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PreWar Mercedes Benz


alsancle

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  • 1 month later...

Here are some great photos of a Longtail 540K Special Roadster in its final design with the covered spare. Probably built in 1938, the photos were apparently taken in Bucharest, Romania just before WW2. Anybody know the S/N and if the car has survived?

1939_540k_bucuresti.jpg

1939_540k_bucuresti6.jpg

1939_540k_bucuresti7.jpg

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5 hours ago, tilomagnet said:

Here are some great photos of a Longtail 540K Special Roadster in its final design with the covered spare. Probably built in 1938, the photos were apparently taken in Bucharest, Romania just before WW2. Anybody know the S/N and if the car has survived?

1939_540k_bucuresti.jpg

1939_540k_bucuresti6.jpg

1939_540k_bucuresti7.jpg

Is that the ultimate 540k special roadster?   Long tail covered spare?

 

 

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On 4/9/2021 at 7:48 PM, Cadillac Fan said:

 

 

Sold by H&H in 2006 for $414,600.   Attractive car but non Sindelfingen body with RHD is not going to bring lots of money.

 

Btw,  the car is a convertible victoria,  not sure how RM feels they can call it a roadster.  How many seats do we see in the overhead shot?

 

123699-1.jpg

123699-2.jpg

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On 4/8/2021 at 11:25 AM, tilomagnet said:

Here are some great photos of a Longtail 540K Special Roadster in its final design with the covered spare. Probably built in 1938, the photos were apparently taken in Bucharest, Romania just before WW2. Anybody know the S/N and if the car has survived?

1939_540k_bucuresti.jpg

1939_540k_bucuresti6.jpg

1939_540k_bucuresti7.jpg

Not known to survive. Car could be as early as 1936, probably 1937. Photo was 1939 and is my favorite of all 500 K and 540 K photos ever taken. Obviously drawing stares and admiration befitting such a rare (8 made, 3 surviving) car. My colorization attempt:

100 dpi gawkers color sm.jpg

Edited by 540K (see edit history)
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On 4/11/2021 at 2:11 PM, alsancle said:

 

 

Sold by H&H in 2006 for $414,600.   Attractive car but non Sindelfingen body with RHD is not going to bring lots of money.

 

Btw,  the car is a convertible victoria,  not sure how RM feels they can call it a roadster.  How many seats do we see in the overhead shot?

 

123699-1.jpg

123699-2.jpg

I think there are at least 2 500K cars by Windovers which are quite close in styling. One used to be in an Austrian car museum many years ago. Not sure if its the one that is sold. I agree its an attractive body, but obviously most want Sindelfingen body or a "big name" coachbuilder.

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1 minute ago, tilomagnet said:

I think there are at least 2 500K cars by Windovers which are quite close in styling. One used to be in an Austrian car museum many years ago. Not sure if its the one that is sold. I agree its an attractive body, but obviously most want Sindelfingen body or a "big name" coachbuilder.


Yes. The other car is close in appearance but has side mounts.

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35 minutes ago, tilomagnet said:

Wow, this looks fantastic. I like the subtle 2 tone scheme. Where is this car today? I think the FL car museum where it once was decades ago has been defunct.

 

Last sighting was a large private collection in the US.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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  • 3 weeks later...

The hub looks correct. Could just be a new manufacture wheel that wasn't drilled for wheel weights. If you look at Wagner's catalog photo, it's not drilled for weights either. However, unless my eyes are crossing, this has too many spokes. Looks like 84 and should be 70. I think there were 3 different rims for the 500/540 K, but I don't know if any had 84 spokes. Jim might know.

 

I thought once they got too many spokes on it the weights wouldn't fit, but the "front" set of spokes is the correct number (28), so unless the wheel is too small, the weights could be added. Of course, you'd want to have drilled it before plating.

