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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Spectacular Mercedes Roadster Could Challenge Auction Record
The 1936 540 K Special Roadster that was owned by a celebrated European socialite is expected to reach stunning heights at Gooding’s Pebble Beach auction.
The 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster includes many unique features that were originally ordered by the aristocratic family. (Photo: Gooding & Company)
One of the top collector cars offered at auction in Monterey this year, a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster formerly owned by a German baroness, could break the record set last year for the highest-selling car at auction.
The record of $16.4 million held by a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa prototype sold at Gooding & Company’s 2011 Pebble Beach sale could be surpassed by the spectacular supercharged roadster from pre-war Germany.
The 540 K, also offered by Gooding during this year’s auction at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, is one of just 30 of the spectacular sports cars built as Mercedes’ premier model and according to the Gooding catalog, “a masterpiece of automotive design and the finest Mercedes-Benz of the Classic Era.”
The Roadster is a rare example of the desirable “high-door, long tail” styling that is favored for this model, with a similar car sold last year by RM Auctions for $9.7 million, the highest price ever for a Mercedes-Benz at auction.
But that 540 K did not have the celebrity provenance of a fashionable socialite, the beautiful Baroness Gisela von Krieger, who drove the car regularly in Europe and the United States, and owned it until her death in 1989 after years of seclusion.
Because of its unique qualities, Gooding has not listed an estimated pre-auction value for the von Krieger Special Roadster, which has been meticulously restored and won Best in Class at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours.
“It’s been tough to put an estimate on the von Krieger Special Roadster because it’s an incomparable car,” said Katie Hellwig, a Gooding spokesperson. “It’s definitely more valuable than the marque record holder and there’s a good chance it will challenge the all-time world record for a car sold at auction. It’s that special.”
A lengthy Gooding catalog description that traces the history of both the Baroness Gisela von Krieger and her Special Roadster concludes, “Here is an object of unparalleled beauty, rarity and sophistication whose romantic history, ironclad provenance and unquestioned authenticity are among the many qualities that converge to give this machine its uniqueness and appeal.”
The Gooding auction takes place Aug. 18-19 at Pebble Beach. For more information about the auction and its dazzling collection of cars for sale – and to read the evocative history of the Baroness and the Mercedes – see Goodingco.com.
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at
The record of $16.4 million held by a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa prototype sold at Gooding & Company’s 2011 Pebble Beach sale could be surpassed by the spectacular supercharged roadster from pre-war Germany.
The 540 K, also offered by Gooding during this year’s auction at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, is one of just 30 of the spectacular sports cars built as Mercedes’ premier model and according to the Gooding catalog, “a masterpiece of automotive design and the finest Mercedes-Benz of the Classic Era.”
The Roadster is a rare example of the desirable “high-door, long tail” styling that is favored for this model, with a similar car sold last year by RM Auctions for $9.7 million, the highest price ever for a Mercedes-Benz at auction.
But that 540 K did not have the celebrity provenance of a fashionable socialite, the beautiful Baroness Gisela von Krieger, who drove the car regularly in Europe and the United States, and owned it until her death in 1989 after years of seclusion.
Because of its unique qualities, Gooding has not listed an estimated pre-auction value for the von Krieger Special Roadster, which has been meticulously restored and won Best in Class at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours.
“It’s been tough to put an estimate on the von Krieger Special Roadster because it’s an incomparable car,” said Katie Hellwig, a Gooding spokesperson. “It’s definitely more valuable than the marque record holder and there’s a good chance it will challenge the all-time world record for a car sold at auction. It’s that special.”
A lengthy Gooding catalog description that traces the history of both the Baroness Gisela von Krieger and her Special Roadster concludes, “Here is an object of unparalleled beauty, rarity and sophistication whose romantic history, ironclad provenance and unquestioned authenticity are among the many qualities that converge to give this machine its uniqueness and appeal.”
The Gooding auction takes place Aug. 18-19 at Pebble Beach. For more information about the auction and its dazzling collection of cars for sale – and to read the evocative history of the Baroness and the Mercedes – see Goodingco.com.
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at
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