500K Offener Tourenwagen

Posted on August 10, 2020 by classiccarweekly

1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Offener Tourenwagen

Offered by Bonhams | Los Angeles, California | August 14, 2020

We’ve featured five examples of the 500K – one of the finest automobiles to ever have been produced by Mercedes-Benz. Four of them were cabriolets, and there was one Sports Roadster. What they all have in common is that they are sporty drop-tops. They may have had back seats, but the focus was on making them look like convertible coupes.

Not this car. While it may have two doors, it also has a long convertible top so that rear-seat passengers still had an open view to the outside world. This was the autobahn cruiser for someone who regularly took his friends out to show off. Imagine taking three of your friends and blasting down the highway with the top down in one of these. Incredible.

Power is from a 160 horsepower, supercharged 5.0-liter inline-eight (100 horsepower without the supercharger engaged). Bonhams’ catalog description refers to this as a Cabriolet A and an Offener Tourenwagen, and it is most definitely the latter. It also claims that only 16 such cars were built on the 500K chassis, but the number 28 is reported elsewhere.

The takeaway is that it’s rare. It’s also one of the best 500Ks, apart from the Autobahnkuriers. This one should bring between $2,000,000-$2,500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Hitler’s Mercedes

Posted on December 20, 2017 by classiccarweekly

1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 17, 2018

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Worldwide Auctioneers is calling this “the most historically significant automobile ever offered for public sale.” And they aren’t likely wrong. Yes, this is the touring limousine ordered by and built for Adolf Hitler. And while that may be an unpopular association to have with any item, let’s keep in mind that this is a piece of history – and one of the finest examples of pre-WWII automotive engineering extant.

The 770 was an extremely rare and expensive car when new. Introduced in 1930, it was built through 1943. In that span of time, only 205 examples left the factory in two different series. This is a Series II car, the series which was available beginning in 1938 and only 88 were built.

The 770K is powered by a 7.7-liter straight-eight engine fitted with a supercharger that, once engaged, produced 230 horsepower. Capable of speeds of 100 mph or more, the 770K was Germany’s answer to big American cars from Packard, Marmon, Cadillac, and Duesenberg as well as some of Europe’s finest from Hispano-Suiza, Bugatti, Horch, Maybach, and Isotta Fraschini. It was the best Mercedes had to offer.

This car sports an Open Tourer body by in-house coachbuilder Sindelfingen. It has bullet-resistant glass and the body is armor-plated. There’s seating for six (at least) and it was used by Hitler in various parades around Europe during the war.

In 1943 it was sent back to Mercedes for maintenance and it saw little use after that. The car was taken by the American military and was used by the military police in France. Because the car was so magnificent, several service members tried to export it back to the U.S. A Belgian owner succeeded in getting it to the U.S. in 1946 to its new owner in North Carolina.

That owner donated it to the local VFW and they used it in parades, too. It was discovered in storage in 1976, purchased, and restored. It was thought at that time to have been Himmler’s car, but research indicated that it was one of Hitler’s four cars. In the 1980s it became part of the Imperial Palace Collection in Las Vegas and, no doubt, became a tourist draw.

In 2004 it found its way back into Europe as part of a massive Mercedes-Benz collection. Only five 770K Offener Tourenwagens still exist and this is one of three in private hands. Add to it the infamy of its original owner and you have what I consider to be the first car truly worthy of the “Estimate Available Upon Request” tag so often seen with big money cars. It’s a real question what it will sell for. As a piece of automotive magnificance and as an historical artifact, its price could be monumental. But will its close association with Hitler and Nazi Germany hold it back? There’s only one way to find out: head to Worldwide’s sale in Scottsdale next month. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Update: Not sold, high bid of $7,000,000.

Mercedes-Benz Tourenwagen

Posted on July 7, 2014 by classiccarweekly

1934 Mercedes-Benz 500 Nürburg Offener Tourenwagen

Offered by Bonhams | Stuttgart, Germany | July 12, 2014

Photo – Bonhams

The Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 500 was part of the Mercedes-Benz W08 line (in MB-internal speak). Originally introduced in 1928 in Nürburg 460 spec, the 500 was new for 1931. And it was glorious. Just look at it. Oh, and it was based on the 460, which was designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

What the 500 had over the 460 was displacement. It uses a 4.9-liter (5.0 if you’re feeling generous) straight-eight making 99 horsepower. It could do 75 mph – which is a lot in such a big car that has such modest power figures (keep in mind you could buy a Duesenberg with more than three times the power at this point).

What is excellent about this particular car is that it is a convertible – which was quite rare among Nürburgs. It is one of only 931 Nürburg 500s built and if you look at it, you can easily see design hints of the much-loved 500K/540K cars that would come a couple of years later. Ownership history is known from new and it has never been restored – just taken care of as needed and would be a lovely driver after a brief freshening upon purchase.

And that purchase price figures to be somewhere between $680,000-$820,000. You can read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $703,541.