Maybach SW38 Sport Cabriolet

1938 Maybach SW38 Sport Cabriolet by Spohn

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Maybachs do not come up for sale very often. That’s because they weren’t super common in their day. In their history they only made 1,841 vehicles. And if Daimler’s 2000s Maybach resurgence taught us anything, it’s that Maybach is step up from Mercedes-Benz. And they were.

Wilhelm Maybach was an engineer supreme, and the cars that bore his name were very solid. The SW38 was offered between 1936 and 1939 and saw power from a 4.0-liter inline-six that made 140 horsepower. It could hit over 100 mph and was available in your coachbuilder’s choice. In this case, Spohn supplied the body. Maybach delivered 172 new cars in Germany in 1938.

This car was sold new to Carl Krone, of European circus fame. It was reupholstered in the U.S. in the 1960s or ’70s and was acquired by the current owner in 1989. It was then hidden in a barn until now. At some point, back in Germany in the 1950s, the engine was upgraded to a 4.2-liter unit. The car now has an estimate of $150,000-$200,000. More info can be found here.

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