1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet

Between 1936 and 1940 Mercedes-Benz's Unterturkeim factory turned out 419 540K chassis before World War II intervened. Most were swathed in one of 11 standard body designs from Mercedes-Benz's in-house coachworks in Sindelfingen. A handful were bodied by outside coachbuilders, including this Swedish example by Norrmalm, designed by Johan Oscar Olbager, the firm's chief of design. Just three cars are known to exist with Norrmalm coachwork.

The chassis was delivered to Max Gumpel in Stockholm on September 30, 1937. Gumpel had the car fitted with two batteries and an oversized fuel tank for extended travel, along with Marchal headlights, spotlight and running lights. His most prominent personalization was the oversized goddess Diana mascot. Legend has it that Gumpel was a close personal friend of Greta Garbo and that she frequently rode with him in this car.

This Mercedes-Benz 540K wears coachwork by Norrmalm. There are only three cars known to exist with Norrmalm coachwork, and this is the only Mercedes-Benz to wear such. Mr. Johan Oscar Olhager was the chief of design and designed this bodywork for its first owner, Mr. Max Gumpel of Sweden. It was delivered on the 30th of September of 1937 to Mr. Gumpel. The coachwork was completed in February of 1938; the car was registered to Mr. Gumpel on March 4th of that year with the registration number A54.

The coachwork was designed to cope with the harsh roads and snowy winters of Sweden. It has two batteries, and an oversized fuel tank for extended range of travel. The dashboard was designed by the brothers Gunnar and Knut Espeland. It has Marchal headlights, spotlight and running lights. There is an oversized mascot of the nude goddess Diana with her bow shooting an arrow into the sky. The interior features a front seat that was designed to accommodate three passengers, two ladies and a gentleman.

During World War II, it was put into storage and saw little use. It received a special 'non-conscription order', allowing the car to remain with Max and not be conscripted to the Swedish Army.

In 1955, the car was sold to Michael Savosnick, who owned it until 1964. It was sold to Carl Kristofferson who sold it to Howard Sluyter of the United States in 1965. It remained with Mr. Kristofferson until the 1980s when it was sold to Jerry J. Moore. The next owner was Jerome Sauls who purchased it in 1990 and sold it a year later to a Japanese collector. It remained in Japan until being purchased in 2001 by Terena Shaw of Canada. That same year, it was sold to its current owner.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2016