Description
This car is Lot 190 to be auctioned by Bonhams|Cars at Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris Sale on 6 February, please see the Bonhams website for full details.
Public Viewing:
Available Tuesday 4 February from 08:00 until 18:00 and Wednesday 5 February from 9 AM - 6 PM, at The Grand Palais Historique, Paris.
Lot 190
1935 Mercedes-Benz 230B Cabriolet
Registration no.
Chassis no. 102155
Delivered new in Germany
Exported to the USA in 1945
Restored in the late 1990s
Offered from a private collection
Dutch registration document
The Great Depression, consecutive to Wall Street crash, had seriously impacted sales of prestige cars in 1929. The then young manufacturer Mercedes-Benz had to react and innovate in order to revive its sales. Already famous for its technical excellence and prestige models, the young brand took a commercial turn by launching the production of new mid-range family car. The Type 230 was born.
Little is known of this Mercedes-Benz 230B cabriolet's history, although it is assumed that the car was in German ownership for the first 10 years of its life. In 1945, the German owner exported the Mercedes to the USA where he used it for a few years. Following a mechanical failure, the car was put away in a barn and not used again until 1997(!) when it was bought by Miguel Angel Gutierez, a Spanish enthusiast from Granada. The Mercedes was in perfectly original matching-numbers condition, except for the aforementioned mechanical failure. The Spanish owner decided to undertake a full 'body off 'restoration, which took five years (see plaque attached to the car). After the restoration was completed, the Mercedes was registered in Spain and has won numerous awards for the quality of its restoration. The condition of the car is still very good and it drives very well.
In 2013, the current owner bought the car in Granada and imported it into The Netherlands. The car comes with a Dutch registration; there are no further documents with this lot.
All lots are sold 'as is/ where is' and Bidders must satisfy themselves as to the provenance, condition, age, completeness and originality prior to bidding. Visit the Bonhams|Cars website for all pertinent auction information.
