Eye-watering £2.6MILLION offer isn’t enough to buy ultra-rare 86-year-old Mercedes Benz in immaculate condition
AN ULTRA-rare classic Mercedes Benz with only 2,000 miles on the clock attracted eye-watering bids of up to £2.6million at auction – but that was still not enough to tempt its lucky owner to part with it.
The Monterey car auction in California last week and featured a range of multi-million pound vehicles.
But a red 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K did not meet the £3.5million expected by the owner and is still up for grabs.
Produced by the German carmaker between 1936 and 1940, the 540K is among one of the rarest and most valuable cars in the world.
With 2,197 miles on the odometer, the dual-carburetor 5,401cc inline-eight engine has a top speed of 110mph.
They were built under the direction of Hermann Ahrens in Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart.
Only 419 were ever made and this chassis was one of 70 to have been delivered with no body on.
It was shipped to London via Paris, where its custom coachwork was fitted by Mayfair Carriage Co. Limited in The Hyde, Barnet.
At the end of World War II, the car was located in London before being purchased by Peter Hessler of Quebec, Canada.
The car found new ownership in Toronto, and it was then discovered a couple years later by the father and son team of Richard and Stephen Mertz of Detroit, Michigan.
Richard and Steve painstakingly spent the next 20 years restoring it.
The car garnered the attention of Ralph Engelstadt in Las Vegas, Nevada, who purchased the car in 1995.
Under new ownership, the car was displayed at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
It comes after a stunning collection of vintage Ferraris discovered in a collapsed barn were auctioned off.