1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Coupe by Sindelfingen

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Los Angeles, California | October 2024

There are coachbuilt classics and then there are coachbuilt classics that were originally owned by factory racing superstars. That is the case here. This car was built for and originally owned by Rudolf Caracciola, who was three-time European Grand Prix champion in the 1930s. Oh, and a Nazi party member.

The 500K was powered by a 5.0-liter straight-eight making 100 horsepower or 160 with the supercharger engaged. Most of the cars built were open with only a handful of coupes built. Mercedes described this as a “Roadster-Limousine,” a term of which neither of its component words make sense.

Caracciola owned the car until the late 1930s, and it later made its way to the U.S. via abandonment in Ethiopia (as cars do). It was restored in the 1960s and finished second at Pebble Beach in 1966. In 1979, it was purchased by junkyard hero Rudi Klein, who showed it at least once before parking it in a barn around 1980. It hadn’t seen the light of day since – until now anyway. It will now sell, likely as a project, for a pretty spectacular number. Read more about it here.