Mercedes 540K The Blue Goose

[HistoryBuff]

I was trying to follow the path of the 540K , blue, roadster, made for Reichsmarshall Goring during the war.

I heard it was captured by the 101st Airborne, shown in the US at war bond drives and

sold after the war when someone saw it on a surplus property list. I wonder if I am remembering it right,it sold for between $3000 and $6000>

Also when Dr. Bitgood, the animal doctor, bought it, was the only time he showed it at some local state fair?

What other classic prewar Mercedes did he own? ,

[mike6024]

This pdf link has some details

http://www.literaryclub.org/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/bluegooseii.pdf

 

Only once did Dr. Bitgood display the Goering Special Roadster. The event was in
1973 in Durham, Connecticut for the Durham County Fair. Bitgood had a large banner
made up advertising the famous World War II trophy. For twenty-five cents the people of
Durham could feast their eyes on the Blue Goose

After the Durham Fair, Bitgood contacted the 101st Airborne Division located in Fort
Campbell, Kentucky concerning bringing the Blue Goose to a reunion in 1974. However
the reunion was never realized since Bitgood was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma and
subsequently had his kidney removed. Even during the six weeks of resulting radiation,
Dr. Bitgood continued to work in his clinic. His health returned and he continued to
practice with the help of his wife, who acted as his surgical assistant and bookkeeper for
55 years. She died in April 1993 after suffering from a long illness. Bitgood, now 88 years
of age, was devastated by her death. A few months later he, himself, had additional
surgery, and shortly thereafter passed away.
When Doctor Bitgood’s daughters heard that the 101st Airborne Division was
planning to build a new museum at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, they was eager to fulfill their
father’s dream of a reunion of the Blue Goose being reunited with the remaining veterans
of World War II. After receiving the Blue Goose out of probate, Jim Champion, Executor of
the Bitgood Estate and son-in-law of Dr. Bitgood asked Chris Charlton of Classic Car
Services of Oxford, Maine to prepare the car for the 101st Airborne Reunion at Fort
Campbell, Kentucky in June, 2002. Upon completion of the work, Charlton had the Special
Roadster shipped to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The initial reunion scheduled by Dr. Bitgood
in 1973, but never accomplished, now took place. 

 

Goering indicated that his increasing weight now in excess of 260 pounds was
causing him a problem with his stomach encroaching upon the lower part of the steering
wheel. The tension of the war and the lack of success of the air war in the Battle of Britain
in the autumn of 1940 led to his disfavor with the Fuhrer. To overcome this increased
tension Goering took to an eating orgy. The lack of room for his belly was remedied by
reducing the thickness of the driver's rear seat cushion by four inches.