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Barry, did you see this? Could be the same car. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Black-White-Photo-Movie-Rental-Rare-1920s-30s-Rare-Charles-Bulloch-/111268941976?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e8255098

Yes Bill, it was delivered to a Eugen Muller in 1943. A very very late car. I need to spend time going through the paperwork to get all the right names and dates but it went through a few owners in Europe before it landed in Ohio in the early 50s and then to Mr Rohers in 1956.

Here is a mystery that perhaps someone can help solve. Pictured is a late 540k owned in the 50s and 1960s by Edward Roehrs of Puerto Rico. I have acquired a huge file on the car and know the history back to when it was built but nothing after 1970. It seems to have disappeared. It was a right hand drive with removable hard top. Serial number 286829, engine 189393.

Hi Bill, I remember Hans from the 170-220 forum. I only check in once or twice a year as their focus is primarily small displacement post war cars. You tend to see guys drift in and out of the hobby depending on what is going on in real life. I'm afraid your comments only reinforce my thinking that Jan's work will not be seen for quite some time. DB is in the business of making money selling cars and niche publications probably isn't at the top of their priority list.

The risk is on their part. Have them wire you the funds and you can fedex them the title. Make sure you tell them to put insurance on it as soon as you sigh the title over.

10k is a reasonable offer.

It has a 32 dash. Cool car. Looks like the 116 inch wheel base to me so I say B216. Plus the I226 was a cycle fender I believe.

Is it worse than pump unleaded full of ethanol?

We sold a usable set of 4 (not show at all) for I forget how much, but when the guy showed up to get them, he saw we had a couple like those pictured here. We just threw them into the deal no cost.

In general I don't like replicas/recreations/tributes etc because the history of the car is important to me. I value a 2 owner car more than a 20 owner car. I value a real car with known history more than a real car with unknown history. You will definitely lose money in the long run but if you really want a phaeton it is your car and your money but I would vote no.

Unless you are putting them on a show car or restoring a very nice one you will find it doesn't make sense.

Jan had a big advantage writing that book. The nordic countries seemed to have done a great job of keeping all their registration records. Here is the good old U.S.A. most of those have gone bye bye. My book idea is a lot like many car restoration projects. You hope to finish before you pass on. However, I will say that it seems like a better hobby than restoring another car so there is a chance I will follow through.

My retirement project would be a book detailing the history of the 35 or so MB cars that were sold in the U.S.A between 1936 and 1940. About 50% were supercharged cars. Every buyer had some interesting back story and some were obviously very wealthy. I know every model, many of the serial numbers and most of the buyers. Taking each car from its delivery to where it may be now or when it was lost to time would at least be interesting to me. Some are definitely still around. I'll bet I could give away or sell 100 copies

Unfortunately now that they are in the DB archive they may not see the light of day for quite some time. Publishing has changed quite a bit even in the last 10 years. Now it is much easier and cheaper to do a micro printing. Stan Smith wrote a fantastic book on DuPont that he was able to publish and fulfill himself. He may have only sold a few hundred copies bit it is a fantastic work and I'm sure making money does not factor in for him. If you don't have this book, you need to get it. Craig, you would love it because it gives the history on every serial number.

The king Farouk 540k was sold by one of the German Mercedes dealers in unrestored condition 10 or 12 years ago. I remember seeing pictures of it at the time.

Agreed. Not typical for a wraith chassis either.

Dave, do you still talk to Jan? Craig, I can understand his fears. As the cars have become more valuable the shenanigans have too and the last thing you want to do is get in the middle if some mess. The factory is the same way. I had a casual contact I had corresponded with right up until I asked a specific question about a car I didn't own. Then silence.

nice work. I'm impressed with how fast this is moving.

Some people prefer the "lighter" lines of the 500k but I really like this particular car. Perhaps there is only a single copy? I would have painted it the Blue but the champagne looks surprisingly good on it.

For some reason I have the number 6 stuck in my head for the 540k Tourenwagens? Not sure that they made that many but I'm fairly sure there is more than one. Is the champagne car the blue one RM sold 8/10 years ago? If so, I think they got more than one million pre-restoration.

I'm not a big fan of "touring" body styles in general but this is not a bad looking car. The champagne colored 540k is a different animal all together and would probably achieve 50 to 100 percent more than this car. I spent some time parked next to the owner of the champagne one at a show some years ago and he was a nice guy. Very well done car which was originally Blue.

It is almost a given that when you are looking at a side-mount equipped car, especially one with covers, the tires on the road are bigger (some times much so) than what is in the side-mount.

Well done!

Cool! Good luck and keep us posted. I asked one of the active club guys with a Royale to contact you. He should be able to help.