How We Moved 10,000 sq ft of Classic Mercedes Parts

Over a year ago, we purchased a massive collection of used classic Mercedes parts. In addition to a smattering of parts from the 60s, 70s and 80s, this collection includes a large number of particularly rare older parts such as W111 coupe parts, 190SL parts, W113 SL Pagoda parts, Ponton parts and even Adenauer parts—most of which have been discontinued by Mercedes-Benz and are extremely difficult to find from any source. This was the Silver Star Motors collection—the life’s work of Mercedes-Benz enthusiast Marshall Ehlers—inhabiting 10,000 square feet of warehouse space in Oakland, California. Checkout the video below for the full tour.

When we saw Mr. Ehler’s legacy offered, we immediately saw this parts collection as a valuable contribution to classic Mercedes enthusiasts the world over—if it was in the right hands. We knew that acquiring this collection would allow us to truly become what we’d set out to do years before—a true one-stop-shop for classic Mercedes parts. So, we ventured into unknown territory, purchasing the collection and proceeding to figure out how to safely move hundreds of thousands of individual parts that were packed tightly into the warehouse decades ago.

After some initial cost investigations, most of the first six months was spent developing our expansion plan. After all, we not only had to move the parts but figure out what to do with them next. We came up with a solid plan on how to expand our operations and how this inventory influx could propel us to #1 in our industry. We formed a new corporate entity that could accommodate our growth plans and began to sell private stock in the new company. We raised enough capital to finance moving the inventory, and we launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to raise the remaining capital needed to launch our new operations.

We attempted hiring established logistics businesses to do the move for us; these were either extremely cost-prohibitive or couldn’t work with our timeline. So, in March 2021 we hired our own crew to do the entire project and found an amazing team of six hard-working individuals who would spend the next four months packing and shipping out a total of twenty-nine semitrailer loads in all—not to mention a large amount of trash and scrap metal hauled away.

We shipped engines and some other parts up to our salvage yard facility in Oregon where we are already equipped to do the complex diagnostic, repair and dismantling they will require.

For the remainder, we wanted a warehouse in Southern California where the largest concentration of classic Mercedes enthusiasts in the Western Hemisphere resides. We found an excellent location in San Bernardino that would accommodate the Silver Star collection and allow us to continue to grow. We filled it with racking and then filled out the racks as the trucks continued to roll in.

Last week, the final truckload was delivered, and the first stage of this project is officially complete! It is a huge relief for us to finally be finished in Oakland and to be able to move on to the next stages. Next, we need to unpack everything and organize it onto shelving so that it’s easily accessible for customer requests. We anticipate this to take several more months, at which point we will start finally selling some of these parts! After that, we will begin the arduous process of adding the entire collection to our digital catalog so that it’s easily found by our customers. This stage will include developing a custom database system that will allow us to list new products more efficiently. We anticipate this taking up to two full years to complete, but next time we purchase a huge collection like this the process will be far easier.

We are still in the process of raising capital for these next stages and are seeking additional investment via our crowdfunding campaign. This is an amazing opportunity to be a part of our effort to ensure parts availability for the full spectrum of classic Mercedes models for decades to come.

We look forward to updating you on our continued progress, and we thank you for supporting our efforts to transform the Classic Mercedes Parts Industry.

Sheila Heaney
CEO & Founder
MBZ Parts