1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A (Hebmüller coupe conversion)
- Engine
- Supercharged inline-eight, 180 bhp with blower engaged
- Colour
- Cream with grey fenders and roof
A 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A, chassis 154143, originally delivered to Brabender GmbH of Duisburg on 12 July 1937. Around 1951, its subsequent owner, the Henkel family of Düsseldorf, commissioned coachbuilder Joseph Hebmüller to remove the convertible top and integrate a bespoke coupé roofline onto the factory Sindelfingen bodywork, creating a unique closed variant. The car passed through several American owners from the mid-1950s before being acquired in 1968 and stored for decades, during which time its whereabouts became a mystery even to leading marque historians.
Ownership
- —Auction saleSold US$995,000
- 1937-07-12 →Factory deliveryBrabender GmbHfull documentation
Duisburg-based industrial instruments company that took original factory delivery; the car retains the chassis, engine, gearbox, and coachwork from this period.
- 1954 → 1956Acquisition unknownHenry A. Rudkin Jr.partial documentation
First recorded American custodian; his mother founded the Pepperidge Farm brand. The car had already received a two-tone cream and grey repaint and a Golde sunroof by this stage.
- 1956 →Acquisition unknownDr. William Hoffmanpartial documentation
New York City resident in whose possession the car appeared in 1956.
- → 1968Acquisition unknownJohn P. Quirkpartial documentation
Nebraska-based collector who simultaneously held a factory Spezialcoupe; consigned both Mercedes to a Denver auction in 1968.
- 1968 →AuctionCurrent vendor's parentspartial documentation
Nebraska residents who purchased the car at the 1968 Denver sale and drove it home; kept it in regular local use through 1980, then stored it in a purpose-built garage where it remained until late 2019.
- Date unknownAcquisition unknownHenkel family of Düsseldorfpartial documentation
Members of the Henkel chemical concern; commissioned Hebmüller coachbuilders around mid-to-late 1951 to convert the open car to a fixed-roof coupe configuration.
Competition
- 1980County parade and car competitionDid not place; Best of Show awarded to a restored antique tractor
Small agricultural town event in Nebraska; the owner also entered a 1957 Corvette, which likewise failed to place.
Maintenance & restoration
- 1951BodyworkKarrosseriewerke Joseph Hebmüller Söhne
Coachbuilder Hebmüller removed the factory convertible roof and windshield pillars, then fabricated and integrated a new fixed coupé roofline onto the Sindelfingen bodywork. Additional changes included a vee'd two-piece windshield with crank-out panes, reshaped door glass, chrome-trimmed front fender skirts, rectangular marker lights, a truncated rear body with updated taillights, and a metal cover over the rear spare-tyre housing.
Carried out at the Henkel family's instruction in Wuppertal; a Golde canvas sunroof was added separately at an unspecified later point, not as part of this conversion.
- 2019MechanicalRM Auto Restoration
A mechanical recommissioning was carried out to return the car to operational driving and braking condition following its long period of garage storage.
Work completed around the time the car re-emerged publicly in late 2019; cosmetic condition including the 1960s paintwork and red leather interior was not addressed.
- —Bodywork
The car was repainted in a two-tone scheme of cream bodywork with grey fenders and roof, replacing the original dark finish applied after the Hebmüller conversion. A Golde canvas sunroof was also fitted at some point during this period.
Work occurred after the Hebmüller conversion and before the car's earliest documented US appearance in 1954.
- —Modification
Additional driving instrumentation was mounted below the dashboard, a modification characteristic of the enthusiast ownership era.
Still present at time of cataloguing; consistent with the car's period of active use in Nebraska.
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