Mercedes-Benz always commanded a place as the premier supplier of fine cars to the political, artistic and commer-cial aristocracy; the 540K was the culmination of its pre-World War II high-performance, custom-built motorcars. After the merger of Daimler and Benz in 1926, the new company's commercial success depended upon bread-and-butter models like the mass-market 170 series and the middle-market 290 and 320. In 1935 Mercedes-Benz introduced the first mass-production diesel passenger car, the 260D. During the same period the 460 and 500 Nürburg, with side-valve engines and chassis that still reflected pre-merger Mercedes designs, met the demands of the upper middle-class German market.

Yet, while Mercedes-Benz maintained its factories with small- and medium-sized cars, it catered to the market's most demanding clientele with a limited offering of the finest motor cars ever built. Based on a strong and rigid chassis, these pioneering automobiles introduced coil-spring four-wheel independent suspension. These massive high-speed automobiles owed little to the S, SS and SSK machines of the 1920s, except for one glorious attribute: each was fitted with Mercedes-Benz's driver-controlled supercharger that boosted engine output by about 60% in short, full-power bursts.

The first of the series, the 380K, was introduced at the Berlin Motor Show in 1933 and was replaced by the 500K in 1934. The 500K, in turn, was succeeded during 1936 by the ultimate motor car of the '30s, the 540K.

Each car was individually constructed to the finest German standards, using only the most enduring materials and the finest craftsmen. Mercedes created almost all the body designs for its premier models in-house and built them in their own Sindelfingen Werk.

The ultimate Mercedes-Benz 540K was the Special Roadster. Exceptional at the time, the 540K Special Roadster has subsequently established itself at the pinnacle of classic cars. The 540K Special Roadster is an awe-inspiring blend of size, performance and style, possessed of a presence that is immediately arresting in any surrounding.

Of the 26 540K Special Roadsters, only six were created in the long-tail style with a cover over the single spare tire recessed into the rear deck, one of which is the car pictured here. Bought from the Mercedes-Benz stand at the 1937 Berlin Motor Show by Warner Brothers Studio for its impresario Jack Warner, it was specially prepared for delivery in the United States with a speedometer calibrated in miles and a "Made in Germany" plaque.

Jack Warner retained his 540K for more than ten years. In 1949 it was acquired by a Connecticut collector and remained untouched in his garage until 1993, when it was bought by the present owner who then commissioned its restoration by renowned Mercedes-Benz experts Paul Russell and Company in Essex, Massachusetts.

Following restoration the car took first in class as well as the Mercedes-Benz Trophy at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours, followed by first in class and best in show at the VSCCA Castle Hill Concours in Massachusetts the next month. It has won numerous other best in class and best in show awards including the Dallas Concours, Amelia Island and Bay Harbor, Michigan.

This most beautiful, powerful and imposing automobile of the classic era still has the grandeur to stop traffic by looks alone-then leave it far behind as the howl of its supercharger fades into the distance.

This 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster Review and Buyer's Guide appeared in the May, 2002 Issue of Sports Car Market Magazine.