Tag Archives: mercedes-benz

Mercedes “SSK”

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1929 Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK Roadster by Sindelfingen

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The catalog description for this car… does not seem to tell the whole story. Daimler themselves lists a production of 33 combined units of SSK and SSKL cars. The Mercedes-Benz SS saw a total of 111 units. Mercedes goes on to claim that production numbers for any of the “S” models of 1927 through 1933 are difficult to ascertain as cars were being built and rebuilt, with engines swapped around and chassis being shortened.

So RM is saying (I think?) that this car is one of seven examples of the SS that were modified by Mercedes with a shorter chassis. So, yes, it is a short-wheelbase SS (or SSK). But it’s not an actual SSK. Very few original SSKs remain, and most of the extant examples are just shortened SS cars. The price here reflects that. This car has a lower estimate than the stock SS in the sale, at $1,450,000-$2,200,000. A true SSK could bring 5-10x that value.

The car does have a supercharged 7.1-liter inline-six that was capable of over 200 horsepower with the supercharger engaged. It is said that the car was built in 1929 and first owned by a privateer German racer who took the car to the U.S. in the 1930s. It spent over 50 years in the U.S., being restored around 1983. Around 1994, it was restored again in Germany, with the chassis having been replaced at that time (so there’s part of the value loss). You can read more here and draw your own conclusions.

W06 SS by Corsica

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1929 Mercedes-Benz 710 SS Roadster by Corsica

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Mercedes-Benz W06 is one of the best things the company ever produced. It started with the Model S, which evolved into the SS, or Super Sport (and later the revered SSK). The SS was offered in three guises between 1928 and 1933: the 27/140/200, the 27/160/200, and the 27/170/225. Between all variants, just 111 were produced.

Those different numbers come from the car’s 7.1-liter inline-six, which was equipped with an engageable Roots supercharger. So that naturally aspirated 140 horsepower jumped to 200 horsepower if you pushed the throttle to the floor. As is typical of late, RM’s catalog is light on details as to which engine this has, but based on the model year, it is probably the 140-200 horsepower variant.

As we’ve discovered with other Benzes of the era, when sold in the U.K., the cars were given slightly different model names. In this case “710 SS” (based on displacement) in lieu of SS 27/140/200. The original body on this car was damaged in an accident, and it was re-bodied by Corsica prior to 1934. In 1979, it set a record as the most valuable car ever sold at auction in $320,000. Now it has an estimate of $3,850,000-$4,950,000. Click here for more info.

Caracciola’s 500K

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1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Coupe by Sindelfingen

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

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

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.

British-Market Mercedes-Benz S-Type

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1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type Four-Seat Sports Tourer by Sindelfingen

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | July 2024

Photo – Bonhams

The Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 S-Type was produced between 1927 and 1928, with just 146 examples completed. It was a sporty car available in a variety of body styles, with the Sindelfingen-built sports four-seater being the only “factory” body style. We’ve featured one of these before.

But what makes this car different is that it is a right-hand-drive example built for the British market. And they measured things a bit differently there, so the “26/120/180” name was dropped in favor of “36/220,” which represents the RAC horsepower rating (36) and the brake horsepower output with the supercharger engaged on the 6.8-liter inline-six (220). Well, Mercedes rated it at 120 horsepower in standard tune, and 180 with the supercharger.

This car has a pretty well confirmed line of ownership back to new and has been with its current owner since 1991. It now has an estimate of $2,000,000-$3,200,000. More info can be found here.

280SE 3.5 Cabriolet

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1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | March 2024

Photo – Bring a Trailer

This is among the finest classic Mercedes-Benz products you can buy. It’s also among the classiest. The W111 chassis was designed by Friedrich Geiger and is among three generation of Benzes that fall under the “fintail” category, even though these late coupe/cabriolet variants don’t really have tail fins.

The two-doors came a few years after the sedans and initially launched as the 220SE in 1961. A displacement increase in 1965 brought the 250SE to market, followed by the 2.8-liter 280SE in 1967. All of these cars had straight-six engines. Then, in 1969, Mercedes launched the unnecessarily confusingly named 280SE 3.5, which had a 3.5-liter V8 that made 197 horsepower.

Coupes and convertibles were offered with the V8, and just 1,232 examples of the cabriolet were sold. They have been six-figure cars for some time and continue to creep up. This silver-over-blue example has a little time left to bid, and you can do so here.

CLK GTR GT1

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1997 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR GT1

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | March 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This is, ostensibly, the racing variant of Mercedes’ C208 CLK-Class. Except that the true racing variant of the C208 was the CLK DTM. The GTR was an entirely different animal, sharing just the “CLK” name and a loose interpretation of the front grille and headlights. The CLK GTR was so extreme that it had to be homologated as its own thing, of which 20 road-going coupes and six roadsters were built. They were the most expensive new cars in the world when they were sold in the late ’90s/early ’00s.

The racing versions were pretty special as well. Initially campaigned in the 1997 FIA GT Championship, the cars proved somewhat successful and were replaced by the CLK LM by the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans and later by the doomed CLR for 1999.

