Early Pre-War Mercedes at the Cincinnati Concours

Mercedes Benz was the featured marque at this year's Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance. Seven different classes were presented on the grass at historic Alt Park with the oldest, pre-war vehicles getting a lot of the attention. Among them was the Best in Show winner, a 1936 540K Spezial Roadster. The K in the name stands for Kompressor which designates that this car has a supercharger. According to the owner, this car was found tucked away in a barn in Switzerland where it was being hidden from the Nazis. It has a 5.4-liter inline eight-cylinder engine that generates 180 horsepower.

 Perhaps the most unique vehicle on the Alt Park lawn was this Mercedes ordered replica of the 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen. This is largely considered to be the first true, practical automobile. This belt driven motorized tricycle has a 53 cubic inch, single cylinder four-stroke engine. It generates two-thirds of one horsepower.

This large luxury car is a 1938 320 Cabriolet B. Its numbers matching engine is a 3.2-liter inline six-cylinder power plant that produces 73 horsepower.