1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K

Text:Charis Whitcombe/Mercedes Archives

Photo:Mercedes Classic Archives


Think back to the dynamic sports cars of the early thirties and you’re likely to conjure up an image of elegant roadsters or convertibles with bonnets stretching into the distance; plus powerful six or eight-cylinder engines eating up the miles.

Such recollections owe much to the Mercedes-Benz 500 K ("K" for Kompressor, to distinguish it from the 500 saloon without supercharger). This was a car oozing verve and exclusivity, and it waved goodbye to Daimler-Benz’s immensely powerful supercharged models of the Roaring Twenties.

Although it perhaps lacked outright performance, the 5-litre 500 K caused quite a stir. In terms of comfort, lightweight design and, above all, manoeuvrability, the 500 K was streets ahead of its predecessors, with a wide choice of bodies hand-built at the Sindelfingen plant. All that was missing was a touch more oomph…

Enter the Mercedes-Benz 540 K at the Paris Motor Show of 1936: at last, the icing on the cake for the golden era of pre-War supercharged Mercedes-Benz sports cars. The new 5.4-litre 540 K took the market by force, helped by the range of flamboyant body styles (though considered by some to be vulgar!). Each was given its own "personality", with the Sindelfingen staff tailoring the car's body and interior to customers' individual desires. It was rare for customers to look elsewhere for their coachwork and, with the vast range of bodies on offer at Sindelfingen, it’s hardly surprising. There were two-,2+2, three- and four-seater cabriolets, "classic" two- or four-seater coupés, streamlined coupés, combination coupés with two interchangeable roofs, two- and four-door saloons, two-door touring cars, a state-of-the-art and aerodynamically efficient motorway cruiser and a fastback sports saloon with – as a matter of curiosity - the first-ever curved side windows.

A masterpiece of design, the world-renowned 540 K two-seater special roadster boasted an inimitable synthesis of power and elegance. It embodied the spirit of the time and represented the final stylistic element in the 540 K jigsaw.




Now that 1930s sophistication had taken the place of sheer, unadulterated performance, refinement and comfort were the order of the day. An 8-cylinder in-line engine was adopted for both the 500 K (5-litre) and the 540 K (5.4-litre). The 540 K engine developed 115hp when naturally aspirated, or a forceful 180hp with the supercharger in operation, at just 3400rpm.

This power - transmitted via the rear axle and a four-speed transmission (five-speed from 1938) - made for a very respectable top speed of 170kph. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that fuel economy fell a bit short, with a good 29 litres of petrol per 100 kilometres flowing through the dual updraught carburettor. Fuel economy, however, was not a priority in most customers’ minds.

Two chassis variants were produced for the 540 K, both available with a wheelbase of either 3290mm or 2980mm. The first formed the basis for the four-seater and 2+2 models, with the radiator grille located directly above the front axle. The two-seater and two-/three-seater were built on a chassis where the grille, engine and all components behind it were moved 185 millimetres further back, hence the name "chassis with the engine set back". In keeping with the spirit of the times, this design trick helped to create the visual impression of a particularly long front end, inspiring the dynamic flair the designers sought.

The shorter variant was used only for a few special two-seater bodies. On these models, the radiator grille was again positioned directly above the front axle.

Also ahead of its time was the suspension. Double wishbone front suspension with coil springs was joined by a rear swing axle with dual coil springs and additional compensating spring.

Best-loved for its aggressive beauty, perhaps, but the 540K was certainly no technical disappointment.




The history of supercharged Mercedes-Benz cars dates back to the First World War and has its origins in the construction of aircraft engines. In a bid to address the power loss experienced by aircraft engines at higher altitudes, Gottlieb Daimler's son Paul - technical director of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft from 1907 - tried using a Roots blower. This unit allowed him to generate the necessary charging and to stabilise the output from the aircraft engines.

