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One of my all time favorite cars. A 540k Roadster with coachwork by Erdmann & Rossi. Car was the subject of a feature in Automobile Quarterly in the late 60s when it was owned in New England. I remember as a kid reading this article and loving the car. Reportedly back in Germany. This picture was taken at Hershey in 1962

Here are two Windovers bodied 500ks. Pictured first in London in 1955 has a more square boot area while the one in the recent picture has a more rounded boot. You can go here for a discussion on these cars.

You need to provide pictures of each vehicle as well as their serial numbers. There can be a wide variation in prices depending on condition, model, and what is missing. 3 rough westchesters missing a bunch of parts may be worth 10k for the lot. Now, if the 812 is blown and one of them is a arm chair Beverly and they are all very complete, well the price could 100k.

Here are some pictures of the first version of 500k Special Roadster. These pictures were found in a trash bin and posted on the Hamb. They were taken before WWII.

On page 191 in the caption for a picture of a side mount spare Cab "A" he calls it a "Cabriolet A - second version".

The car is pictured on page 80 of Volume I. Melin says "540K Spezial Roadster in 1937. A rare car. There are additional fuel tanks mounted on the running-boards. The spare tyres have metal covers Special trunk grids made it possible to load a lot of luggage."

Although MB called them "roadsters" they all had roll up windows. There are only a very few sindelfingen bodies that did not have roll up windows. It got cold in the alps!

Here is a very very nice 1927 Mercedes Benz 680 S Sports tourer for sale one forum down.

I'll concede I probably made up the first series vs second series nomenclature as I can't remember where it came from. However, I don't know that I've ever seen a sidemount spare Cab A listed as a 36. I have seen a few as 37. Conversely, I've mostly seen the rear-spare Cab A listed as 36 and a few as 37. I've always assumed that MB transitioned from one style to the other, much the same way they did with the 3 distinct special roadster styles. I can't say that I know that for a fact, however. Back about 5 or 6 years ago there was a 39 Cab B with the 5 speed for sale here in the U.S. I never got a chance to go see it and it went off to Germany. I don't know if there were ever any published road tests of the 5 speed cars as they were introduced so late. It would be interesting comparing the drive-ability and performance with the 4 speed.

No. Melin gives no serial number. I believe he states in one of the volumes that he won't reveal s/n for any prewar car to prevent shenanigans. When I get to the office tomorrow I will see if he is says anything about this particular car. Perhaps it is still hiding.

The only pictures I have ever seen of this car are the factory photos. They can also be found in volume I of Melin. Does the license plate indicate India? The right hand drive would.

Thanks! Perhaps the photo was taken a couple of years later then I thought.

I'm not sure where I picked up the first series vs. second series nomenclature from. A quick look at Jan Melin and I see he is using the term early vs. late. However, The first 30 or so 540K Cab "A" were significantly different then the next 50. There were only a couple of the very late short chassis cars built so those are in a class of their own. The early cars had 2 significant differences vs. the late: 1. Setback chassis arrangement with radiator, engine, etc pushed 5 inches back in the chassis (similar to Special Roadsters & 500k Cab A) 2. Rear Mounted Spares Additionally, the rear section of the body well as the fenders (mudguards) are very different. To my knowledge there was never a late Cab A with rear mounted spares. I know of a single car, perhaps two that had a single spare hidden in the trunk with none in the fenders. The 5 speed transmission found it's way into a handful of chassis in 1939. I've seen a Cab A, as well as a couple of Cab B's with this transmission. I think all the short chassis cars at the end got that transmission also. Finally, at last check, there is about a 25% or more premium paid for the early cars.

Any idea what the 2 cars are? Picture was taken circa 1929/30 in Yonkers NY.

I assumed that perhaps his son had the same name as the contact up until 5 or 6 years ago was Rudy Creteur. I was thinking that or he was a very spry 90 something year old. Btw, I can't think of a Rollston body that I don't like. There are some later high hat Rollson ones that are not my cup of tea but in general I like them all.

For me personally, if the car could optionally come with white walls, then I would not use them. Did the 356 Porsche only come with whitewalls or was it an option? The 810 Cord and the Caribbean only came one way.

Jason, there were actually a surprising number of English bodies put on Mercedes chassis in the late 20s and 30s. In most cases the English bodies did not seem to fit quite as well as the Sindelfingen ones but some were quite stylish. The one you posted looks very nice indeed.

Is Rudy Creteur still around? I know up until a few years ago you could email him. I believe in the case of the Rollson 2 door "sedan" we pictured a few pages back he provided all the original drawings.

Totally a matter of personal taste, of course. For me, if the car left the factory with only white walls, for example, 810/812 Cords, or Packard Caribbean then I would put them on. Everything else, no.

Yes indeed! However, I'm on a life long mission to upgrade myself to a Cab "A". Like I said before, I really like the car in question but if I was a buyer I would probably like to know a bit more about the car's history.

I guess I should be paying more attention. This car was sold by RM at Arizona back in January for $220,000. Here is a link to the catalog description. They provide a history back to the 1980s: In the 1980s, this car is known to have been part of the collection of the late Sam Vaughan. Following his death, the next owner acquired it from the estate sale. Under their ownership, the Packard was carefully maintained, and it was reported to have performed flawlessly, requiring nothing more than routine maintenance. Since acquisition by the late John M. O'Quinn in 2006, the Packard has benefited from proper storage, and it has seen limited use.

The Lancefield Coupe, with fabric replaced with Aluminum by A.K. Miller is now sporting chrome wires. Here is a picture from Amelia.

Amazing what a little rubbing compound can do.

My mistake. Chris is the person who explained the funky fuel pump between the seats to me. I was under the impression that the car was owned by Chris's former employer.

Maybe Dave knows what it is. I do know this particular car has a number of unique features. The glass is bullet proof and you can see how it makes the front windshield unique (and not as attractive). Between the seats is a manual pump mechanism that was originally found on an aircraft. Those of you familar with these cars know that the fuel system is overly complex and prone to being a pain in the *ss. These days they almost all have electric pumps mounted. Goring had the manual pump installed to start the car in cold weather. This car has not been restored and belongs to a very well known collector in Maine.