Our History:

Our heritage stems from three generations of Mercedes-Benz owners, collectors, lead race car technicians, and race car drivers.

Born during the Roaring 20’s in Frankfurt Germany, Heinz Gietz found a passion for cars at an early age. In 1938, the young Mr. Gietz accepted a Mercedes-Benz Technician Apprenticeship and excelled as a Technician until being drafted into military service. After the war, Mr. Gietz returned to Mercedes-Benz and shortly thereafter moved his family (wife, Ilse, and daughter, Sonja) to Chicago, IL. On moving to the US, Mr. Gietz soon became responsible for delivering the famed 300SL Gullwing to some of America’s affluent car collectors and exotic car aficionados. Due to Mr. Gietz’s mechanical prowess and his extensive knowledge of the Gullwing, he soon became well known in the automotive community. In 1955, Mr. Gietz attracted the attention of Oggie Pabst (heir of Pabst Blue Ribbon) and accepted the position of Lead Technician on Oggie’s Gullwing race team.

In 1959, Heinz & Ilse Gietz became the 340th member of the MB Club of North America in with the Milwaukee, WI Section. However, during his travels with Oggie Pabst’s race team, Mr. Gietz came across San Diego and fell in love with the community and soon after moved his family to the area. On moving to the San Diego area, Mr. Gietz accepted the position of Shop Foreman at a local Mercedes-Benz Dealer then in 1969 founded Heinz Gietz Autohaus, Inc. in La Jolla. Additionally, on originally moving to the San Diego area, Mr. Gietz transferred his MB Club membership to San Diego Section where he also served as Club President from 1972 to 1974.

In 1969, Heinz Gietz Autohaus was one of 13 Service Only Dealers established in the United States, however, by the 1990’s only Heinz Gietz Autohaus remained and continues to be a family owned and operated franchise.

Mr. Gietz continues to be active in the business and has since transitioned the company over to his daughter, Sonja Gietz, who has been active in the business since 1969 and in 1983 effectively took over the company as Dealer Principal. Dieter-Heinz Kijora (Hienz and Ilse’s grandson) has also been involved with the company his whole life and in 2002 became a Service Advisor. Dieter-Heinz has since transitioned to Service and Parts Director and aspires to take over the family business when the time arises. Additionally, stemmed from this unique background, Dieter-Heinz, has himself, formed HG Motorsports which specializes in Luxury and Exotic Car Tuning and is active in the racing community as both a driver and instructor.

Heinz Gietz Autohaus specializes in new, certified pre-owned, and extended limited warranty repairs, and is a factory service and maintenance provider.

Our Dealership also offers an inventory selection of pre-owned vehicles and a full service Parts and Accessories Department.