***1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K "Spezial Roadster"

[cawimmer430]

You're looking at one of the rarest of the rare Mercedes-Benz ever made - and a personal favorite of mine. The 540K Spezial Roadster pictures here is a masterpiece of 1930s German engineering. Although there were many 500K and 540K variants, the car you see below is a "Special Roadster" version. Built precisely 447 times since 1936 until 1939. Out of these 447, 25 were "Spezial Roadsters" Cabriolet B, like the one below - 7 of which are known to survive today! All of them were coach built by hand. Most of them perished in Germany during the Second World War sadly. Many Nazi officials owned them. Hermann Goering, chief of the Luftwaffe, was known to have had one as is known.

Under the hood is a 5.4-l straight-8 engine with a Kompressor (the "K" after "540"), which kicked in automatically when the accelerator was depressed at higher speeds. This was to ensure safe overtaking. The British magazine "Mercedes Enthusiast", which I subscribe to had a big long review on these babies, hence I know a thing or two about them. I believe top speed was well over 170 km/h (106 mph) - amazing for a car back then! I believe horsepower was 180-hp - a lot back then!

What makes this car so special is that it is in RHD! These cars were predominantly built for LHD markets, and not to many people in Britain bought Mercedes' cars back in the 1930s. This could be the only RHD 540K Cabriolet B ever made for all I know! If it is, you're looking at an extremely rare - and PRICELESS car!


Link: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures...l?id=2107332160


If you've been to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, you can see a similar 540K in red on display: the former car of EVITA PERON.  











 

[omicron]

What a beautiful car.  

[JYODER240]

B)  

[Colonel Cadillac]

Wow!!

[CWW]

Hard to top. Perhaps the most beautiful car ever build.

Just finished this, which is a bit blasphemic...

>> Mercedes 550K <<

PS:  Du hast da die kurze Version aufgenommen. Sensationell! Hast Du die Bilder in voller Aufl?sung?

[Raza]

Hard to top. Perhaps the most beautiful car ever build.

Just finished this, which is a bit blasphemic...

>> Mercedes 550K <<

PS:  Du hast da die kurze Version aufgenommen. Sensationell! Hast Du die Bilder in voller Aufl?sung?

It's like a German Morgan.  Brilliant!

[BMWDave]

That car is absolutely gorgeous!  Nice find! B)

[CSNY225]

I can't stop drooling!  

[JYODER240]

Why do they have it outside in the rain :blink:  

[BMWDave]

Why do they have it outside in the rain :blink:

The car isnt going to melt  :wave:  

[mazda6er]

Why do they have it outside in the rain :blink:

The car isnt going to melt  :wave:

Imagine the terror if Jordan saw them *gasp* washing it! :o

[JYODER240]

Why do they have it outside in the rain :blink:

The car isnt going to melt  :wave:

Imagine the terror if Jordan saw them *gasp* washing it! :o

Don't you have a pole to hit?      

[mazda6er]

Why do they have it outside in the rain :blink:

The car isnt going to melt  :wave:

Imagine the terror if Jordan saw them *gasp* washing it! :o

Don't you have a pole to hit?    

I'm way ahead of you my friend.      

[saxonyron]

Stunning find, Christian!  That interior is amazing.  (Note center instrument cluster.  I guess Toyota wasn't the first with that idea.)

[Autobahn]

Wow Christian!

Absolutely gorgeous! I know "her" LHD brother from the Mercedes-Benz Museum. These cars are real monsters. I also experienced one driving at the MB Classic days some time back.
Imagine something like that in black turned up behind you in 1939.
No wonder the Nazi bastards liked this car, it's intimidating like their whole philosophy.

But the car's presence is not only intimidating but also very elegant. If you compare the interior to a current SL's (which admitedly has to find space for all the gizmo's) -> I surely know who the winner is!

But Christian: It must be the "Classic" taxi version! Why? No power anything and not even A/C  

I guess it came with a "wheel cleaner" who just had to clean the wheels all day  

     

[cawimmer430]

Hard to top. Perhaps the most beautiful car ever build.

Just finished this, which is a bit blasphemic...

>> Mercedes 550K <<

PS:  Du hast da die kurze Version aufgenommen. Sensationell! Hast Du die Bilder in voller Aufl?sung?

Hi, habe Dir eben eine e-Mail geschrieben. Werde Dir die Bilder Morgen ?bermitteln.  

[cawimmer430]

Why do they have it outside in the rain :blink:

They were cleaning out their showroom and hence parked a lot of classics out on the street. Will post those pictures much later on C&D and of course provide the link.    

[cawimmer430]

Stunning find, Christian!  That interior is amazing.  (Note center instrument cluster.  I guess Toyota wasn't the first with that idea.)

Danke.  

Center speedos were fairly common on all cars from this period if I remember correctly. You need to visit the German Car Museum in Amerang next time you're in Germany. Luckily, Wimmer has a photo album of it.  

Link: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures...l?id=2120734654

[cawimmer430]

Wow Christian!

Absolutely gorgeous! I know "her" LHD brother from the Mercedes-Benz Museum. These cars are real monsters. I also experienced one driving at the MB Classic days some time back.
Imagine something like that in black turned up behind you in 1939.
No wonder the Nazi bastards liked this car, it's intimidating like their whole philosophy.

But the car's presence is not only intimidating but also very elegant. If you compare the interior to a current SL's (which admitedly has to find space for all the gizmo's) -> I surely know who the winner is!

But Christian: It must be the "Classic" taxi version! Why? No power anything and not even A/C  

I guess it came with a "wheel cleaner" who just had to clean the wheels all day  

   

Yep.  

The one in the Mercedes museum took my breath away the first time I saw it. Simply amazing and that red color radiated so much aura and power. It was truly an experience in its own right.  B)

Oh yeah, cleaning the wheels must be "a lot of fun". Hopefully, if I get a job at Mercedes starting out small, it will be cleaning those wheels.    

[oilfilter]

If I may say so, that is one fucking hot car. B)

[autom?vel]

Oh man Christian, awesome car.  You're the man.

[cawimmer430]

If I may say so, that is one fucking hot car. B)

You may.    

[cawimmer430]

Oh man Christian, awesome car.  You're the man.

Danke.