The first supercharged Mercedes passenger cars, decidedly luxurious vehicles, were displayed at the Berlin Motor Show in late 1921 - standing between bicycles with auxiliary engines and mini-cars. They made quite an impact on the assembled experts. In the years after 1921, the supercharger helped to catapult Mercedes passenger cars, sports cars and racing cars into a new performance class.

The prestigious 15/70/100 hp and 24/100/140 hp Mercedes models, produced from 1924 and offered under the new brand name, Mercedes-Benz, after the merger with Benz, were recognised as being among the world's leading cars. From 1926, a short-wheelbase version of the 24/100/140 hp model was available: the sports car model "K" (in this case standing for "Kurz", German for "short").

In 1927, one year after the merger of DMG and Benz & Cie. into Daimler-Benz AG, the automotive world was enriched by the launch of a new Mercedes-Benz car series whose model designations were to assume legendary status: the ultra-powerful S (Sport), SS (Super Sport), SSK (Super Sport Kurz) and SSKL (Super Sport Kurz Light) supercharged sports cars.

In 1933 came the supercharged eight-cylinder 380 and, just one year later, the more powerful and more elegant 500 K. Two years after that saw the arrival of the 540K.

The supercharged Mercedes-Benz models of today share the same title - Kompressor - with their ancestors of the 1930s, but there the similarity ends. With today’s buyers demanding a much subtler increase in output, the imposing and penetrating roar of the superchargers in the "muscle cars" has long since disappeared.




Engine: Front-mounted, 8-cylinder in-line 5,401cc (88mm x 111mm), cast-iron cylinder head, two valves per cylinder, single camshaft, single updraft carburettor, optionally engaged Roots-type supercharger (engaged by flooring throttle pedal).

Power: 115 hp without supercharger; 180 hp with supercharger engaged, both at 3400rpm.

Transmission: 4-speed gearbox (synchromesh on all but 1st gear), single-dry-plate clutch, direct gearchange, open propshaft

Dimensions: Wheelbase: 10’ 9.5” (329cm), except for a few special two-seaters which used a shorter variant Front track: 4’ 11.5” (151cm) Rear track: 4’ 11” (150cm) Length: 17’ 2.5” (524.5cm). Unladen weight (varies with body style): c.5,000lb (2,268kg)

Suspension: Front: independent, coil springs and double wishbones. Rear: independent, swing axles, dual coil springs (plus additional compensating spring) Lever-arm hydraulic dampers

Brakes: Four-wheel, hydraulically operated drum brakes, with Bosch vacuum-servo assistance

Chassis and body: Pressed-steel, box-section chassis frame, with box-section side and cross-bracing. Wide variety of bodies.

Top Speed: c.170kph



A great read! Roberto, I want Karma! jk

Oh great, I love these cars Dom.

Being a coachbuilt car, if you were wealthy enough and "acceptable", you could have just about any body style you can think of. Mercedes would not sell these cars to just anyone, you had to be someone they approved of ...being sympathetic to the Third Reich probably would have helped too.

I understand your passion to these cars! 540K Special Roadster is my favourite, it looks like a sculpture!

wow thnx for this..very cool reading..
love this car to death..one of my all time favs..

for once again i will say this. this is my favourite MB of all the time, probably the most Mercedes of all Mercedeses.
I have been in one 540K sedan. I examined every cm of it, and i have to say that we will NEVER see cars like this again. No plastic. No f***ing plastic. Only metal, wood and leather...

I have something for you:









Year: 1935
Mileage:
Price: 1,465,000 euros
Location: Singen (Germany)


exterior color: silver
interior color: red

Chassis No. 154151

Engine No. 154151

115/180hp 5,401cc. supercharged overhead valve inline 8-cylinder engine, 4-speed manual transmission, 4-wheel hydraulic drum brakes, independent front and rear suspension. Wheelbase 3290mm (129.5").



