It’s every car collector’s fantasy to discover a treasure hiding in some forgotten garage… unearthing some great car that hasn’t seen the light of day in decades. We had the pleasure of having a front row seat for just such a discovery… of the now world famous Von Kreiger Mercedes 540K Special Roadster. This iconic car recently sold at auction for $11 Million. We were there to witness the sale. We were also there for the treasure hunt over ten years ago.
Baroness Gisela Von Kreiger grew up in an aristocratic, wealthy family in Europe and, for her and her family, owning and driving fabulous cars was a way of life. Originally purchased in Berlin by her brother Henning in 1936, her 540K Special Roadster, chassis number 130949, was regularly seen on the boulevards of Europe with Gisela or her brother behind the wheel.
Eventually Henning moved to Switzerland, and Gisela and her mother relocated toNew York, bringing the Mercedes with them. When Henning fell ill years later, Gisela went back to Europe to comfort him in his decline, never to return to the US… and leaving her beloved Mercedes behind. Behind indeed, the car sat in storage from 1950 until about 2001 when upon Gisela’s death, the estate had to be settled.
I was tipped off to the car in 2001 by a lawyer friend of mine who had overheard a conversation in a Greenwich, Connecticut courtroom about a Mercedes 540K. My friend had no idea what that was… but I sure did. At the crack of dawn the next morning I was at the courthouse steps, waiting to get a look at the court transcript.
I contacted the attorney in charge of the case and was allowed to view the car… and what a sight to behold. Decades of dust and dirt had settled on it, dulling the glistening black paint and chrome. My head was spinning. Could I possibly buy the car? In hindsight, it would have taken well over $1 Million to buy it, and collectors with much deeper pockets than me were vying for it.
The car was quietly sold by the family to a private collector who had it restored to its former glory. And now, for the first time since it was bought new by Henning Von Kreiger over 76 years ago, the car was up for public sale at the Gooding auction inMonterey, California. When the hammer came down on the final bid, Gisela’s fabulous car had found a new home for the tidy sum of $11 Million.