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| Mercedes 28/95 (from the collection of the author) |
This car was photographed by Dad at the Larz Anderson Estate in the mid-1950s. The car appears to be a Mercedes model 28/95 from the early 1920s (1922-1924?). As you can see, someone had built a crude body so the car could be used on the road - a more common practice at that time.
Mercedes introduced this engine in 1914 and it was raced with great success. The 7 liter, 6 cylinder produced 90hp and the later production cars (such as the one seen here) had four-wheel mechanical drum brakes. Mercedes would produce this model for a decade, right up to their merger with Daimler. These were expensive and powerful cars used for sporting models as well as formal coachwork, and they are highly prized today. This model was fitted with a supercharger for the 1922 Targa Florio, but I don't believe Mercedes would introduce the supercharger to their production cars until the later 1920s - predecessor to this car, the S models (S, SS, SSK, etc).
I'm not sure of the owner of this car at the time, but Dad says that Coburn Benson is seen in the driver's seat. Mr. Benson has owned many wonderful cars over the years, I'm just not sure if this was one of them. If anyone knows where this car is today, please leave me a comment.
UPDATE:
Blog reader John Kendrick says, "I saw the Mercedes you and I talked about and that I owned for a short time. The model designation Coburn gave me was K, I believe it was the first of the K series, the K of course stood for Kompresser. Coburn bought the car from Tom Mix. I bought it from Coburn for $750 less the magneto, very unfortunate. I rode in this car when Coburn had it, but I was not able to drive it with the missing mag. I sold it for $1,200 circa 1967, adjust that for inflation! It was in rough shape I'm quite sure it was a 1927. It went to Detroit, was restored and then lost in a fire, sad."
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| Mercedes 28/95 (from the collection of the author) |
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| Coburn Benson seen at the wheel of the Mercedes (from the collection of the author) |
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