Edited by 540K (see edit history)
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The only thing the seller offered was that "it came off a 540 K."  My car came with wheels that fit on the hubs, but they were only 50-spoke wheels. Never did figure out what those came off of, but even though they fit a 500/540 K, they weren't correct.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi one and all, I have recently finished researching a book on the 1927 - 1933 S - SSK/L types. While I have readily been able to research the British domiciled examples, the US cars have not always been so easy. I am happy to post abridged descriptions of what I have on the US cars and all I ask for is feedback, memories or any other input, critical or not. And if you love it I can always post about the Euro cars too...... I make zero claim to image copyright and where known will try and give, if you know the image owner please correct. 

 

#35203

Engine: ?         Komm: 33677                    Reg: IIIA8557>NR EK 7H

History
Nurburgring opening race ‘27 Caracciola, German GP ‘27 #4 Caracciola DNF, unknown, Kilgore Grant, USA, unknown, Kern family ‘90s, Etienne Veen?

 

image.png.05a3d69756f9dfb5da08cc2eb8f50d26.pngimage.png.15856a4f2024488948a7dbcccc1af86f.png

 

 

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#35205

 

1927 S-Type Sindelfingen Rennwagen

Engine: 50407 Komm: 33679 Reg: IIIA8559

 

1927 German GP winner with Merz at the wheel, possibly also driven at Solitude and Freiburg. Shipped to the USA '27, eventually delivered to Mr. Baldwin, CA in 1928. Then on to Robert Day in the '30s, Pierce Carlson had it in the fifties (who fitted a Buick rear end), Fred Torsen and finally Clinton Bayard Sheldon who fitted it with a Packard rear end. Sheldon kept the car for 20+ years before sale to Ben Paul Moser who intended to keep it but ran out of money and sold it to Fred Simeone in 1975. It remains as one of the star attractions in the Simeone Foundation in PA.

image.png.7c9aa958bf65b0ea3139b66eb5bac76f.pngimage.png.78d85dbb3ef3db8c49ce209f877b71ee.png

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#35213

 

1927 S-Type Sindelfingen Rennwagen>SS-Type Armbruster Tourer

Engine: 60420   Komm: 335548? Reg: IA5196>IA19112>AC4543

History

#35213 was built for Prince Karl of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein as a Rennwagen. Prince Karl raced the car with some success and it was upgraded to SS-Type spec in 1928. It was later sold to Erich Spandel and continued to race until 1931 when sold to Austrian violinist Váša Přihoda. It was soon rebodied by Armbruster and sold to Czechoslovakia where it had several owners before a quick series of sales to the USA and Germany in the 1970s. Finally the car settled in the USA where it was sold to Arturo Keller and restored to perfection.

 image.png.9e1bd346eb752ef7a7a7f7bd873c009a.pngimage.png.18151cd31a555b2f741d532c06a48e69.pngimage.png.e785125ed6165ff55f4eaa5cb1e027a4.png

 

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#35218

 

1927 S-Type Sindelfingen Sportwagen

Engine: 60424   Komm: 34321 Reg: ?

 

Believed delivered to William Sloane of Rochester, New York, a member of the wealthy W&J Sloane family of furniture fame. Its unclear what became of it but Allston Boyer managed to buy the fine S-Type in the post war era. Austin L. Smithers acquired the S-Type in the late 1950s and it ended up with David Tunick in the 1960s who passed it to Henry Petronis. 40 years later Petronis sold the car at Gooding Pebble Beach in 2011 where it fetched $5.04 mil.image.png.a52877a2c22de7027e6c41e8120b288c.pngimage.png.7dea86b29d7f53e33ac6c8af96e7ffdb.png

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#35222

 

