Vehicle exhibits

The parent company of Mercedes-Benz, Daimler-Benz, was Germany's leading producer of luxury cars and heavy trucks prior to World War II. They enjoyed much success in Grand Prix and sports car competition thanks, in part, to Mercedes’s advanced technology including supercharging, fully independent suspension, light-alloy metallurgy, and overhead camshafts.

Mercedes-Benz began producing a line of large and fast grand touring cars beginning in 1932. The 540K model was offered from 1936 to 1938 and was the design work of Hermann Ahrens and built to order by Karrosserie Sindelfingen (a Mercedes-Benz in-house coach building subsidiary).

The Sindelfingen factory employed 1,500 people to create the 540K, and allowed a great deal of owner customisation, meaning only 70 chassis were ever bodied by independent builders. 

This Exhibit is one of 2 Kombinationswagen's built. It featured a steel roof that could be removed and a soft hood could be substituted in its place thus converting the car from a coupe into a cabriolet.