Chassis Number: 35920
The Mercedes-Benz “S” was created in a magical period for the company, shortly after the merger of Daimler and Benz, while Ferdinand Porsche was chief engineer. He built a powerful-yet-versatile automobile — a true all-rounder, at home on the racetrack, at hillclimbs and providing exhilirating driving for the road. The signature engineering feature was its “on demand” Roots-type supercharger, which only came into operation when the accelerator was fully depressed, boosting power output from 120 to 180 horsepower for a few glorious seconds! Mercedes debuted the cars at the opening meeting of the Nürburgring in 1927, where Caracciola set the tone with a class win. It would be the first of many laurels bestowed on the model. Here in America, Indy 500 winner Ralph de Palma drove an “S” to victory in the 15- and 30-mile races in Atlantic City, averaging 80 mph. Quite simply, there wasn’t anything to touch the Mercedes, but as with its competitors, it faced an uphill struggle for sales as the Depression set in, and only 146 of these remarkable cars were ever built between 1927 and 1930.
