540K

Walt, I sent an email to Greg last week, but did not get a response. Maybe you have a different contact email or number? Thanks

Walt, thank you very much for this tip. I will try to find contact info for Greg and see if he can help. Craig

I am looking for photos from the 1995 New York International Auto Show at Javits Center, specifically of a Talbo replica of a Talbot-Lago T150 teardrop coupe that was on Elliot Cukor's Cooper Classics stand on level one. I would appreciate any assistance finding such a photo(s). Craig

The coupe (not sedan) has always been the car I would prefer over any of the Cabs or roadsters.

I can see liking the Cab A over the Special Roadster with the tops up. Put the tops down, give me the one that disappears.

I also was parked next to it at a show. I believe it was the inaugural Las Vegas show in 2019. Seems to be a buyer's market for these cars. Will be interesting to see what the Special Roadster does in Phoenix, and the Cab A in Miami.

Do you have a photo of what it looks like now (the Cab A or whatever is on the original chassis), or at least in 2000? Thanks

Thanks for the Chicago vernacular lessons! Please tell us who Jimmy was, for those who do not know.

The better approach, yes, but not the most satisfying. Was happy to see a Special Roadster get BoS, but sad to see the Cab A take a million dollar hit over it's previous sale in 2013. The Mayfair roadster failed to sell AGAIN. What is that, 4 or 5 times it has been passed? The well-informed know it burned to the ground years ago, even though Mecum conveniently overlooked that part of its history, referring to it simply as a "complete refurbishment." Reminds me of Monty Python's Black Knight, "'Tis but a scratch."

The "overblown, fat, heavy and vulgar" Mercedes-Benz 540 K just won the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. And it won in competition over a number of Porsche-engineered older, boxier Mercedes. I appreciate the Cadillacs of the forties (in grade school I wrote a report about the early technological advances of Cadillac), but I do not recall them being on a short list of the best automotive designs of all time. You dare to use Stein's "vulgarly curvilinear" quip while referring to 1941-47 Cadillacs? Do you know what the Cadillacs of the forties looked like? If I did not know that the late Mr. Stein started out as a cartoon and comedy writer, I might say he had a basic misunderstanding of who these cars were meant for and the objectives of Daimler Benz with the 500 K and 540 K. Knowing Stein's background, however, I see he was just trying to be funny, a point that may have been lost on Su8overdrive. In this "most-posted thread," I don't recall anyone arguing that the 500 K or 540 K was intended to be a track car that could beat an Invicta weighing half as much. (I'll take Mercedes' race history over Cadillac's.) Two very different cars intended to reach very different goals and customers. Stein's comparison, if meant for any reason other than being funny, would be without merit, and would be similar to comparing a Corvette to a Rolls Royce Ghost today. What is the point of saying the Corvette is faster or more widely owned than a Rolls? Does that make the Ghost "overblown?" Certainly not. Does the volume of books written about Corvettes make them "overblown?" Certainly not. Overblown means assigned more importance than warranted, not that something fails to lead in every measurable category. This thread is not in competition with any other thread for the most posts. Is not my intention to criticize Cadillacs, and I would not post on the Cadillac thread that they are "overblown" and unworthy of appreciation. You seem to argue that more widely owned should necessarily mean more historically significant and more interesting to talk about, but apparently that has been disproven with this forum's members. I shouldn't respond to pot-stirrers, but as comedian Ron White says, "I had the right to remain silent, but not the ability."

Same photo. Someone adjusted brightness, but it's the same resolution. Thanks for posting, though.

Any chance that second photo exists in higher resolution? Thanks

There is still a similar Saoutchik Mercedes. I've seen it a couple of times.

