Search the Community

Dear Montblanc lovers, I do realise that the Carrera/ Caressa range is not everyone's cup of tea. However, I absolutely love these pens. I fell in love with the Carrera line (not that I could afford to buy one, being double the price of the equivalent Pelikano), long before I became aware of the Montblanc brand. It was probably the clever marketing and the (frankly a little silly) tyre stand that got me into these, when I was a school boy in Germany. At school, I wrote with a Pelikan (at first a Pelikano 4 and then a Pelikano 5) and I did not acquire my first Montblanc Carrera until a couple of years ago. The only 'Montblanc' in my collection prior to that was a Monte Rosa, that was not even branded Montblanc. I use one of the Montblanc Carrera fountain pens as a daily writer. Whilst most people do not notice me writing with a Parker, Lamy 2000 or Pelikano (all of which I have as daily writers), they do notice the Montblanc Carrera. Unfortunately, I think that has more to do with the logo (and I am not a fan of displaying 'prestigious' logos), than it has to do with the rich yellow/ orange colour, that just screams '1970s' to me. If anyone has pictures of the 1970s advertisements for these pens, I'd love to see these posted here. For those, who are interested, I have attached a couple of pics of my collections, which is modest by the standards of others shown in this forum. If your sole interest in Montblanc pens is the 149 or 146, please look away now! I made the box in wood inlay with removable trays. The three stripes are similar to those that appeared on Carrera boxes. The second shot is of the open box, showing the two removable trays of Carrera pens. Don't all those clips with six holes each look wonderful? They do to me. Below the trays are the original boxes. I have two Montblanc Carrera Sets plus a Montblanc Caressa (VW promotional sets). I can't say enough how much they appeal to me. Also in the shot is my one and only Monte Rosa. Finally, there has to be a shot of a Carrera pen with the tyre stand. I do realise now that as a kid I was a little shallow when I fell for the marketing and the tyre stand. The tyre stand is of little practical use. It has been designed to work with Pelikano 3 and 4 pens (which were made at the same time as the Montblanc Carrera/ Caressa range.