More than a million dollars are offered for a rare 1934 Mercedes-Benz 500K and this is not the limit (44 photos)

The online auction Bring a Trailer is bidding for a rare Mercedes-Benz 500K from 1934 with an unusual history. The car currently wears the body of a Special Roadster: the company has only collected 29 of these in the entire history of the model. However, this 500K came off the assembly line with a different body, the much more common Cabriolet B. Despite the relative unoriginality of the rarity, more than a million dollars are already being offered for it, and there are still a few days left before the end of the auction





A special feature of one of the most luxurious Mercedes-Benz of the 1930s was the engine - a five-liter "eight" with a mechanical supercharger, which turned on when the gas pedal was fully pressed. Without supercharging, the engine generated about 100 horsepower, with a supercharger, the power increased to 160 horsepower. 500K was capable of gaining more than 160 km/ h.

The example put up for sale first found an owner in the Netherlands in October 1934. During World War II, the car suffered significant damage to the body and in this condition in the 1960s it was bought by the owner of one of the European museums, who paid for the production of a new one. The museum was liquidated in 2012, selling off the collection, and the Mercedes-Benz 500K was shipped to the USA.

Here, until 2018, an in-depth restoration of the rarity was underway, during which it was equipped with a Special Roadster type body with a characteristic extended rear overhang and a spare wheel located not on the wing, but under the body panels of the rear. In addition, the car turned from a four-seater into a two-seater.

It is also known about the engine upgrade, the volume of which increased to 5.1 liters, and about the complete restoration of the interior, which was re-upholstered with leather.