The Mercedes-Benz 540K was the most powerful automobile of its period. Not in sheer engine power, to be sure, but in its total mastery of the road and everything on it. And of the 406 examples built during the 540K’s production life from 1936-1939 the most dominant were the Special Roadsters designed and executed to the highest standards in Mercedes-Benz’s own karosserie in Sindelfingen. Only twenty-six 540K Special Roadsters were built. Only six of these were the long tail, covered spare version such as the example on offer. And only one of these has the unique combination of history, originality, provenance and presentation of the ex-Jack Warner 540K Special Roadster offered here.

Mercedes-Benz always commanded a place as the premier supplier of fine motor cars to the political, artistic and commercial aristocracy; the 540K was the culmination of its motor vehicle development before World War II, development that had taken two parallel courses following the merger of Daimler and Benz in 1926. The merged company’s commercial success depended upon bread-and-butter models like the mass-market 170 series and the middle-market 290 and 320. During the same period the 460 and 500 Nürburg, with side valve engines and chassis that still reflected pre-merger Mercedes designs, met the demands of the upper middle class German market.

The proliferation of models in all market segments helped Mercedes-Benz survive the worst days of the Great Depression, with production growing from a low of only 6,000 cars in 1932 to over 25,000 in 1935. These proliferating mass- and mid-market Mercedes-Benzes are important to today’s collectors because they provided the financial, operational and functional resources to support the all-conquering Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow Grand Prix team – with its succession of ever more powerful and better handling GP Monopostos culminating with the M163-engined W154 of 1939 – and the corps of artisans, skilled technicians, designers and craftsmen who constructed the 540Ks.

While Mercedes-Benz maintained its factories and employment with small and medium sized cars, it catered to the market’s most demanding clientele with a limited offering of the finest motor cars ever built. Based on a strong and rigid chassis these pioneering automobiles introduced coil spring four-wheel independent suspension using parallel wishbones at the front and swing axles at the rear. They featured synchromesh on the top three gears of their four-speed gearboxes, 12 volt electrical systems, central lubrication and vacuum-assisted hydraulic brakes. These massive high speed conveyances owed little to the S, SS and SSK machines of the Twenties except one glorious attribute: each was fitted with Mercedes-Benz’s driver-controlled supercharger that boosted engine output by about 60% in short full power bursts.

The first of the series, the 380, was introduced at the Berlin Motor Show in 1933 and was produced only for two years, 1933-34, before being phased out in favor of the much more powerful 500K in 1934. The 500K, in turn, was succeeded during 1936 by the ultimate motor car of the Thirties, the Mercedes-Benz 540K. These most significant cars were built in almost insignificant numbers. In 1935, for example, when Daimler-Benz built over 25,000 automobiles only 190 of them were the top of the line 500K, barely ¾ of 1% of Daimler-Benz’s production.

Not unexpectedly with such minute quantities, each car commanded the best of Mercedes-Benz’s resources. Each was individually constructed to the finest German standards, using only the most enduring materials and the finest craftsmen drawn from Daimler-Benz’s thousands of employees. Remarkably, at a time when most luxury automobiles were supplied as rolling chassis to coachbuilders of their new owners’ choice, Mercedes-Benz created almost all the body designs for its premier models in house and built them in the extensive facilities at the Sindelfingen Werk. Under the guidance of Wilhelm Haspel (who would go on to be Chairman of the Daimler-Benz management board from 1942-1952) Sindelfingen became both a highly efficient facility for production bodywork and the source of some of the most elegant, sporting and finely crafted limited production coachwork ever created.

The ultimate Mercedes-Benz 540K was the Special Roadster. Exceptional at the time, the 540K Special Roadster has subsequently firmly established itself at the pinnacle of classic cars. Priced at 28,000 reichsmarks (about $12,000 in Germany at the prevailing exchange rate; the New York importer, Mitropa Motors, asked $14,000 landed in the US – about 40% more than the most expensive catalog bodied Cadillac V16.) The 540K Special Roadster is an awe-inspiring blend of size, performance and style, possessed of a commanding presence that is palpable in any surroundings.

