My '34 Mercedes-Benz 500 K Roadster
I Built mine from a kit, which was a full scale model weighing
over 2 tons (4,000 lbs). Wish now that I had not sold that car
at a special auto auction for a little more than $20,000.
About broke even on what the kit, extra parts and buying a
used '70 Camero for $1,000 cost me. Had to use the front
frame, rear end, engine, transmission & some other parts.
Starting
Friday, more than $200 million' worth of classic and rare automobiles
will go under the hammer at the auctions surrounding the Pebble Beach
Concours d'Elegance in California, with more than 70 of those expected
to
fetch at least $1 million. Even amid a booming market for old cars,
there are
a few that stand out -- including one that was once ditched on
the side of a
California freeway, and another that sat in a shed for
nearly 40 years which
could break the auction record of $16.4 million.
While the Pebble Beach show itself will draw
15,000 visitors on Sunday,
the plethora of auctions around the event in
Monterey, Calif., have become
even more of a spectator event. Among the
gawkers will be wealthy buyers
hunting not just a jalopy they can boast
about, but a place to invest their
money that could pay off big.
Hagarty's Insurance, which tracks collector-car
prices, says its index
of "blue-chip" collector vehicles has risen 9 percent this
year
to a record high -- a greater return than almost any other investment
class. The world will always have more gold and stocks, but there won't
be
any more 1965 Ferrari's.
From the hundreds of vehicles that will be
offered this weekend, here's six
that will get much of the attention and
some of the highest bids:
1936 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster
The star of the weekend, this massive,
supercharged Mercedes-Benz was
owned by Baroness Gisela von Krieger, one
of the last members of German
aristocracy and a socialite once named
among the world's most beautiful in
pre-war Paris. After the war, a
newly reclusive von Krieger moved to New
York, and later Connecticut,
bringing her car with her. When her brother
died in Europe in 1959, von
Krieger stayed, leaving her car in the shed of
a Connecticut inn for
safekeeping.
This
isn't just any Mercedes-Benz roadster, but one of a handful of copies
of
the finest cars the company built before World War II; the von Kriegers
ordered it with a custom body, dash and even a pushbutton radio, a
rarity
in the era. Despite entreaties from several collectors and
Mercedes-Benz
itself, von Krieger died in 1989 without ever selling the
car, despite not
seeing it for more than three decades.
With no heirs, von Krieger's car fell into a
legal abyss; only when a lawyer
contacted auctioneer David Gooding in
1991 about an "old, black two-seat
Mercedes" did the mystery start to
unfold. With a few more details,
Gooding flew across the country to
inspect it, and found the Roadster
almost as von Krieger had parked it
in the '50s -- her spent cigarettes still
in the ashtray.
After a spare-no-expense restoration by
owner Lee Harrington, the 540 K
Special has won several prizes over the
past few years, including a
best-in-class at Pebble Beach. Estimates put
the car's value at a minimum
of $10 million -- and given the passion
for having one of the rarest
vehicles in the world, it could sell for
far more.
