One of the most expensive cars in the world will be auctioned on August 19. It is a Mercedes-Benz Von Krieger 540K Roadster, special model, made in 1936. The car will be sold at the Classic Car Week in Pebble Beach, California. It is estimated that its price will exceed $10 million. The car was owned by a baroness who fled Germany during the Second World War, according to the U.S. magazine Forbes. Moreover, car history is so interesting that it deserves its own biopic.
In 1936, the brother of the Baroness Gisela Von Krieger, Henning, 19 years old, bought a Mercedes-Benz 540k Special Roadster, which was soon taken over by his sister who initially bought for herself a 2- door coupe Mercedes-Benz 540K. Gisela was 4 years older than her brother. In September 1939 Henning joined the German army and Gisela moved to Monaco.
In 1943 Henning returned to Switzerland to be with his sister, and six years later they move together to the United States. They take with them the famous car (shipped on the RMS Quuen Elizabeth), where it was maintained by one of the best auto shops in Manhattan, Zumbach’s.
In 1959 Gisela’s brother dies in Switzerland and she puts the car in a barn, then returned to Switzerland, with no thought of ever returning to the States. Henning dies in 1989, in her apartment in Vevey.
In 1992 David Gooding, head of auction house Gooding & Co., receives a call from a lawyer in Connecticut, USA, telling him that he found an old and dusty convertible, in a garage. The investor realizes that it is the 540k model, one of the rarest cars ever produced.
The precious car was bought by a collector in New Hampshire in 1998, after years of litigation, being reconditioned by the legendary Chris Charlton. Next month the car will be auctioned and is expected to be sold for a record price of over $10 million, according to Forbes.
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