1926 Mercedes-Benz 24/100/140 Sports Phaeton

36010roadGermany

Engine: 6.24L SOHC inline-six, 100 bhp naturally aspirated / 140 bhp supercharged at 3,100 rpm
Colour: Bright primrose yellow

A 1926 Mercedes-Benz 24/100/140 Sports Phaeton bearing coachwork by Erdmann & Rossi, this supercharged six-cylinder chassis was developed under Ferdinand Porsche's direction and is among the final examples built before the Daimler-Benz merger. Believed to have spent its entire life in California, it was originally delivered to Emil Jannings — the first-ever Academy Award winner for Best Actor — and passed through a small number of long-term California custodians before being professionally recommissioned for the current sale.

Ownership

2020-08-14Auction sale
Estimate US$1,000,000 – US$1,400,000
Bonhams catalogue lot →
1953 → 1953Acquisition unknown
Hugh Darby
partial documentation
Fresno-based owner who acquired and then sold the car within the same year.
1953 →Private sale
Kings of the Road Museum
partial documentation
Museum located in Rancho Cucamonga that displayed the car alongside other notable historic vehicles including an Arbuckle-associated Renault.
1997 → 2017Acquisition unknown
Harold Owen
full documentation
Fresno resident credited with assembling much of the early provenance documentation, including copies of factory records and period images from the Jannings era. Ownership ended upon his death approximately 20 years after acquisition.
Date unknownAcquisition unknown
Emil Jannings
partial documentation
Early Hollywood actor who received the car new and kept it for several years before departing to Europe, leaving the vehicle behind in California. Period photographs show him at the wheel.
Date unknownAcquisition unknown
Hal Anderson
partial documentation
Fresno-based long-term custodian who retained the car for over three decades. A restoration to a bright yellow finish with red interior is believed to have occurred around the start of or just before his ownership.
Date unknownAcquisition unknown
Current owner in Los Angeles area
partial documentation
Owner who acquired the car after it left Fresno for the first time in over 50 years and commissioned a professional recommissioning to return it to running condition.

Competition

No competition history extracted from the catalogue.

Maintenance & restoration

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Restoration
The car was repainted in a vivid primrose yellow with contrasting red upholstery, representing a change from its earlier grey-blue or green finish. This work is believed to have taken place shortly before or at the start of Hal Anderson's long ownership.
Exact date and workshop are unknown; the colour scheme has remained unchanged since.
—
Service
Professional recommissioning was carried out on behalf of the current owner to return the long-unused but carefully stored car to running order. At the time of cataloguing, attention to the gear-selection mechanism was still identified as needed before serious road use.
The car was described as running at the time of the sale but not yet fully road-ready.

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