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PreWar Mercedes Benz


alsancle

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  • 1 month later...

Cutaway drawing of a 500k engine.  The 540k is identical but for the swapped manifolds, right mounted fuel pump and different air cleaner.

 

I think this was original published in period by Autocar or similar.  This is from the March 1971 edition of The Classic Car.

500K-Engine-Cut-Away.jpg

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Alsancle knows a heck of a lot more than I do about 290's and 320's. Looks like there may be an original engine buried under a bunch of nonoriginal components; can't see enough detail of the radiator; top and wheels are definitely wrong. I really don't see mucn on the exterior that looks good. Didn't the 2 and 3 series cars only have 3 major gauges (not 7)? Did DBAG really cut holes in a frame like that other than the SSKL's? I thought most of those cars had suicide doors. Looks like a hatchet job to me - almost like a kit.

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  • 2 weeks later...
23 hours ago, alsancle said:

I probably already said this, but there was a 770K Offener Tourenwagen in a garage on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester Mass around 1960 that was for sale.    

According to this book I'm reading, it appears to have been the Mannerheim car that was part of the Waterman collection, going by the timeline of it's history.

 

Craig

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From the photo section of the book, a photo with the closest date from when you would have seen it:

39099082721_807695d88e_k.jpg

 

As it sits in a private collection today.  According to the book, it won First Place in the Prewar Mercedes Benz class at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours.

 

38389114524_44b048ff94_k.jpg

 

Craig

 

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On 11/25/2017 at 9:00 PM, hansvdc said:

Original or replica?

 

8-34-400x400.jpg

9-35-400x400.jpg

 

The engine is from W18(290) or w142(320), intake and exhaust completely new, and too much free space till radiator. front rocker arms looks like w18/w142, but frame is more like Swiss cheese ... very-very light, usually frames was more like truck-type heavy.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Dad.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Said to be one of 5 surviving 770K OT's. One of 4 of Hitler's main cars. A pair of his socks sold for $20,000. There will be at least two people who really want it and can afford it. Is there a more infamous car in history (Kennedy's motorcade car)? If being sold by RM, Gooding or Bonham's in Monterey, I'd say the car goes for $7-10 million, but I'm not sure Worldwide in Arizona will see max dollars.

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Not that attractive and the Nazi memorabilia thing is not hot market these days.   I'm probably light on my estimate but there are very few attractive 770K bodied cars.  This one is not ugly, but not stunner either.  General Lyon's Cab B would be interesting to see come to auction

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On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 7:09 PM, alsancle said:

 I'm probably light on my estimate but there are very few attractive 770K bodied cars.  This one is not ugly, but not stunner either. 

770K OT were never designed to be 'elegant'.  They were designed and overbuilt to be authoritarian in a sinister kind of way.

 

Craig

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We are up to 65 pages and I can't remember what I've already posted.  So here is a picture of a late 540K Special Roadster that my Uncle Ted bought from Ed Jurist.  He kept the car for only 6-9 months before trading it back to Ed for a Duesenberg.  The price in the mid 60s was around 6500.00.  The attached picture is from about 10 years after Ted owned the car.

189424-SP3-5.jpg

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6500.00 Was just about two decent optioned new Mustangs. If you take the value of the car today, how many new mustangs could you buy? Something like 90 or 100?

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10 hours ago, alsancle said:

MSRP for a mustang starts at 25k.   That 540k is a 3.5 to 4 million dollar car.  

 

So from the low side that would be 160 new Mustangs..........

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20 minutes ago, edinmass said:

 

So from the low side that would be 160 new Mustangs..........

And who would want to pay for covered storage space for them?  The cost of warehouse space here, you'd lose your 'investment' in the first year!!

 

Craig

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Henry,

 

Are you sure? They allude to a history going back to the 60s.

 

This 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320, chassis number 191150, is a beautiful example of the celebrated W142 line, featuring a robust 3.2-litre powerplant and a sporting, yet dignified, two-door Cabriolet body with two front seats, an occasional third seat at the rear, and twin spare wheel-and-tire assemblies, stacked and neatly mounted atop the rear decklid. Stylish and imposing, the 320 and particularly its Cabriolet variants had few peers on either side of the Atlantic as one of the finest open touring cars of the immediate prewar era, affording their fortunate owners premium style and specifications with excellent value. Finished in excellent colors, this handsome 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320’s earliest history remains unknown, due to the devastation suffered by the company’s Mannheim works during wartime. According to prior published accounts, the Mercedes is understood to have been confiscated during or after WW II, presumably for military purposes. By the 1960s, it was with a private owner in the United States, and it is believed he eventually sold the vehicle to a European businessman during the mid-1980s. In 2007, it was returned to its native Germany and then given a high-quality, frame-off restoration by Mercedes-Benz specialist with particular attention paid the chassis, body, and underlying wood framing. Accents include striking restored brightwork and new grey leather upholstery, fitted to the highest standards. In addition, the engine was refurbished, as was the electrical system, which was completely restored including new cables and connectors. The interior compartment is simply a visual delight, featuring a Philips European-band radio, restored VDO instruments, a beautiful mother-of-pearl inlaid instrument panel, highly polished dashboard wood, and restored door caps. An East Coast collector specializing in fine European cars acquired the car in 2014 and subsequently showed it on the concours lawn at Amelia Island and Pinehurst. Offered in wonderful condition, this 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet restored example of one of the best prewar open cars from Mercedes-Benz.
 

MB-320-191150.jpg

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Absolutely sure, Same BS story they gave last auction write up. Well I suppose that the story may have fit this chassis, but there is no evidence that it was built as a Cab A. This is the car I first saw at the Amelia show. Even Bonhams put a weakly worded disclaimer on at for their Amelia auction 2016, after I gave them my input on it. This car was in another auction this year, can't remember which one.

 

 

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The first really easy tip off is the fender beading. If it looks flat and wide, it's because they made it out of a separate strip of metal on the replicas. On the factory bodies, the bead is narrower and has more crown. It was rolled in. The next tip is the false molding across the top of the door. The height of this changes too much as it gets to the rear of the door such that it appears close to the top of the hinge. On an original, their is more room between the molding and the hinge. Also this door top was constructed out of separate pieces of sheet, and like the fender bead, is too flat. There are other things like the shape of the rear deck, the contours are oversimplified.

31586.jpg

Edited by Henry Magno (see edit history)
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On 12/29/2017 at 7:36 PM, 540K said:

Said to be one of 5 surviving 770K OT's. One of 4 of Hitler's main cars. A pair of his socks sold for $20,000. There will be at least two people who really want it and can afford it. Is there a more infamous car in history (Kennedy's motorcade car)? If being sold by RM, Gooding or Bonham's in Monterey, I'd say the car goes for $7-10 million, but I'm not sure Worldwide in Arizona will see max dollars.

:D Post-auction news reports are that the high bid was in fact $7M, but wasn't enough for the seller.

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