On 25 May 2023, the world lost one of the great car guys when pre-war Mercedes-Benz specialist Jim Friswold passed away. Jim was internationally known as THE Mercedes pre-war parts guy in the United States. When contacting shops like the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center and Paul Russell & Co. looking for parts for my car, I was usually told, "Call Jim Friswold. If he doesn't have it, I don't know who would." Jim specialized in restoring the magnificent Mercedes-Benz 500 K, 540 K and 770 K supercharged automobiles of the 1930's. He restored twenty-five or more of those cars to the highest standard. The cars he restored were graced with many awards, including first in class at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance several times, CCCA 100 pt cars, and Best of Show in numerous shows. Do an internet search on his name and Mercedes, and you will find many references to Jim as a restoration specialist on some of the finest cars at auction over the past several decades. As it turns out, fine-tuning my car was the last project Jim finished, just a month ago. In 2012, I started with nothing but a damaged 500 K chassis, wreckage left from WWII. Over the course of the next seven years, Jim oversaw the restoration of the car including factory-correct coachwork by Cass Nawrocki, interior by Ken Dickman and work by other specialists. But the bulk of the sourcing and restoration of parts, the assembly and testing was performed by Jim with able assistance from his friend and engineer Nick Peters and Jim's nephew Kevin. The restoration was essentially finished in late 2018, and the car won Best of Show in four out of eleven shows in 2019, plus a People's Choice Award and other awards. Earlier this year, Jim also got the supercharger working properly for perhaps the first time in 80 years. We had delayed finishing work on the blower because the car was drivable without it, and we were both anxious to get the car out of his shop! Four years later, as I contemplate the sale of the car, it was important to finally get the blower working, and Jim graciously took the beast back into his shop and repaired it. Over the past eleven years, I spent quite a bit of time at Jim's home and shop. He had been a chef at a country club before turning his attention to car restoration, and I enjoyed his cooking on several occasions. He was an early riser and straight into the shop, later breaking for breakfast and lunch. Jim wisely identified my restoration skills as disassembly and polishing screw heads! He was very diligent over the seven years he restored my car, but he said it was the most difficult restoration he ever did. After several frustrating years of work, Jim said he thought about burying the car in his front yard. But he persevered and turned wreckage into one of the most beautiful Special Roadsters in the world. Many of the finest 500 K and 540 K cars reflect Jim's passion and dedication to his craft. Photos of his cars pepper Jan Melin's seminal book and many of the major auction catalogs. Jim Friswold will be remembered in the classic car world as a critical supplier of parts, a premier restorer of award-winning automobiles and a fine person. Craig Hopkins. 26 May 2023 Below: the original 500 K chassis, and after Jim Friswold & team's restoration. Jim Friswold (right) and his good friend and Pebble Beach judge Siegfried Linke. All photos (c) Craig Hopkins.

Mark Smith's unrestored tourenwagen is coming up for sale. Not many unrestored 500/540 K's left.

I don't recall seeing an unflattering photo of a Streamliner, but if there is one, that's it.

One of two prewar Mercedes to sell for $2.5M+ last year, both among the top 5 sales on Bring a Trailer in 2022

Yeah, yeah, Hermann Ahrens. He gets all the credit, but it was Friedrich Geiger who designed everything from the 500/540 K Special Roadster, 300 SL, pagoda SL, R107 SL, to the sedans that were contemporaneous. No designer is more responsible for Mercedes style than Geiger.

I think it has always been difficult to get cars out. Probably even more so now. If someone is worried enough to leave, they are likely traveling light.

Lawd-a-mercy! Another huge loss, this time 40%. "Please sir, short back and sides, and half a million off the top."

Yes, this car brought $1.3M ten years ago. I predict bids will stop under 7 figures this time. Four of the last five Cab B's went unsold at auction, this very car being withdrawn from Bonham's two years ago. Perhaps that is when it was sent to Wagner for refurb. Interestingly, it appears the spare tires are the correct size, which gives a very disconcerting visual. Perhaps he wanted the four on the ground to give a smoother ride with wider sidewalls. When I bought my tires, no one in the US stocked them, and it was less expensive to just order them direct from overseas. Whatever the reason for the jumbo tires, a bad decision.

Wow. Same car sold by same auction house seven years ago for $1,485,000. With inflation, that's a 70% drop! Even without inflation, that's a huge 62% loss. I saw this car when it was in the Kemp museum. I thought it looked nice, but no idea what mechanical condition it was in. This sale on the heels of a rebodied roadster setting what I believe is a record for a rebodied supercharged Mercedes 8 cyl, and it wasn't even a covered-spare body. I like the wheels. Sets it apart from others.

I only have an extra of Volume 1 of Melin. I have a set that stays on my desk for reference, and an autographed set that are the pride and joy of my automotive library.

There is another volume of the Melin work, but it tends to be more expensive. Got to have both. I might have an extra of each.

I agree, if the body is still existing. Mine did not survive the war, and did not have a body at all for about 40 years. I was in the same position as the original buyer of the chassis with a choice of body styles. I would not have changed a survivor, though it was commonplace in period.