1927 S-Type

Engine: 60404   Komm: 917240 Reg: SV6198>6Z7819

History

#35222 was sold to Richard Klinger AG in Berlin, James Barry, a East Hamptons native found it in 1931 andhad it rebuilt by Voll & Ruhrbeck to his personal tastes. It eventually returned to the USA with the Barrys and was gifted to leading cartoonist Charles Addams in 1949. Addams used the car widely including racing it at Watkins Glen in 1948 and Bridgehampton in 1951. Mark Tutti bought the car in 1960 and it disappeared before Robert Day found it in 1968 and soon sold it to John Calley. Phil Hills Hill & Vaughan restored it to its original form in the 1970s before it sold to the Hayashi collection in 1978 and shipped to Japan. It passed then to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone in the 1990s and was almost instantly sold at Brooks Stutgart to a Dutch collector before selling to Switzerland in 2013.

image.png.1598d27b7364f4858709d79ef501b2c6.pngimage.png.3d894b1dd2c71f838fa83bbe6f65fb31.pngimage.png.7126339cef19831e8413ebea536b2cfc.png

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8 hours ago, Timmmy22 said:

#35213

 

1927 S-Type Sindelfingen Rennwagen>SS-Type Armbruster Tourer

Engine: 60420   Komm: 335548? Reg: IA5196>IA19112>AC4543

History

#35213 was built for Prince Karl of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein as a Rennwagen. Prince Karl raced the car with some success and it was upgraded to SS-Type spec in 1928. It was later sold to Erich Spandel and continued to race until 1931 when sold to Austrian violinist Váša Přihoda. It was soon rebodied by Armbruster and sold to Czechoslovakia where it had several owners before a quick series of sales to the USA and Germany in the 1970s. Finally the car settled in the USA where it was sold to Arturo Keller and restored to perfection.

 image.png.9e1bd346eb752ef7a7a7f7bd873c009a.pngimage.png.18151cd31a555b2f741d532c06a48e69.pngimage.png.e785125ed6165ff55f4eaa5cb1e027a4.png

 

 

My favorite car of all time. Thanks for posting.

 

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#35253

 

1928 S-Type DHC>SSK Erdmann & Rossi DHC

Engine: ?  Komm: ? Reg: DA ER 21H

 

History

#35253 was built for Ernst Röchling, a German steel magnate from the Saar region. It soon passed on to a Count who is supposed to have had it rebuilt as a SSK by Mercedes Benz and rebodied by Erdmann & Rossi. The story is that it was taken to the USA as war booty by a GI and stored for decades before it was rediscovered and sold to Hans Maag. Post restoration it was shown at Schloss Dyck in 2013 and then sold via Thomas Hamann to an unknown US owner who showed it at the Las Vegas Concours in 2019. Lots of ifs, buts and maybes.

 

image.png.501516c677e3980b02ba8f8d2a54b5b0.png

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#35311

 

1927 S-Type Gangloff Tourer

Engine: #66512?   Komm: ? Reg: GO2041?

History

#35311 is a very interesting car believed to be a one off Gangloff of Switzerland bodied S-Type famously known to have been delivered to Greece for a member of the Malaxas (alcohol) family. It also appears in Frosticks famous list as being sold through M-B UK to Fishwick and noted as being a 1927 delivery but his list isn't exact so it might have been sold to Fishwick at any point. Either way it was a RHD car in 1950s pictures when it was owned by four different owners and supposedly restored before sale to a RB Loucks in Chicago. It was owned by Owen Owens in the 1970s and won Pebble Beach Best of Show in 1972. A LHD Gangloff car is today owned by the Keller Collection so when and why and if it was converted from RHD to LHD is unknown, does anyone know more?

image.png.8e88d3372b8007750bc2aed3aa0e768a.pngimage.png.a32303a1b0c9da1f551144296fd75e98.png

 

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#35313

 

1928 S-Type Murphy Roadster

Engine: 66513   Komm: 37190 Reg: BC-1147>LZV 633

History

#35313 was a bare S-Type chassis was delivered via Mercedes Benz New York to Albert K Isham in California, USA in 1927. Isham had it bodied by Murphy of Pasadena as you would when you are a wealthy playboy. Isham lived fast and died young, aged just 38 and the car was sold to the Marx brothers, not the communists either, and Zeppo decided to have a race with their manager Phil Berg at Muroc Dry lakes to settle a bet which eventually hit $10,000 or even $25,000. Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Al Jolson, Carole Lombard and Mae West all turned out to watch and two race car drivers were entered in stripped race cars, the Duesenberg winning. The unloved Mercedes was finally sold post war and floated around California used car lots until the 1950s and disappeared until discovery in the 1980s and must have been stored since it was in original if tired nick. Gooding Pebble Beach sold it in 2009 for $3.74 million to John Rich and it was restored to Isham form by DL George. A spectacular S-Type.

