Heroshot

1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Offener Tourenwagen

123724
$1,200,000
Not sold at a high bid of
31
Lot Number
#1
Recent restoration
Bonhams
Auction House
Chassis No. 209421, Engine No. 123724. Dark green with black accents and green cloth top over beige leather. Supercharged 5018-cc, 110-160-hp L-8, 4-speed manual. Body-color wire wheels, dual sidemounts, folding windshield, depress beam headlamp, Bosch headlights, spotlight mirror, fitted luggage, semaphore signals.

Evaluation: Recent restoration | Handsome two-door, four-seat body has immense metal trunk built with a recess for the folded top. Discovered in Europe in 1951 by Dr. Ralph W.E. Cox, displayed at Winthrop Rockefeller’s Museum of Automobiles in Arkansas. Recently restored and earned second in class at Pebble Beach in 2015. Excellent paint, chrome, upholstery, and top. The engine compartment is in good order, with only a little fluid seepage. Still a concours-quality car.

Bottom Line: Sold by Bonhams in Scottsdale in 2014 from the Cox collection before the most recent restoration and showing 36,999 kilometers (22,990 miles) for $1,430,000. The odometer today shows only 37,019 kilometers (23,003 miles), about enough to drive on and off the Pebble Beach show field. The coachwork, which folds the top compactly behind and flush with the passenger tonneau, is distinct from the usual Sindelfingen Cabriolet design; if anything, it’s more attractive. Like the other classics in today’s sale, however, it fell short of the consignor’s expectations or even a reasonable bid. Collectors who have progressed to buying heavy classics are typically too experienced to be drawn into an ego-driven bidding war; they seem to make up their minds before the auction and sit on their bidding paddles (or keyboards) when their estimation of value is exceeded.

by Hagerty Editor
20 August 2020
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