Automobile USA – September 2019

The

End

THE BACK PAGE

AUTOMOBILE

MAG.COM

90

CATC

HING

UP

WITH

Your bond with Mercedes

began when it underwrote

the landmark “Art in the

Streets” exhibit in 2011 at

the Museum of Contemporary

Art, Los Angeles.

MD: I hadn’t [owned a Mercedes

before]. When we began talking,

they were like, “OK, listen, we’re

bringing you to Stuttgart so you

can see what our brand is about.”

And really I have to give it to them

’cause I don’t think I could have

understood it otherwise. And

then once I had the experience of

driving an AMG, it’s not hard to

get hooked.

What about it appealed to

you so directly?

MD: I think I saw the AMG process

of the “one man, one engine.” I kind

of fell for that. I related it to, like,

there is just an exact craftsmanship

there that is a little bit different.

You now own an AMG C 63

and an E 63 S wagon?

MD: The E wagon is incredible.

What else is out there like it?

Where you can take your kids to go

surfing and go away for a weekend

and fit everything in there and drive

fast and safely? And at the same

time you could also go to Home

Depot and pick up whatever you

need, and you could go to Laguna

Seca on a weekend and follow

an AMG driver on a track and

hang, right?

Do you have any dream cars?

MD: I don’t own a pickup, but I

could go for like a dual-row pickup.

It doesn’t have to be huge; I’m

not expecting performance, not a

Raptor, but just something that’s

a little bit of fun. I have a vintage

fantasy of like being in Costa Rica

or Nicaragua surfing somewhere,

in either just an old Land Cruiser

or Land Rover. I think in terms

of style, like Adidas Superstar

[sneakers], there’s certain things

with intrinsic design like a pair of

Cons or even Vans classic slip-ons.

Like when something’s done in its

form as best as it can be, it doesn’t

need to be updated. It’s reached

perfection. The SLs we drove on

the Mille, I think that form, those

Gullwings are perfect.

Did you think you would enjoy

driving a 60-year-old car that

much?

MD: No. I would drive it again.

I don’t know exactly what the

maintenance issues would be—

let’s remember we had a team of

mechanics that had these things

running every morning and going

for 13 hours every day without

us having to think about it. But I

would in a second take one down

through the southwest of France

into Spain. That would be so fun.

I wouldn’t hesitate. Well, actually

I would hesitate because there’s

no place to put a surfboard. [But]

aesthetically, I mean, they nailed

it. It’s not going to get any better

than that.

What’ll you remember about

the Mille years from now?

MD: The experience of not only

driving these incredible cars in this

weird mobile community, but then

through literally the most beautiful

and historic piazzas and central

squares that man has ever built.

The Mille is really about community.

And that we actually get to just

friggin’ hit the accelerator and haul

ass through these cobblestone

streets going where usually people

aren’t even allowed to drive at

all, into these piazzas, and people

welcome us with open arms for

punishing their cobblestones.

And the police escorts ...

MD: That’s always a good time. It’s

going to screw us up for a while.

We’re going to be in L.A. and see

lights and go, “Oh, awesome. I’m

going to go faster! I don’t need to

stop for a red light now.” And the

other bad habit I’m going to have

to break is, it’s going to cross my

mind, I’m going to be in traffic

on the PCH and be like, “I’m just

going to drive on the other side

for a while.”

That’ll be the last anyone saw

of Mike D. Tell us about your

bandmate, the late Adam

Yauch, driving a Ferrari on

Mulholland.

MD: It’s in the Beastie Boys Book.

Being New York guys we get

out [to L.A.], and Yauch rented

a red Ferrari. I remember this

is the “License to Ill” tour, and I

had actually rented a Benz SL

convertible—like Richard Gere,

“American Gigolo” style. Anyway,

Yauch is flying around Mulholland,

and he pulled over ’cause he saw

there was [another] Ferrari, and it

was the actor Paul Williams who

had run his Ferrari off the road.

And [Yauch] had an epiphany: “I

don’t want to end up being the

incoherent guy that somebody

recognizes that’s driven his Ferrari

off the road.”

He claimed that centered him,

made him realize he didn’t

want to be that guy ...

MD: Well, partially, yes. AM

MIKE D

BEASTIE BOYS FOUNDING MEMBER,

MERCEDES AFICIONADO

by NICOLAS STECHER

MIKE DIAMOND IS best known as

one-third of legendary hip-hop/punk

rock/sampling pioneers Beastie Boys.

The group has sold some 50 million

albums and was inducted into the Rock

& Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2012. But

Mike D’s interests spread far beyond

the musical realm, where his love of

red wine, surfing, and time behind the

wheel of his Mercedes-AMG E 63 S

Wagon are just as important to feed his

creativity as time spent behind a drum

set. In May, Automobile joined him as

he rumbled his way through the Mille

Miglia in a pristine 1955 Mercedes-Benz

300SL Gullwing, the timeless MC

enjoying every stop along the 1,000-mile

rally across Italy. This summer he’s

touring worldwide with a series of solo

DJ gigs and spoken word shows with

fellow Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz (Ad-

Rock) to promote their New York Times

best-seller, Beastie Boys Book.

CATCHING UP WITH

/^

M

IK

E D