Mercedes

STUTTGART, Germany --In a town where the car is God, there's a new cathedral. Silvery and enigmatic, the Mercedes-Benz museum sits just off the B14 highway as it dips into a gentle fold of the Neckar Valley. Designed by Dutch architects Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, the 15-story building looks like a loosely interleaved stack of postmodern pancakes, its bands of aluminum and glass rising in an undisciplined kinetic wobble above a granite pavilion. Mercedes-Benz has long had its stamp on Stuttgart's sky - a three-pointed star rotates above the Hauptbahnhof, or train station - but now, with the $50-million edifice planted on the outskirts of the city as a kind of ceremonial gateway, the company's dominion seems more ecclesiastical than corporate.

On August 4, 2006, MERCEDES GARCIA, beloved wife of the late Fernando B. Tayag Sr, devoted mother of Josefina Naraval, Felicitas Caladiao, Zenaida Tayag, Myrna Javier, Jesus Tayag, Perla Marucut, Armando Tayag and the late Fernando Tayag, Jr., loving grandmother of 23 and great grandmother of 13. Family and friends may call at THE JOHNSON FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 8521 Loch Raven Blvd. (Beltway exit 29-B) on Tuesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. All are invited to attend a Funeral Mass on Wednesday, in the Church of The Immaculate Heart of Mary at 9 A.M. Interment Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

DETROIT -- Since their 1998 merger creating the world's fifth-largest automaker, Mercedes Benz and Chrysler have seemed to be sitting at either end of a trans-Atlantic seesaw. When Chrysler was down, Mercedes was up. Then, a reinvigorated Chrysler helped the company stay profitable last year while it fixed problems at Mercedes. Now, Mercedes has become the heavyweight again, as Chrysler grapples with slumping sales that it blames on high fuel prices and intense competition in the United States.

CHICAGO -- He doesn't wear a cowboy hat and mask like the Lone Ranger, an early Chrysler pitchman. Nor does he wear a tuxedo and promote the rich Corinthian leather, as actor Ricardo Montalban did. And forget the expensive imported Burberry raincoat that Lee Iacocca sported when imploring shoppers to "Buy American." All he has is a bushy mustache, a pronounced accent and a wry sense of humor. And he uses those well as he runs a crossover vehicle into a crash barrier, expertly folds passenger seats into the floor of a minivan and bounces a soccer ball off his head.

NEW YORK -- DaimlerChrysler AG and its Mercedes-Benz USA unit were sued yesterday by a Los Angeles car dealer who wants his money back for a $1.7 million Mercedes AMG Roadster that died after driving only 10 blocks. The silver two-door sports car - the most expensive production car ever built - started malfunctioning during its first customer test drive in 2004, Mark Johnston, the owner of Grand Prix Motors, said in a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit claims breach of contract and negligence and seeks a full refund for the car. During the test drive, the 12-cylinder vehicle didn't shift properly and its oil light came on, the complaint said.

On March 13, 2006, MERCEDES P. (Pollie) JEFFRIES, formerly of Baltimore; beloved wife of the late Lloyd G. Jeffries; dear mother of Catherine Warg, E.E. Shepherd and Paula J. Toldon; dear stepmother of Lloyd G. Jeffries, Jr. and Andrew Jeffries; loving grandmother of 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Mrs. Jeffries was a resident of Ocala, FL. Services were private.

On December 1, 2005, MERCEDES IOWNE (nee Davis) MACKEN; beloved wife of the late Walter H. Macken; loving daughter of the late Oscar L. and Sarah E. Davis; devoted mother of Arthur M. Allen, of OK; sister of the late A. Lucille Doran, of MA and the late Elizabeth P. Kelly, of Woodlawn, MD. Also survived by one niece, Mina E. Sneden, of NH and one great-niece, Kimberly S. Eldridge. There will be no viewing and services are private. Interment in Woodlawn Cemetery. Arrangements by Hubbard Funeral Home, Inc., 410-242-3300.

MRS. MERCEDES DIAZ, 90, a resident of Vindobona Nursing Home, died Friday, August 12, 2005, at the Frederick Memorial Hospital. Beloved mother of Diane Diaz Goebes and husband Robert Leo of Arlington, VA, and Richard Diaz and wife Suzanne Markowitz of Knoxville, MD; grandmother of Lee Richard Goebes and Marian Diaz Goebes, and Julia Markowitz Diaz and Nathan Markowitz Diaz. There will be no calling at the funeral home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Shrine of the Little Flower Church, 3500 Belair Road, Baltimore on Tuesday, August 16 at 11 A.M. Interment will be in Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, Baltimore.