A 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Particular Roadster with one-off coachbuilt bodywork will likely be one of many featured heaps at Mecum’s 2023 Monterey Automotive Week public sale, scheduled for August 17-19.

Produced from 1936 to 1939, the 540K is distinguished by a 5.4-liter supercharged inline-8 producing 180 hp and enabling a 110-mph prime velocity—spectacular stuff for the time. Energy is distributed to the rear wheels via a 4-speed guide transmission. The chassis additionally boasts four-wheel impartial suspension and four-wheel servo-assisted hydraulic drum brakes, making it pretty subtle for the interval.

1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Particular Roadster (photograph by way of Mecum Auctions)

Within the Thirties luxurious automobiles had been usually delivered as naked chassis after which fitted with coachbuilt bodywork, however the public sale itemizing notes that the majority 540K prospects discovered the our bodies provided by Mercedes suited them simply tremendous. Of the 760 540K (and smaller-displacement 500K) automobiles constructed, simply 70 left the manufacturing unit in Sindelfingen, Germany, as naked chassis, the public sale itemizing notes.

Stretching over this crimson roadster’s 128-inch wheelbase is coachwork from London agency Mayfair Carriage Works Ltd. Geared up with righthand drive, this 540K was additionally delivered new to a buyer in London, earlier than being despatched to a brand new proprietor in Canada.

1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Particular Roadster (photograph by way of Mecum Auctions)

After going via a second Canadian proprietor, the automotive was restored by the daddy and son workforce of Richard and Stephen Mertz of Detroit over the course of 20 years. The automotive was then refurbished within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, and repainted into its present crimson colour.

The 540K was the top of prewar Mercedes luxurious automobiles, and that is mirrored within the pre-auction estimates of $3.5 million to $4.5 million. If that appears extreme, remember that a 540K fastback coupe received Better of Present on the Pebble Seashore Concours d’Magnificence simply two years in the past.