1927 Mercedes-Benz Model S Roadster

The first Mercedes-Benz named vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz's and Gottlieb Daimler's respective firms into the Daimler-Benz company. The Mercedes-Benz S-Type was designed by Ferdinand Porsche for Mercedes-Benz in 1927. The car was derived from the 630, which had a six-cylinder 6.3 liter engine, equipped with a supercharger.

The S-Type saw the chassis lowered and the engine moved back. This improved the vehicles balance and handling. To improve its performance, the engine capacity was enlarged to 6.8 liters. Thus, the 680 S was born. Developed both as a race car and a road car, bodies were built by the factory at the Sindelfingen Werks. Some were bodied by elite coachbuilders such as Saoutchik.

These cars were initially raced by the factory and driven by famous drivers such as Rudolf Caracciola who won the 1927 Nurburgring race in one. However, since the chassis was relatively simple and robust, Mercedes-Benz made road-going versions and sometimes shipped the bare chassis to be bodied by a coachbuilder of the customer's choice.

This car was originally delivered to British Mercedes Ltd., London on May 24th of 1928. From that point the history is unknown until 1938 when well-known collector David Uihlein purchased the car when he was 18 years old. At that time the car carried the same coachwork as it does today. The original of the coachwork is unknown. Most likely the car was bodied by an English coachbuilder, possibly Freestone & Webb.