Although the Mercedes-Benz C300 isn’t a large car, it can hold quite a lot. Its passenger compartment is capable of carrying five people and its trunk has a capacity of 12.6 cubic feet.
Apparently, the C300 is also large enough to contain a person’s mind. In the following video, a man named Gabriel Lopes in the Pacific Northwest loses both at the same time to a fire.
He was driving along when his 2015 C300 suddenly started losing power. He pulled to the side of the Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge, then started recording the footage below.
Smoke rises up from his C-Class’s hood.
Then the screaming starts.
Perhaps because of the pain of Lopes realizing he’s losing a big chunk of money and eventually gaining a mountain of insurance paperwork. Maybe it’s caused by the thought of someone being harmed by the fire that is obviously taking place within the ill-fated Mercedes – from which the sound of an explosion soon comes.
Either way, it looks as if the C300 just got a little smaller. Luckily, it seems as if no one got hurt by its instant and violent size reduction.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
