1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster

It’s a wonderful, bulletproof Autobahn cruiser, but driving over the Italian Alps requires substantial effort

by Alex Finigan

Upping the ante in the 1930s horsepower race, Mercedes-Benz designers introduced the 8-cylinder 500K (for Kompressor, or supercharger) model in 1934. The supercharger boosted power from 100 hp to 160 hp, and the external exhausts set the style that would carry the company through the rest of the decade.

Two years later, the 5.4-liter 540K model was introduced, offering 180 hp with the supercharger engaged and crowning the company’s ambitions. By 1940, 419 cars had been built in eleven body styles from the factory’s gifted Sindelfingen coachworks and a handful of one-offs.

This 540K roadster was constructed by the Mayfair Carriage Company in London, a small operation best known for bodying Alvis and Lagonda. This car is considered to represent the apogee of Mayfair’s work, at once sporting and elegant, with folding windshield and extensive use of louvers.

Mercedes records indicate the chassis was shipped October 7, 1936, to the factory outlet...