Sunday’s 2021 Pebble Seashore Concours d’Class noticed a surprising Mercedes-Benz 540K take dwelling the occasion’s Better of Present award.

It was the ninth time a Mercedes has taken dwelling the distinguished award, a file quantity that’s shared with Bugatti.

This specific 540K, presently a part of the The Keller Assortment of Petaluma, California, is a uncommon fastback coupe often known as the Autobahn-Kurier. Simply three have been constructed, and this one is the one survivor. It is the instance Mercedes first introduced through the 1938 Berlin Motor Present.

This one was created in-house at Mercedes’ Sindelfingen manufacturing facility close to Stuttgart, Germany, on the supercharged 540K chassis. The chassis boasts unbiased double-wishbone suspension up entrance and a swing axle setup on the rear. The engine is a 5.4-liter supercharged inline-8 good for about 180 hp, and paired with a 4-speed guide.

Simply 406 540Ks have been constructed through the unique manufacturing run between 1936 and 1939. It was a time when type was as necessary as perform, and there was no such factor as “over-engineered.”

And the Autobahn-Kurier, because the title suggests, celebrated a interval of German excellence that started within the Twenties and culminated within the building of the Autobahn community.

This one stays in a extremely unique situation, due partly to it remaining with its unique house owners for many of its life. The automotive was commissioned by Ignacio Barraquer, an eye fixed physician from Barcelona, Spain. His household retained possession till 2004, when it was bought to present proprietor Arturo Keller. After its sale, the automotive underwent a restoration by Paul Russell.

The Pebble Seashore Concours concluded this 12 months’s Monterey Automobile Week. For full protection on the California automotive mecca, head to our devoted hub.