sjordan2 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I've been doing a lot of research over the past year or so to help with my Jo-Han 1935 Mercedes 500K, and pictures are as rare as this one-off car itself. It was originally built by Mercedes as a gift for their #1 race driver, Rudi Caracciola. Then it was bought by Benito Mussolini as a gift for his nephew (whom he later had executed). It eventually passed into the hands of a zillionaire butcher named Rudi Klein, who had it restored in 1965. When it failed to start after a 1980 Newport Beach show, he put it into a garage at his exotic car salvage yard in South Central L.A., and it hasn't been seen since except by a couple of people. His eccentric heirs won't let anyone near it. The Mercedes Classic Center even offered to restore it for free, but they wouldn't agree. It is the subject of an article in the February issue of Town & Country magazine, which states that it now sits on flattened tires, covered with 30 years of grime, perhaps never to see the light of day again. It has been estimated that this could be the most valuable Mercedes in history. The kit... The original car as built for Caracciola... The car as restored in 1965... ...and its current home in South Central L.A., next to some roadside taco stands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 It's pretty hard to understand why they'd refuse the offer of a free restoration! That car could be worth millions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 It's pretty hard to understand why they'd refuse the offer of a free restoration! That car could be worth millions! Given that car's lineage, it could be worth millions as is. Still, it is at least a little bit comforting the car still exists in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Skip, it all sounds like a wonderful story. Great you've done the research. How are you going to build the model to include parts of the story, or are you just going to build it and have a placard with the story written next to it. Wow, the car's final resting place is not too far from where I grew up in Cali. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Skip, it all sounds like a wonderful story. Great you've done the research. How are you going to build the model to include parts of the story, or are you just going to build it and have a placard with the story written next to it. Wow, the car's final resting place is not too far from where I grew up in Cali. My biggest question is what the interior looks like, since there are no known photos and since there were differences between the dashboards in the convertible roadsters and fixed-head hardtop coupes; open-air roadsters had leather dash surfaces, and most coupes had wooden dashes. One of the people who has seen this car in the past few years is Mike Kunz, head of the Mercedes Classic Center USA; I have sent him an e-mail asking a few questions, and they have been good in the past about getting back to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Tint the windows really dark and "fuggetaboudit"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleb Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Wow and I bought this johann kit for a buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 It's pretty hard to understand why they'd refuse the offer of a free restoration! That car could be worth millions! The brothers are crazy. You should read the article in Town & Country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Here is Rudi Carracciola with the Mercedes in 1937: The car might be in better condition than the mainstream media wants us believe. The restored cars of the Klein collection always have been stored inside. This is a photo of the storage conditions when Mr Klein was still alive (that's the man himself to the far right): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren B Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Yes sad indeed, and its sad that I do not own it! oh but anyway yes it would be nice to have a complete resto but the current family probably is worried that someone doing the resto may take off with the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Yes sad indeed, and its sad that I do not own it! oh but anyway yes it would be nice to have a complete resto but the current family probably is worried that someone doing the resto may take off with the car. Mercedes themselves offered to do the resto. I think they'd be pretty trustworthy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren B Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I've been doing a lot of research over the past year or so to help with my Jo-Han 1935 Mercedes 500K, and pictures are as rare as this one-off car itself. It was originally built by Mercedes as a gift for their #1 race driver, Rudi Caracciola. Then it was bought by Benito Mussolini as a gift for his nephew (whom he later had executed).It eventually passed into the hands of a zillionaire butcher named Rudi Klein, who had it restored in 1965. When it failed to start after a 1980 Newport Beach show, he put it into a garage at his exotic car salvage yard in South Central L.A., and it hasn't been seen since except by a couple of people. His eccentric heirs won't let anyone near it. The Mercedes Classic Center even offered to restore it for free, but they wouldn't agree. It is the subject of an article in the February issue of Town & Country magazine, which states that it now sits on flattened tires, covered with 30 years of grime, perhaps never to see the light of day again. It has been estimated that this could be the most valuable Mercedes in history. The kit... The original car as built for Caracciola... The car as restored in 1965... ...and its current home in South Central L.A., next