1935 Mercedes-Benz 290 Roadster

Yes, it's a full Classic by the Classic Car Club of America guidelines, under the "all 230 and up" note, following from their website (and this is prewar 230, not later 230SL!!):

Mercedes-Benz

All 230 and up,

K, S, SS, SSK, SSKL,

Grosser and Mannheim

Checked out some of the specs on the 290 at these sites:

1936 Mercedes-Benz 290K Technical Specifications and data. Engine, Dimensions and Mechanical details. | Conceptcarz.com

and

http://www.autoevolution.com/engine/mercedes-benz-typ-290-roadster-w18-1936-290.html#chars

Straight 6, 86 horsepower, 3800 lbs, top speed 67 mph. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought it was a Chevy truck

PS -- Yes, I'm a CCCA member, so don't shoot me!

If you have ever seen one in person you would know why it has full classic status. Other than the engine everything is top of the line. This car would have retailed for more than 4k dollars in the US.

Yep, I had my car positioned across from Sam Mann's 540 special roadster at the Indy celebration last summer, so I developed a quick appreciation for MB engineering of the period.

I also had a chance last week to inspect a 540 supercharged cabriolet undergoing restoration -- massive boxed frame, hidden wood framing, lubrication lines to the front a-arms, massive drums, dual coil springs for each rear wheel, maybe a half dozen braces beneath the cowl alone. The car is so stiff my friend told me that if you jack up the back wheel, the front one will come off the ground Heck, even the piece holding the spare tires on the back seemed to be lathed out of a solid piece of steel.

But a couple things baffled me. The radiator and chrome shell were one piece; must have made repair a nightmare. Also, as far as I could tell, if you needed to take the driveshaft out, you'd pretty much have to lift the body off. Certainly not a machine for the tree-shade mechanic!

The radiator on the 500k/540k is made from 16000 individual square copper tubes that are soldered on the outside edges allowing water to pass between the tubes and air to flow through the tubes themselves. The entire unit is then soldered into the chrome shell. Last I knew you could buy the whole unit reproduced for around 40k.

The 290/320 models listed from 4 to 6k in the U.S. The 500k/540k started around 10,000 and went up to 14,000k for the Special Roadster.

A.J. - while the 290/320 models were sold stateside is it a fair statement to say that they were largely produced for the needs of European countries? today we think of German cars in terms of the Autobahn, but it would seem to me that these would be well suited to narrow, twisting roads where handling trumps horsepower? Kind of like the small HP RR cars?

Saw something you don't see too often in this month's HMN, The stable out of NJ has a K car listed, how often do you see these in the hands of a US dealer? seems more often when they show up stateside, it is at an auciton house.

Hey Steve,

I believe the 540k (if it is a Cab A) that that you mention is the same one that was for sale by a dealer in Texas and seems to have floated between dealers. I had thought that car went back to Germany.

The 290/320 cars were intended for the upper middle class as they were not inexpensive. All had 4 or 5 speed transmission with overdrive on the high gear so their top end was higher then what was typical of the equivalent American engine. With the independent suspension all around the handling would have been better although I think there was some funkiness with the swing rear on a tight turn at speed.

Brian,

Have you requested any info on your car from the MB Classic Center? If it was built in Sindelfingen then they may have it. I believe all the Manheim records went up in smoke. I am not sure what the answer is to your question. If you have a copy of the first volume of Melin then there are many badge pictures which should show the correct fastener. I do not have mine handy.

Neat car btw.

A.J.

Thanks for the link to the Forrest Grove pictures. Some very nice cars there indeed. I liked the Packard in "original" condition.