Mercedes 1928 S Type wins coveted best-of-show award

A 1928 Mercedes-Benz S Type wins the coveted Best-of-Show award at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Mercedes-Benz has been here before and they know how to act when they get to the end zone. In fact this is the seventh Best of Show for Mercedes which is the equivalent of winning the Super Bowl. Mercedes-Benz has also collected more than 120 First in Class and Special Awards as part of a long list of successes since 1950. This year the German automaker won the coveted award with a stunning 1928 Mercedes-Benz Saoutchik S Type.

The car was originally designed by French coachbuilder Jacques Saoutchik and delivered to Charles Levine in New York City on August 2nd, 1928. The car with torpedo style bodywork and a low windshield was named the finest vehicle on display at the prestigious Monterey event. The magnificent car was kept in storage for 30 years before current owners Judy and Paul Andrews of White Settlement, Texas, had the car extensively restored.

The S Type is one of the fastest and most sought after sports cars of its time. Only 146 of these exclusive high-performance sports cars were made. The Mercedes-Benz S Type has been one of the most popular and also one of the most valuable collector cars in the world. At a recent Gooding & Company auction held at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, a Mercedes-Benz 540 K Special Roadster from 1936 sold for $11.8 million.

Exclusive high-performance sports car

The Mercedes-Benz S Type was launched in 1927 as an evolution of the Mercedes-Benz Model K super sports car. The sports car is powered by a 6.8-liter engine that produces 120 horsepower without a supercharger and 180 horsepower with the supercharger engaged. The car was legendary in racing history and won the 1927 race at the famed Nurburgring during its public debut.

The cars could also be bought as conventional road vehicles. All vehicles in this family had a six-cylinder in-line engine with a supercharger to increase output. Power was also boosted by the dual ignition. Each cylinder had two spark plugs, one fired by a battery ignition and the other by a high-voltage magneto ignition.

Mercedes-Benz once again has won the Best of Show at the most prestigious auto event in the world. And they have done it with a stunning example of a sports car with a rich history of racing success.

Source: Mercedes-Benz