New Manhattan Flagship Store Shows Off a Potentially 8 Million Dollar Benz

The new Mercedes-Benz Manhattan dealership hosted its gala opening this week, and amongst the shining stars and VIPs pulsing around the 330,000 square foot flagship store was one of the most expensive Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the world; a car that can’t be purchased at the dealership, but rather through RM Auctions during this year’s Pebble Beach Motoring Week in August.

If guests weren’t buzzing about celebrities in attendance or Matchbox
20 playing a private concert, or food inspired by Executive Chef
Gabriel Kreuther of the Modern, it was definitely the 1937 Mercedes-Benz
540K Special Roadster – chassis number 154140 – part of the esteemed
private collection of Sam and Emily Mann.  A star consignment for RM’s
annual Monterey sale, August 19 – 20, the exquisite, multi-million
dollar 1937 540K Special Roadster is expected to set a new auction
record for a Mercedes-Benz, as well as enter the history books as one of
the most expensive motor cars ever sold at auction when it goes under
the gavel this summer.

The Special Roadster was priced at around $12,000 US when new and
represented the ultimate example of the supercharged 540K. One of just a
select few built with the most desirable configuration of high door,
long tail and covered rear spare, of which it is believed just three
examples survive, the ultra-rare 540K was ordered new by the factory
branch in Buenos Aires for the owners of a prestigious Argentinean
clothing store. Delivered in June 1937, 154140 spent its early years in
Argentina before being imported into the United States by one of the
country’s first full-time antique automobile dealers, Tiny Gould. It
then passed through a string of well-documented owners, including time
spent in both Australia and Germany. Today, beautifully presented and
the recipient of a thorough, concours-quality restoration, it has
enjoyed great success on the show field at both the prestigious Amelia
Island and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance events. (Estimate Available
Upon Request).

“Exceptional at the time, the 540K Special Roadster remains one of
the world’s most valuable and desired collector cars. A magnificent
example of an automobile as an art form, it has firmly established
itself at the pinnacle of the classic car market,” says Rob Myers,
Chairman and Founder, RM Auctions.

The dazzling
540K Special Roadster headlines a magnificent roster of Mercedes-Benz
automobiles hand sourced for RM’s annual Monterey sale, August 19 – 20.
Joined by an astonishing array of other remarkable big eight
supercharged Mercedes from the 1930s, RM’s Monterey offering represents
the most important collection of Mercedes-Benz motor cars ever presented
at auction.

For further information on RM’s upcoming Monterey sale, please visit www.rmauctions.com or contact an RM specialist at +1 519 352 4575.

Editor’s note – RM Auctions expects the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster
will achieve a world record price for a Mercedes-Benz sold at auction
when it is offered at the company’s Monterey sale in August. RM Auctions
sold a similar car – a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster from
the private collection of Bernie Ecclestone in October 2007 for $8,252,201 USD!

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