 

image.png.9578c358110bcab5287926a556187220.pngimage.png.72d230bebfab1387e4c099e527f6357d.pngimage.png.dc0ec9539d043778464fa9b2a52c4645.png

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#35323

 

1928 S-Type Erdmann & Rossi Sports Tourer

Engine: 66540   Komm: 37831 Reg: AL-41-89>AL-90-64>68 S

History

#35323 was built for an unknown American client and delivered with Erdmann & Rossi Sports Tourer coachwork already fitted. It was later discovered by H. Edward White and sold to Ben Paul Moser and eventually passed to Ed Swearingen in Texas. Later owners in Germany before sale at Bonhams Scottsdale in 2017 for $4.8 million.

 image.png.119f23ff9bc1b1a3ec0f5db92594f346.pngimage.png.d454cbe5650077022f7264b0074b322a.png

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1 hour ago, Timmmy22 said:

#35253

 

1928 S-Type DHC>SSK Erdmann & Rossi DHC

Engine: ?  Komm: ? Reg: DA ER 21H

 

History

#35253 was built for Ernst Röchling, a German steel magnate from the Saar region. It soon passed on to a Count who is supposed to have had it rebuilt as a SSK by Mercedes Benz and rebodied by Erdmann & Rossi. The story is that it was taken to the USA as war booty by a GI and stored for decades before it was rediscovered and sold to Hans Maag. Post restoration it was shown at Schloss Dyck in 2013 and then sold via Thomas Hamann to an unknown US owner who showed it at the Las Vegas Concours in 2019. Lots of ifs, buts and maybes.

 

image.png.501516c677e3980b02ba8f8d2a54b5b0.png

 

Do you know if there are any "as found" pictures of the car, or post WWII photos of it?   I believe it is pictured in the E&R book.

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1 hour ago, alsancle said:

 

Do you know if there are any "as found" pictures of the car, or post WWII photos of it?   I believe it is pictured in the E&R book.

I don't have the book but would love to see a scan. I frankly have some doubts about the story, seems a little contrived but could be true. Far too many S-SSK/L Types were "discovered" by the major German collectors in the 1980s using modern Bauer made chassis frames. Not saying that happened here but worth being aware of.

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#35325

 

1928 S-Type Sindelfingen Sport/4 > Corsica DHC > SSK-Type Rennwagen Rep.

Engine: #78758 > #66533   Komm: #45 Reg: ALB 804 > MG-1 IH

History

#35325 was a standard Sport/4 delivered to a Major Smith in the UK. It was later fitted with a diesel engine, passing through the trade for over a decade and receiving Corsica coachwork. It was sold in this form to Ray Jones and was rebuilt as a SSK before sale to Germany. This SSK-Type was then offered many times in the late 1990s and 2000s but remains in Germany. image.png.2b251d5432f5fd9b9f432510bb6fd2b4.pngimage.png.2da48b849db097c48e84dc2028469288.png

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#35327

 

1928 S-Type Saoutchik Cannes Roadster

Engine: 66541   Komm: 38512 Reg:

 

This was a little known Saoutchik Cannes Roadster delivered to William Durant (1861-1947), of GM fame. Its later believed to have passed via Alvin Storey and L. Hitz before sale at Christies Beaulieu in 1988. Any further information would be gladly accepted.

image.png.e8eaad3b1dc531ffa544c96aca4f7f2f.pngimage.png.aa2b493f9ce7db60b326c856140617e7.png

 

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