Driving with criminals

At first it had all the appearances of a routine police checkpoint, a simple little affair in which some warnings might be issued, possibly some speeding tickets. But otherwise our group of 18 or so U.S. automotive journalists driving a fleet of high-priced Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG sedans would be allowed to continue on our merry way through the Spanish countryside.

Not so. The Catalonian policia decided that because most of the U.S. drivers were without international drivers licenses, we could no longer continue in the $100,000 cars we were driving. We were free to go but the cars, they said, must stay in a little parking corral near the scene of the crime until all the legalities could be resolved.

While it seems likely that by now the German automaker's lawyers and the Spanish authorities have reached some sort of settlement to release the impounded sheetmetal, at the time it was hard not to laugh at the absurdity of the whole affair. Here were the best-laid plans of a global luxury automaker -- these are the same smart folks who had the foresight to put the company name on the Superdome in time for the Super Bowl -- laid to waste by a handful of police officers who clearly had no idea what kind of international dung-pile they had just stepped in. No one on the program could ever recall actually needing an international drivers license during years of Euro drive programs, including many in Spain.

Through it all, little snatches of Arlo Guthrie's anti-war song "Alice's Restaurant" kept popping into my head, especially as our gaggle huddled in the cool breeze of the impound lot while officers of varying ranks and sophistication worked their way through the situation: "Kid. I want to see your license and your passport. Now kid!" They were using up all kinds of cop equipment, taking photos, making little notes with their red pens, filling out paperwork on the mobile desk in the rear of the police hatchback and seemingly changing their minds every few minutes as to how we might resolve this dilemma. Can we pay fines or fees and be on our way? Yes, er, no. Who can drive? Those with international licenses and, for some unknown reason, one journalist holding a New York State drivers license. Because New York, of course, is a separate nation.

Eventually we all ended up shuttling off to the nearby lunch station at a local resort, having another meal that couldn't be beat and taking with us more questions than answers as it related to the whole event.

Was this a calculated speeding-fine shakedown that quickly escalated into a major incident, or a chance stop of a fast car or two that turned into a monster once half a dozen of the same cars appeared, driven by criminally unlicensed Americans? In the end it may have simply been a mistake, but it remains unclear whether that was on the part of the policia, the automaker or the unlicensed journalists.

"No fines or impound fees were paid, no charges were brought and no bribes were given," said a Mercedes spokesman, shortly after the incident. It remained unclear whether that was the end of the story, however. But we all suspect we'll want to obtain one of these international licenses before our next European adventure.

Just in case.

By Bob Gritzinger