Filed under: Classics, Auctions, Mercedes-Benz



Last year, Gooding & Company smashed the record for the highest amount paid for a car at auction when the 1957 Ferrari 250 TR Prototype sold for $16.39 million at Pebble Beach. Now the auction house looks to break that record with an ultra-rare 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540 K von Krieger Special Roadster.

Called "the most exciting pre-war Mercedes-Benz I've ever known" by David Gooding, the auction company's founder, the unique 540K Special Roadster was originally built for the royal Prussian family in 1936. In 1942 the car was shipped to Switzerland by Baroness Gisela von Krieger to avoid the perils of WWII, after which it followed her to the United States where she drove it around Greenwhich, CT. The Baroness later moved back to Switzerland and left the roadster behind, where it sat in a garage for more than forty years.

The car's current owner has restored it to concours condition, finished in black and chrome with a Cognac leather interior. While Gooding & Company won't release an official estimate, it's confident the car will break the record amount paid for a Mercedes-Benz, set last year at RM's Monterey auction, and quite possibly the overall record set at the aforementioned 2011 Gooding auction at Pebble Beach.

You can read more about the 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540 K von Krieger Special Roadster in Gooding's press release below, and look out for live results from all the Monterey auctions come August.Continue reading Gooding hoping for new world record with 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540 K von Krieger Special Roadster

Gooding hoping for new world record with 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540 K von Krieger Special Roadster originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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07-07-2012 04:03 PM