540K

The Cab A won first in class and best of show at Arizona Concours yesterday, but they took away the latter because it's being auctioned next weekend. What a bunch of crap. Cars are bought and sold every day. Why would they deny the owner, who spent gobs and took the added risk of showing it one last time, the full enjoyment of his car before it goes to someone else? I can understand they don't like being an unwitting "advertiser" but the Saoutchik 540k won Pebble and was auctioned the next year.

Three cars coming up for auction in the next few weeks. A sports Cab A at RM in Scottsdale next weekend, a 380 Cab A and a 540K rebodied special roadster at Artcurial in Paris next month. The latter is estimated at $2.5-3.5M, but I'll be surprised if it brings a bid over $1.5M. That would be 50% more than the highest auction sale of a rebodied roadster. Looking at the photos of the Franz Prahl-rebodied Special Roadster, I see some things that are not correct. Some of the interior trim looks too heavy. No Willy Vogel lubrication pump on the left side of the firewall, so probably no central lube system at all. The distributor cap is wrong. There should be two hood handles on each side, not one. The hood hinge looks too big or sticks up too high - could be optical illusion. There is supposed to be only one tail pipe on these cars, not two. There is no slide-out writing surface under the passenger side glove box. Beautiful car, and looks straight as an arrow, but not the best Special Roadster recreation. The most recent rebodied special roadster auction sale I know of was 2006 and $836K. I predict the errors in this car will keep the bids under $1.5M and unsold, but I do not have a good track record predicting auctions - I've been low almost every time.

Yes. That seems to be the trend these days - pay $1.5M to $2M for an older restoration, re-restore it and sell it 2 years later for $3-4M. For example the Cab A in a couple of weeks in Scottsdale. They're really flipping these cars fast.

The Sports Cab A that was 3rd in class at Pebble is to be auctioned by RM in Scottsdale next month.

That auction was last month. The car did not sell.

I know of about ten 500K / 540K's for sale right now, ranging from $3.5M to $12M except for one Cab A undergoing restoration at $2.5M unfinished, and two rebodied cars at $1.6 - $1.8M. Anyone know of any original cars, any body style, currently available for under $2M, or any coming up for auction?

Looks like a complete car. What are you looking for?

Thanks for posting the photo!

The Streamliner was a sight to behold, regardless whether you think it is "elegant" or attractive (it isn't). The curved side windows are a nice detail, and I was surprised to see how wide the door sills are. They used a basic cabin and merely extended the floor out to include the space that would otherwise be running boards, so there is a lot of space between the seat and the edge of the car. Interesting that they also merely extended the hood to include what would have been external exhaust pipes (with covers). So it seems they took a normal chassis and cabin and enlarged the body to streamline it. Very interesting to see going down the road - it is really big - kind of like taking a big car and putting another body around it. Right next to it was the 540K Special Coupe - imo the most beautiful large coupe ever made. The T-L teardrop and Bugatti T50 are sublime small coupes, but they do not exude the presence that the large 540K coupe has. I just sat and stared at it for quite a while. There were three supercharged cars for sale, two at RM and one at Rick Cole. The Cab A at Rick Cole has sold three previous times since 2008 for $2M, $3M and $3M, but this fourth time bidding reached $2.95M ($3.25M with premium) but did not meet reserve. The 500K Mayfair Tourer at RM sold for $825,000. The Special Cabriolet with waterfall grill as reported above was $1.54M. Russo & Steel had the Special Roadster replica for sale. The high bid was $450,000 and did not sell. I have known about this car for a couple of years, but this was the first time I saw it in person. It looks great in wide photos and from about 75 feet, but there are quite a few things that aren't correct. Still, a very nice replica at the right price. As discussed in previous posts, I think this is a $150-200K replica, but I am told it first sold for $400K a couple of years ago, and the asking price has been a million. Shows what I know -- it has sold once and brought a bid of more than twice what I think it's worth.

Not without significant alteration.

Actually, with the commission, $1.54M. At first it looked like it was going to sell for under $900K, but finally the bidding kicked in. I wasnt there last night for the Tourer. Last time I looked bidding on the Cab A was at $3.2M with reserve not met. Will check later after auction ends but I dont know if they will leave the high bid posted. Best M-B imo at Pebble were a Cab A and a stunning 770 owned by General Lyons. I understand he gets quite rankled when he doesnt win. The car was done by Randy Ema who was there showing it for the old man. I didnt stay for the awards. Some great Fernandez and Darrin cars. Awesome display of Ferrari race cars, even for someone like me who doesnt know squat about racing.

I saw the streamliner on the road today in Carmel. Pics when I get home next week. Ferrari GTO went for $38M about 2 hrs ago.

Mercedes-Benz will bring the fully restored 1938 540K Streamliner to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Alongside the 540K will be the surviving trio of 1914 Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix cars. That will be fun to see.