Constructed on a nearly 130" wheelbase chassis and stretching fully 17½ feet overall, the Special Roadster effectively accommodates only two passengers. Yet, the Sindelfingen designers have succeeded in so skillfully blending its elements that its proportions are harmonious. The gently sloping Mercedes-Benz radiator is tucked back behind the front wheels’ centerline between sweeping front fenders. The fenders then dominate the long hood before gently and voluptuously curving up to create the rear fenders which in turn flow delicately into the tail. Subtle bright accents complement and outline the form of the body elements, punctuated by functional and styling details that draw the eye and mitigate the effect of the 540K Special Roadster’s size. Two massive exhaust pipes emerge from the hood’s right side and disappear into the fender, like the scaled coils of a legendary serpent lurking below the hood’s surface prepared to devour lesser automobiles. These were automobiles built to impress, but to do so with impeccable taste. In 1937 owning a Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster must have been comparable with today’s experience of having a Gulfstream V at one’s disposal.

The Special Roadster’s imposing presence is matched by its impressive performance. The stiff frame and fully independent suspension supports its three tons effortlessly, soaking up irregularities in byways and at its best showing the 540K’s relaxed 85mph cruising speed on the highway. Mercedes-Benz fitted a camber compensator spring to the 540K to offset the swing axle independent rear suspension’s tendency to sudden camber changes and the resulting driving experience is balanced and satisfying. This is no sports car, but for two people to cover vast distances of good highways it is nearly unmatched.

It is the sudden burst of power when the supercharger is engaged by fully depressing the throttle pedal that tests both the driver and the 540K chassis. The sudden shriek of the blower’s 7 psi boost pressure unmasks the dragon within the 540K’s engine compartment, adding 65hp at 3400 rpm. Mercedes-Benz chose to pressurize the carburetor on its supercharged cars so the howl of gears, the blower itself and the scream of air being squeezed is unmuffled, creating a siren’s roar that clears the 540K’s path with alacrity. At full song a 540K will never be likened to a wraith or phantom but to the keening of banshees.

Of the twenty-six 540K Special Roadsters only six were created in the long tail style with fully enclosed rear spare tire recessed into the rear deck, the best developed expression of the 540K Special Roadster’s design and expression, and the example offered here is the best of this limited series. Specially prepared by Mercedes-Benz, unique in several small but significant respects, having a painted metal instrument panel and equipped with the rare black steering wheel and shift knob, it was presented as the magnificent centerpiece of the factory’s display at the 1937 Berlin Motor Show. Warner Brothers Pictures purchased it off the show display for its impresario Jack Warner, who probably fell under the spell of the 540K Special Roadster during one of his frequent trips to Europe. The factory then prepared it for delivery in the United States with a speedometer calibrated in miles and a "Made in Germany" plaque. The importer, Mitropa Motors in New York, was so proud of the Jack Warner 540K Special Roadster that it was featured in their advertising.

In Hollywood, a rarified environment where magnificent motor cars were the order of the day, where stars and studio bosses affected the latest and fastest automobiles as status symbols, Jack Warner retained his 540K Special Roadster for over ten years. In 1949 it was acquired by legendary Connecticut Mercedes-Benz collector George Bitgood through Dr. Sam Scher. Dr. Bitgood, a veterinarian still fondly remembered in his home town for his kindness to animals and their owners, slowly built a small and reclusive collection of the finest cars, particularly supercharged 8-cylinder Mercedes-Benzes, during the late ‘40s and ‘50s. Preoccupied with his veterinary practice, the Jack Warner 540K Special Roadster remained, untouched, in one of Dr. Bitgood’s garages, a dirt-floored building with its unhung doors leaning precariously over the entrances, sharing space with two other 540K roadsters, the Princess Cherwachidze 500K Special Roadster, an original SSK and a clutch of 540K Cabriolet Bs in various stages of dilapidation. The present owner acquired it in 1993 directly from Dr. Bitgood, through Herbert Von Fragstein and Paul Russell, and then commissioned its restoration by Paul Russell and Company in Essex, Massachusetts.

