Mercedes-Benz 500k Spezial Roadster

One of the masterpieces of Mercedes-Benz, both in terms of styling and engineering.

One of the masterpieces of Mercedes-Benz, both in terms of styling and engineering. This Mercedes-Benz Spezial Roadster is one of the most beautiful versions of the 500K type, with its V-shaped windscreen, long, flowing rear, high doors and shell-shaped fenders. Of the very luxuriously appointed Mercedes-Benz Spezial Roadster – the car features, among other things, a mother-of-pearl dashboard – only 25 examples were built out of a total of around 350 cars of the 500K type. The car is equipped with a five-liter eight-cylinder engine with supercharger, which enables it to produce 160 hp, but even without the supercharger the car still delivers 100 hp. The car was delivered in London in 1936 to a successful marine insurance broker. In the mid-1950s the Mercedes ended up with a butcher from Walsall. He drove it regularly, but in 1956 he stored the car in his shed, where the Mercedes would remain for about thirty years. In the late 1980s the car was sold at auction to a Swedish collector, who had it restored in Germany. In 1994 the Mercedes won first prize in its class at the Pebble Beach Concours, and in 2006 it won the Briggs Cunningham Trophy. Enthusiasts know the car as the butchers car.