1928 Mercedes-Benz S-Type 26/180 Sports Tourer by Glaser

It was the foundation for the legendary SSK and SSKL racing cars.

Built between 1927 and 1933, the S-Type was a performer in its day. It’s powered by a supercharged 6.8-liter straight-six that makes 180 horsepower with the supercharger activated. The body here is a one-off by Glaser and it was white with red interior much earlier in its life.

The current family that owns this car acquired it in 1964 (!) and it was first restored in the mid-1960s to the color scheme it now carries. A second restoration was completed in 2013. The auction catalog states that 146 S-Types were built and only 58 remain.

“Silent streams of super-power… unbounded flexibility” “comfort to carry you to the ends of the earth” – quoted period Mercedes-Benz advertising in America for the legendary Type S.

The British Mercedes marketing would elaborate more: “Decades of experience in the building of sport cars of superior performance, the universally known high grade workmanship of the Benz-Mercedes Works and their masterly designs have contributed harmoniously to the creation of the Mercedes-Benz Sport model ‘S’, which may justly be described as the acme of motor car perfection”

Mercedes were right to make such bold statements on the arrival of their new model in the late 1920s, the equivalent motoring press would ‘wax lyrical’ about its incredible performance.

The ‘S’ was created in a magical period for the company, shortly after the merger of Daimler and Benz, while Ferdinand Porsche was Chief Engineer. He built a powerful, yet versatile automobile – a true all rounder, at home on the race track, at hill climbs and providing exhilarating driving for the road. The signature engineering feature was its ‘on demand’ Roots type supercharger, that only came into operation when the accelerator was fully depressed, boosting power output from 120 to 180 brake horsepower for a few glorious seconds!

Mercedes nestled the impressive 6.8 liter power unit into a low slung double dropped chassis, which was proudly adorned with a massive radiator. Contemporary photographs of the completely unclothed ‘S’ running gear show the model to be as beautiful, sporting and purposeful even before rakish coachwork was applied. In truly uncompromising fashion, the clearance between the engine and the hood was no more than an inch.

Mercedes debuted the cars at the opening meeting of the Nürburgring in 1927, where Caracciola set the tone with a class win, it would be the first of many laurels bestowed on the model. Here in America, Ralph de Palma drove an ‘S’ to victory in the 15 and 30-mile races at Atlantic City, averaging 80mph.

Mercedes worked hard in selling their latest definitive sports car, and despite a price tag of more than $7,000 without coachwork they found willing homes around the globe from royalty to celebrity. In America, notable owners included Al Jolson, who owned by an S and SS, the Marx brothers who famously raced their car in the Muroc Match Race, Barney Oldfield, and theater impresario Samuel Lionel “Roxy” Rathafel, of New York fame and founder of the ‘Rockettes’ dance troupe, today still present each holiday season at Radio City. While further afield enthusiasts included English Sportswoman Dorothy Paget, daughter of Pauline Payne Whitney, the Fifth Earl Howe, Sir Malcolm Campbell and novelist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to name but a few.

Quite simply, there wasn’t anything to touch the Mercedes, but as with its competitors, it faced an uphill struggle for sales as the depression set in and only 146 of these remarkable cars were ever built between 1927 and 1930.

Mercedes’ bold claims for the model ‘S’ were endorsed universally at the time and in the 90 years that have ensued since have been held in high esteem. In Beverly Rae Kimes ‘The Star and the Laurel’, she describes the ‘S’ thus – “It was as close to a race car as could be built without actually building one.” These are sentiments which those who have had the privilege to drive an ‘S’ can only echo for their driving characteristics which are incredibly impressive. Eschewing the majestic proportions of the car, it is utterly engineered to perform at speed, with light and precise steering, stability at high digit mphs and almost unlimited power, even before the supercharger is engaged. Any comparison with its contemporaries is practically frivolous, since on face value it would seem to be from another era and is unquestionably in a class of its own.

Their qualities have been continually re-affirmed by generations of collectors, from Brooks Stevens to Bill Harrah, and examples reside in many of the most significant collections around the world, including the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia, which houses none other than the Nürburgring winner that started it all. Some families never even parted with their cars and as recently as 2012, Bonhams sold one from the same family it had been delivered to when new. As with other coveted automobiles, from day one opportunities to purchase them rarely appear.

A few have changed hands in the last few years, but they are rarely attainable. It’s a pretty awesome machine that will grab everyone’s attention wherever you take it… if you can afford the $5,000,000-$6,000,000 price tag.