This Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type Sports Tourer was delivered on December 19, 1928, to British Mercedes Ltd. London for a Mr. Cecil Harcourt-Smith of London and Cairo. According to the commission sheet, the S was delivered with a Sindelfingen 4-seater sports body, number 924 614. Recent research has established that it was anything but a standard factory body.
The second known owner was John Fitzroy, the ninth Duke of Grafton, who even while studying at Cambridge was active in motorsport. At the Inter Varsity trails in the spring of 1934, the young Duke campaigned the Mercedes in stripped-down form sans windscreen, hood and spare wheels.
According to the notes from Ronald Johnson, founder of the English Mercedes-Benz Club, it was purchased in 1939 by Robert Arbuthnot. In 1946 it was bought by serial Mercedes fanatic Edward L. Mayer. In this period, it sadly lost its original long front wings, which were replaced with “cycle wings,” the rear ones adapted to match. Johnson adds a further interesting detail, that the “S” has the uber-rare 18-fin elephant blower installed, which he links to either Arbuthnot or Mayer, both having had access to many of these cars in their day and the ability to have procured the best performance-enhancing parts. It is also conceivable that this was supplied by the factory. By 1960, recognizing his age, Mayer looked for a suitable home for his much-loved car, whereupon it was sold to one of Britain’s pioneering collectors, C.W. Peter Hampton.
A number of Hampton’s cars were adapted due to his wartime injury. This S-type, with its central gear change, was adapted to a right-hand change, with its mechanism extended remotely to the right side of the car, and the handbrake to its outside. In doing so, he had this side of the car filled in and the door removed, although retaining the door itself, which — crucially — remains with the car to this day. Hampton died in 1991, and the subsequent sale of his cars was one of the greatest motorcar auctions of all time, with Tom Scott acquiring this car. In 33 years of Scott ownership, the “S” has been exercised with some regularity.
Although missing its typenschild (nameplate), all of its correct factory stampings remain in place, including on the chassis in two places; the engine number and the batch numbers can be found in numerous places on the engine, as well as on the gearbox and back axle. The aforementioned distinctive notched door accompanies the car, and while a plate attached to it appears to be a later replacement, it carries the correct Sindelfingen body number — a number that could only have been accessed by very few and was likely replicated during its 1960s restoration. After a few years on blocks, the Mercedes was recommissioned by the skilled technicians at Jim Stokes’ esteemed workshops.
(Introductory description courtesy of Bonhams Cars.)