Thanks for posting the photos, Roadster36

I did not say anything about 0.001 mm tolerance. I said they were way off from a photo of the front end. To be that obvious in a photo taken 10 feet away from the car we aren't talking about 0.001mm. They are off the better part of a half inch. And you missed my point that this fabricator is taking all the time he needs to hand build a better body than Sindelfingen could afford to take. Hand built when the company is paying you is one thing; hand built when the client is paying is different.

no longer for sale

My body fabricator showed me a photo of the front end of the Nazi Spezial-Roadster. It was clear that the fender valances were way off - the right side was wider than the left side. His comment was essentially that the original cars were not nearly as perfect as his work. Of course, he has almost unlimited time to perfect one car at a time (and someone is on the hook to pay for it). He also showed me photos of award-winning restored cars and pointed out various panels that were slightly off - too high, or an edge was sharp and should have been doubled under. He has spent 30 years with these cars, with plenty of access to original cars. I'd like to think each body he builds is more perfect than the previous one, but I have a feeling they've all been perfect from the word go. He says his age is such that this is the last one he will build because it is too time-consuming. He will focus on short-term projects.

Goring's car now advertised on YouTube http://youtu.be/67D6APVfKGA I guess they aren't consigning it to a major auction because they're still restoring it. The time to buy it would be now and turn it over to a restorer more familiar with these cars. No pre-war supercharged Mercedes at the Concours of America last week. Very surprising. During a 3557-mile journey stopping at five auto museums, three classic dealers and one concours, the only ones I saw were the two at Kemp Museum in St Louis and mine. The Spezial-Roadster at Kemp has a very similar background as mine - both started as Cab B's. The Kemp car was beautiful, but the closer I looked the more I saw that wasn't quite correct. The assistant curator was extremely nice, and admitted that a few things on the car were done to Kemp's taste rather than as original. Wow - I wish I had been at the German show Roadster36 attended!

If 2-tone, lose the bonnet strap and the Saoutchik slant?

Good point. The "low door" roadster that the German gov't confiscated after the 2011 sale was $3.8M, and it was a much better looking car, imo. The other two cars both doubled their previous sales in 2003 (Mulliner) and 2007 (Cab A). An interesting note that I don't recall the auction catalog playing up -- I believe the roadster (105136) is the earliest surviving 500K, other than a "pre-series" Tourenwagen noted in Melin's book.

Agreed, yet that's what I thought about the price the current seller paid 3 years ago.

Bonham's Stuttgart auction is going on now. The 1934 500K with factory upgraded 540K engine Special Roadster for charity went for only $4.221M despite a pre-auction estimate up to almost $8M. Can't really call it a bargain, but well short of expectations, especially for a charity car. The 1935 500K Cabriolet by Mulliner went for $983K. Sure, right-hand drive, and non-Sindelfingen body, but seems well-bought to me. It just met the low end of the pre-auction estimate. The 1936 540K Cab A sold for about $3.08M.

Regarding the silver replica that Steve posted about, as I said above, it's a gorgeous car and a ton of work went into it. It was built by a very nice man who took a lot of care to do it right, and spent a lot of money on correct lights etc. A true labor of love. If you want an original, I believe the average inflation-adjusted price of the last 11 Special Roadsters at public auction is about $5M. There have been two Cabriolets rebodied as Special Roadsters that sold for right around $1M each, but those were in 2005-06. I have seen some excellent custom coachwork replicas of Talbot-Lago teardrop coupes, Delahayes and Bugattis, but I don't recall even the best of those selling for more than $200-250K. As beautiful as the silver replica is, am I crazy to think the price ought to be around $200-250K since it is a modern car fitted with a replica fiberglass body? I've already been very wrong the first time this car sold -- my understanding is that the current seller paid a lot more than that, but nowhere near $1M. I hope he gets the $1M.

I have confirmed it is one of the two built in Massachusetts, this one completed and sold about 2011. It has a Ford suspension and 450SL engine. The second one the builder put a 560 engine in, and it's nearing completion. There may be a few original parts - trim pieces here and there, steering wheel. For such a tall asking price, you'd think the seller would have given a lot more information and posted much better photos. And he shouldn't have posted photos of a museum car to advertise his replica. My understanding is that $1M would give him a whopping profit for a car with few, and relatively insignificant, original parts, but I believe the second car by this builder is also going to be priced at $1M. I have some other photos of the car and I think either the fender valances, front axle placement, wheels or tires are off -- something just doesn't look 100% in that area. It looks to me like the front valance covers too much of the tire, but I could be wrong. Beautiful car, though. For the right money, I would love to have it to drive in rallys and all over the country. I've not seen any better fiberglass replicas from scratch with modern chassis and powertrain. Much better than any of the mass-produced cars or the Sbarro cars from the 80's.

500/540K's will be my focus, and there will be at least three in the auctions - two at RM and one at Cole - and probably three or four at Pebble. I'm sure there may be some other M-B's that will catch my eye, maybe SS or SSK. The man restoring my car will be there with a Cab A belonging to his best client, fresh from restoration completed last month.