfortable castle hotels near major cities on the country.
Read more in Die Welt (that is, if you can read German).
Thanks to Yvonne for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Well, we all know Mr Blackmore is a big friend of Germany… and thats ok with me…After all… Germany is the World champions of Football… Now how did England make out in the world cup? LOL!!!!!!
April 29th, 2016 at 21:03The Mercedes Highway Star. Hats off.
April 29th, 2016 at 21:13Tyres with a ‘y’. FFS!
April 29th, 2016 at 21:23It’s not the Mercedes S-class on the photo!
The photo is showing the W123 (internal number) from Mercedes, built from 1975 till 1986.
But… where are all the cigarette butts coming from? Was Ian Gillan his co-pilot?
Have a nice Day!
April 29th, 2016 at 22:06Ritchie is my truely hero … 🙂
LLRnR
kraatzy
April 30th, 2016 at 06:04Probably a typical Ritchie response to the law suit that he’s not been doing enough press! There’ll be an interview in the Horse & Hounds next….. which is why we love him!
April 30th, 2016 at 07:40Ritchie did another interview with Die Welt early April. He admitted that he loves ‘Schlager’ (German pop music), remembering several names of singers he listened to during his time in Hamburg in the sixties. He spoke very fondly of Jon, how they put together DP in a snowy February 1968.
http://www.welt.de/print/wams/kultur/article153931609/Schlager-sind-typisch-deutsch.html
April 30th, 2016 at 15:59Uhhhhhh is there an English version of this article?
April 30th, 2016 at 22:53Maybe Ritchie football fans and Germany national team in the final of the Football World Cup 1966 ? 😉
May 1st, 2016 at 05:47@nupsi59 actually, that is an S, a W116, albeit with the American front bumper and the American headlights. Here’s a photo of another one (in red) that I found on Wikipedia…
May 1st, 2016 at 10:36https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:450SELI_0411.jpg
@10 Innerspace:
You are right!
For me, at my first look on the car, it seemed to be a W123, because the european version of the S116 has much more chrome parts, and steel wheels on an S-class Mercedes is an absolute no-go!
My fault! Have a nice Day!
May 2nd, 2016 at 15:16@ Tracy
Don´t worry, but: Most articles here are in English … and I have to translate it consistently to (my) german (language) …
And now … it´s your turn to translate it 😉 😉 😉
Kraatzy
May 2nd, 2016 at 16:45@Innerspace and @nupsie
W116 is correct … is an older S-Class (from 09/1972 – 09/1980) … but the old W123 looks likewise.
Kraatzy
May 2nd, 2016 at 16:49Wait a second, isn’t that model a Mercedes “Who gives a shit”?.
May 3rd, 2016 at 06:13@13 kraatzy
I should’ve known it better, I learned and worked in the 70s/80s in a Mercedes-Benz garage in Germany.
Let’s stop this here, this is not a site for automobiles, … although the new Skoda Superb is… superb!!!
Have a nice Day!
May 4th, 2016 at 20:16