AUTOS

Mercedeses en Mass: For car buffs who can’t get enough, the 18th annual Mercedes-Benz Exhibition is a separate show held at the nearby Fashion Island mall the same weekend as the Newport auction.

This year the county chapter of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, which organizes the show, expects more than 100 privately owned Mercedes cars to be on display.

Cars will include nine examples of the 300SL Gullwing; a half-dozen 190SLs, which is the roadster model that debuted in 1955, and a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K roadster owned by home builder William Lyon.

A free shuttle will ferry people between the auction and the Mercedes show.

--Compiled by John O’Dell / Times staff writer