Power is provided by a 6.0-liter V12 that made 600 horsepower, and the competition history for this chassis (004) includes:

  • 1997 FIA GT 4 Hours of Nurburgring – 1st (with Bernd Schneider and Klaus Ludwig)
  • 1997 FIA GT 4 Hours of Spa – 2nd (with Schneider and Alexander Wurz)
  • 1997 FIA GT 1000km Suzuka – 7th (with Schneider, Wurz, and Aguri Suzuki)
  • 1997 FIA GT 3 Hours of Sebring – 1st (with Schneider and Ludwig)

It was sold by Mercedes-Benz to its current and only private owner in 2015. It’s a pretty big deal from a golden era of GT racing – this car competed against McLaren F1 GTRs and Porsche 911 GT1s, etc. The action closes on this one in two days. Find out more here.

McLaren MP4/21

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2006 McLaren-Mercedes MP4/21

Offered by Bonhams | Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. | November 25, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

The 2006 Formula One season was a classic Fernando Alonso/Michael Schumacher dogfight, with Alonso coming out on top. Behind Ferrari and Renault was McLaren, and this was their car for that year. Kimi Raikkonen was in one car, while Pedro de la Rosa replaced Juan Pablo Montoya in the other car midway through the season.

It was an Adrian Newey design and was powered by a Mercedes-Benz 2.4-liter V8 good for 750 horsepower. The competition history for this chassis, MP4/21-2, includes:

  • 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix – 3rd (with Kimi Raikkonen)
  • 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Raikkonen)
  • 2006 Australian Grand Prix – 2nd (with Raikkonen)
  • 2006 San Marino Grand Prix – 5th (with Raikkonen)
  • 2006 European Grand Prix at Nurburgring – 4th (with Raikkonen)
  • 2006 Spanish Grand Prix – 5th (with Raikkonen)
  • 2006 Monaco Grand Prix – 20th, DNF (with Raikkonen)
  • 2006 French Grand Prix – 5th (with Raikkonen)

McLaren restored the car before selling it off, and it hasn’t been used since. The pre-sale estimate is $2,500,000-$3,500,000. Click here for more info.

Mercedes W04 F1

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2013 Mercedes-AMG W04

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Las Vegas, Nevada | November 17, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Mercedes-Benz took quite the hiatus from Formula One, departing in 1955 after murdering a bunch of spectators. They returned as an engine supplier in the 1990s, but didn’t come back with a full team effort until the 2010 season, a year after purchasing reigning champions Brawn GP.

After three somewhat disappointing seasons, they showed up in 2013 with this, the W04 that was to be fielded by drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. It would take them to second in the constructors championship, bettering the fifth they achieved the year prior. It was clear they were onto something, as the following year they would win the championship… and then keep doing so year after year after that.

The W04 is powered by a 2.4-liter V8 with a KERS system that can produce 750 horsepower (or 830 with the KERS enabled). All while revving to a cool 18,000 rpm. This was the last season of F1 to feature V8 engines. The race history for this chassis, #F1W04-04 includes:

  • 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix – 3rd (with Lewis Hamilton)
  • 2013 Chinese Grand Prix – 3rd (with Hamilton)
  • 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix – 1st (with Hamilton)
  • 2013 Belgian Grand Prix – 3rd (with Hamilton)

This chassis was actually used in 14 races that year. It has somehow escaped Mercedes’ hands and has a pre-sale estimate of $10,000,000-$15,000,000. Click here for more info.

C124 Gullwing

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1989 Boschert B300

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 25, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Mercedes-Benz W124 was the first generation of Merc marketed as the E-Class. The C124 was the coupe version, and that’s what this car here is based on. Hartmut Boschert founded his tuning company in the 1980s and began modifying Benzes thereafter.

In 1989, he took a 300CE coupe and grafted an R129 SL-Class front end onto it. He also added gullwing doors – a Mercedes legacy. R129 seats also came along, and the standard 300CE 3.0-liter inline-six was fitted with two turbochargers to make 283 horsepower.

The plan was to make 300 of these after it debuted at the 1989 Frankfurt International Motor Show. But that never happened, and this was the only one built. It’s been with it’s current owner for almost 20 years and now has an estimate of $265,000-$320,000. More info can be found here.

AMG GT Project One

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2022 Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series Project One Edition

Offered by Bonhams | Knokke-Heist, Belgium | October 8, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

The Mercedes-AMG Project One (or just the “ONE”) is a hypercar that has seemed to be in development forever. So while the lucky 275 folks who ordered one waited, Mercedes decided to try and keep them happy by offering them an excusive version of their getting-long-in-the-tooth AMG GT sports car.

But no base car here as the starting point was the top-tier Black Series. That means it is powered by a 720-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8. It has all of the aero bits that set Black Series cars apart, and, in Project One Edition spec, has a pretty awesome painted three-star motif that is excusive to this car.

Only 275 of these were built, and they were only offered to Project One orderers. More than a few have hit the market, and this one has an estimate of $425,000-$640,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $412,302.