1934 MERCEDES BENZ 500K FOUR PASSENGER TOURER

1934 MERCEDES BENZ 500K FOUR PASSENGER TOURER
Bonhams Auction, Amelia Island, Florida 2015
The ex-Baronet Sir Everard Scarisbrick, William Lassiter Jr., Paul Karassik
Coachwork by Mayfair Carriage Works Ltd. of London
Chassis no. 123689
Engine no. 123689
5,019cc OHV Inline 8-cylinder Engine with Rootes Supercharger
160bhp at 3400rpm With Blower Engaged
4-Speed Manual Transmission
4-Wheel Independent Suspension
4-Wheel Drum Brakes
*One of just eight RHD 500K chassis delivered to England for custom coachwork
*Believed to be the only Mayfair-bodied 500K
*Matching numbers
*Restored in the 1990s
*Lightweight aluminum body
THE MERCEDES-BENZ 500K
The sensation of the 1934 Berlin Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz's legendary 500K supercar cost a small fortune when new and today commands a king's ransom, such is its rarity. The 1930s were a period of unprecedented innovations in motorcar styling, of which the sublime 500K represented the very pinnacle of excellence. Its timeless appeal endures to this day.
The 500K, which boasted an ingenious swing-axle independent rear suspension layout, was created by Hans Nibel who, having started with Benz in the early years of the 20th Century, succeeded Marius Barbarou as chief engineer in 1904 and designed (and raced) the huge Benz cars of the period, culminating in the 200hp 'Blitzen' Benz. After the merger with Mercedes, he replaced Ferdinand Porsche and created the most sophisticated chassis of their day for road and track, including the first of the 'Silver Arrow' racers. The supercharged road-going Mercedes of the 1930s are a wonderful tribute to his engineering skills.
Together with its successor, the 540K, the magnificent Mercedes-Benz 500K was arguably the most noteworthy production model offered by the Stuttgart firm during the 1930s. The 500K was powered by a 5,018cc supercharged straight-eight engine that featured the company's famous Roots-type supercharger system in which pressing the accelerator pedal to the end of its travel would simultaneously engage the compressor and close off the alternative atmospheric intake to the carburetor. This system had been thoroughly proven on the preceding series of Dr. Porsche-conceived S-Type cars, and in effect the 500/540K was the last supercharged production Mercedes until relatively recent times.
Beneath its seemingly endless bonnet, the 500K's straight-eight engine developed 100bhp un-supercharged or 160bhp with the compressor engaged. The gearbox was a four-speed with overdrive top ratio. With the supercharger engaged, the 500K had a top speed approaching 110mph (177km/h) matched by servo-assisted hydraulic braking. Its performance potential was such that Mercedes-Benz in the UK retained racing driver Goffredo 'Freddy' Zehender as technical adviser and demonstration driver, since the supercharged Mercedes was one of the few genuine 100mph road cars available in the 1930s.
Although the 500K/540K chassis attracted the attention of many of the better quality bespoke coachbuilders of the day, the company's own Sindelfingen coachwork left little room for improvement.
The cabriolet came in a variety of styles. This example has the Cabriolet A option with two-door, left-hand drive coachwork and is outstandingly handsome, boasting wire wheels, twin boot-mounted spares, exposed landau irons, twin horns and a center spotlight. The work of the gifted Hermann Ahrens, design chief at Mercedes-Benz's in-house Sindelfingen coachworks, the Cabriolet A offered two-seater accommodation allied to breathtaking performance. After testing a 500K Cabriolet in 1936, The Autocar declared: "This is a master car, for the very few. The sheer insolence of its great power affords an experience on its own."
The manufacturing record of the 500K reveals its exclusive nature: 105 were produced in 1934, 190 in 1935 and 59 in 1936. In recent years, the rarity, style and performance of these big supercharged Mercedes have made them one of the most sought-after of all classic cars on the few occasions they have come on the open market.
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Robert Myrick Photography