Paul Russell and Company’s Alex Finigan commented recently that the Jack Warner 540K had been preserved in the most remarkably original condition through its years with Warner Brothers and Dr. Bitgood. Before starting the restoration Russell’s shop carefully inventoried the complete car’s condition and documented the minute details of its assembly and construction, effort which has paid off in the Warner 540K’s restoration to the same configuration in which it was delivered by Mitropa Motors two generations ago. One small hole in the left rear wheel arch was the only rust on the car. The body’s heartwood beech and ash wood framing, the only materials considered good enough to be used by Mercedes-Benz Karosserie in Sindelfingen for the 540K, had survived entirely intact, an attribute almost unheard of for pre-war coachbuilt classics, as had all the body panels and trim except for the spare tire cover and bumpers. Because of its sound and original condition Finigan describes this as "the easiest prewar restoration we’ve done." Other than recreating the lost spare tire cover and bumpers the only reproduction parts needed in the restoration were the white rubber body seals and trim strips which were unique to the Special Roadsters.

The Jack Warner 540K’s original colors were carefully duplicated. Individual hides that matched the originals’ texture, tannage and grain were selected for the interior. The period-correct surface dying process and the original supplier’s technique were carefully duplicated. The engine, drivetrain and chassis were overhauled and restored to original condition.

Following restoration the Jack Warner 540K Special Roadster took First in Class and the Mercedes-Benz Trophy at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, followed by Best of Show awards at the VSCCA Castle Hill Concours d’Elegance in 1995, the Dallas Concours d’Elegance in 1996 and the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in 1997. It has won numerous other Best in Class and special awards at the most important concours. It has not been used or shown since appearing at the N.H. International Speedway "The Elegance" in 1998 where it received four awards including the Judges’ Trophy and Best Restored, attesting both to the inherent quality of the automobile itself and to the caliber of its restoration and continuing care.

The next owner of Jack Warner’s 540K Special Roadster will be effectively only the third owner of the car since new, Dr. Sam Scher’s ownership being incident to its transfer from Warner Brothers to George Bitgood. The Jack Warner 540K Special Roadster’s long tail, covered spare style is the ultimate expression of five years’ development, refinement and evolution by Sindelfingen’s designers, stylists and craftsmen, the most desirable of all the provocative and powerful 540K Special Roadsters and this example is considered to be the best of the six cars built in this style.

The Jack Warner Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster has an unbroken provenance from new and today displays only 11,000 miles on its odometer. Starting "on the button", its low miles, remarkable originality and meticulous restoration will give its new owner the complete experience of driving a barely broken-in 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K with the most desirable and attractive coachwork ever created for this chassis, and perhaps for any chassis in history. Its condition is impeccable, its style is grand, its presence magnificent, its provenance pristine, its history includes one of the century’s most important Movie Moguls and carries the aura of stars, starlets and larger-than-life personalities.

This most "powerful", beautiful and imposing automobile of the Classic Era still has the grandeur to stop traffic. With its supercharger engaged its grandeur is matched by an eloquent orchestra of tortured air and shrieking gears. This is no swaggering poseur. This is one great and powerful automobile.

Copyright © 1996-2004 R.S. Carey and individual publishers as their interests appear.

Nice reading and great pics, thanks!

Not only is the car's looks and presence just amazing, there are other amazing things as well, for its' time:

"Also ahead of its time was the suspension. Double wishbone front suspension with coil springs was joined by a rear swing axle with dual coil springs and additional compensating spring. "

Here are some 540Ks that are currently for sale.

1935 Tourenwagen W24 LINK





1939 549K Cabriolet B LINK




1937 540K Spezial Roadster LINK








1939 540K Spezial Roadster This is the same vehicle I posted pictures of earlier. LINK

Beautiful car, great article, very informative. I love these pre-WW2 Mercedes'.

My favorite though has to be the 500K Spezial Roadster. Friggin lovely.