to some roadside taco stands. imagine an uncle like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren B Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) Mercedes themselves offered to do the resto. I think they'd be pretty trustworthy... opps i failed to read the whole thread, i always do that without knowing the whole story, yeah they would have been very trustworthy and no matter how nuts the brothers were or are they should have jumped at that once in a life time chance. Edited February 10, 2012 by Darren B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I'm sure it makes a great story, but since so few people have actually seen the car (and who knows how much of it), we're going on very little info. We can all have our opinions and it sure makes a great story for selling magazines, but maybe all of the attention the car is garnering is turning the owner(s) off to sharing it with others. $.02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Entirely btw, the car was offered for sale to Mr. Haenle when it was measured and photographed to make the kit. Needless to say that he passed on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Entirely btw, the car was offered for sale to Mr. Haenle when it was measured and photographed to make the kit. Needless to say that he passed on it. I wonder what they were asking for it at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) Mercedes themselves offered to do the resto. I think they'd be pretty trustworthy... The Mercedes Classic Center IS Mercedes; it's part of the company. (BTW, where did you find that shot of the car being uncovered?) Here are some other cars that the Town & Country article says are crumbling at the facility, including one of 29 alloy-bodied Gullwings: Edited February 10, 2012 by sjordan2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) I'm sure it makes a great story, but since so few people have actually seen the car (and who knows how much of it), we're going on very little info. We can all have our opinions and it sure makes a great story for selling magazines, but maybe all of the attention the car is garnering is turning the owner(s) off to sharing it with others. $.02 I doubt that this story has much to do with selling an upscale women's fashion and style magazine, and certainly would attract little attention on the newsstand for their audience. The cover story is about Ali MacGraw. Christian: Please add to your story of the guy who wouldn't buy the car. I'm looking for every shred of information I can find. Edited February 10, 2012 by sjordan2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) Christian: Please add to your story of the guy who wouldn't buy the car. I'm looking for every shred of information I can find. Not much to tell. The car has been offered to John Haenle (of Jo-Han fame) when it was measured to make the kit. Mr. Haenle, first and foremost famous for not easily parting with money, declined. This happened in the heydays of model kits, he certainly wasn't strapped for cash (in fact he drove new Cadillacs at the time), neither was the asking price anywhere near the mad prices paid for classic cars since the late Eighties explosion. Mr. Haenle later often said that he regrets not having bought the car at the time, since it would have provided him with a nice retirement fund. Edited February 10, 2012 by Junkman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 the picture of the car with the 3 men around it in the "garage", looks to be from the late 80's or early 90's? fascinating story Klein died in 2001. It is his sons who are running the business, and the magazine description of flattened tires and 30 years of grime is based on witnesses who have seen the car since then. The Town & Country writer was not allowed access to the car, but he based his description on what he learned from Mike Kunz, who runs Mercedes' corporate Classic Center in Irvine, CA and made the offer to the brothers for free restoration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Appetite Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 and I thought Hollywood was bad, destroying classic muscle all the time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 What I really can't understand is why they just sit on this literally one-of-a-kind car worth potentially several million bucks? If it was me I'd want to tap into that. Knowing I had a multi-million dollar treasure rotting away in a warehouse somewhere would keep me tossing and turning at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 It's called a long-term investment Harry. Decades long... But you're right about doing the resto now. First, it would build interest over time for serious buyers. Second, if a resto had to be paid for, now is cheaper than later. But turning down a free resto-even keeping the car for another generation-man that's nuts. And who better than MB Corporate?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 What I really can't understand is why they just sit on this literally one-of-a-kind car worth potentially several million bucks? If it was me I'd want to tap into that. Knowing I had a multi-million dollar treasure rotting away in a warehouse somewhere would keep me tossing and turning at night. Maybe they have enough millions already that it doesn't mean anything to them. Like I said, these guys are cuckoo. And if you don't read the article, including info about the guard dogs that will eat anyone who comes close, you won't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Maybe M-B needs to send a few guys over to "convince" the owner to agree to a factory resto job. You know, "vee haff vays of making you cooperate..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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