The car originally sold to the King of Afghanistan is today a concours winner.
Patterson paid $9.9 million for the Mercedes, which has only changed hands five times in its seven decades.Its original owner was Mohammed Zahir Shah, the King of Afghanistan, who ordered it in May of 1937 and received it the following September. It was ordered with a body made in Sindelfingen, Germany, whose design is notable for the high side line of the doors, curved body contours with a recessed radiator, and the long tail that houses the spare wheel.
During the Second World War, the car was kept at the Afghan embassy in Paris and in 1950 it made its way to the U.K. after the Afghan king gifted it to his son-in-law. It then made its way to the U.S. in 1953 after being sold to a local collector.Production of the 540K and related 500K were handled by Mercedes at its Untertürkheim plant near Stuttgart between 1934 and 1939. A total 760 chassis were built, with 406 of these being the 540K powered by the supercharged 5.4-liter inline-8.
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