Who knew of Mercedes’ 540K Stromlinienwagen?

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We were aware of something special Mercedes was to bring over to Pebble Beach this year. What exactly has been made public earlier this week – it’s a one-off 540K Streamliner – or Stromlinienwagen - of 1938-vintage. Thanks to its slippery shape, hammered from lightweight metals and born from windtunnel testing, plus with a supercharged eight cylinder it was supposedly quick enough to win the Berlin-Rome race of 1938. But that never happened, and the car languished for many decades.

Mercedes-Benz Classic can only be applauded to take on this job. The company says the exhaustive restoration was carried out using only techniques of the period to give the spectacular car the new lease of life its should have had much earlier. But how much of the original car was there before work started? The streamliner is said to have been owned by Dunlop in its early life, while later being used by the United States Army. Next it supposedly returned to Dunlop and to Mercedes-Benz once more. That was in 1948, when the aluminum body was scrapped. Supposedly only the chassis and running gear were kept. Don’t get us wrong, we love Mercedes for doing this. But how come we have never seen any other old pictures than the ones spread around now?

(picture courtesy Mercedes-Benz) 

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