Beauty. GX1, Leitz Elmar 135mm.

I have been eyeing this beautiful car for several weeks, but want to be clear about one thing: I am not a crazy petrol head, car collector person. Rather, I just can't resist the flawless design of older Mercedes models! To me, there is a clear connection between these old cars and old Leica cameras, the same search for perfect industrial design; the exact point at which form and function meet to yield great beauty. There is a mechanic's workshop quite close to our home and the owner does a trade in older Mercedes. This one, according to the ever-faithful Wiki, is a Model W108, offered, in the typical Mercedes seven year cycle, from 1965-1972. The dealer has the car all "bulled up", ready for a new owner. It is taken into the garage each night and out onto the lot during the day when he must need the floor space to work on other cars. Today is quite overcast, the shadows are flat, and the light accentuates the lovely, subtle metallic green. Fearful that the dealer would put a stop to me photographing his goods, I planned to do the Blip as a "drive-by". With this in mind, I left home with another Leitz lens perfectly suited for the job at hand: the Elmar 135mm f1:4. Again, on the GX1 it functions as a 270mm. This lens was offered in the Leitz catalog from 1960-1965; mine is from 1960.