At PreWarCar.com we see lots of mysteries. Some are solved within hours after publication. Some will never be solved. And for some it just akes a little longer. In this particular case 14 years ! before we heard more about the car. It was 2002 when we raised the question about a Mystery Mayfair bodied Merc and now we got message from Stephen Mertz, who owned the car in the past. He writes:
'Please let me comment on this particular 540K Mercedes-Benz Mayfair Roadster, # 154080. The story as understood both myself and my father, Richard C. Mertz, is that the car was commissioned by a "prince" from India along with a Logonda with a very similar designed body. The Lagonda was completed first and won, and exported back to India for its' owner, and the 540K never left the UK. As the war broke out and with fuel rationing it was unused for everyday transportation and there are no accounts of the measures taken for storage.
After the war it was purchased and exported to Canada, first Montreal, then on to Toronto where it resided until the fire, which also destroyed a 1924 Sunbeam Sedan
, cause of which was reported as arson. The fire destroyed everything between the firewall (a good name for it) back to the rear of the passenger compartment. Over the passengers feet (left side, right hand drive) was about an 8 or so litre reserve/starting fuel tank, which when the fire softened the fittings, filled the compartment and accelerated the fire. What the fire didn't destroy, the fire department certainly tried, but nothing below the floor boards was harmed. The real astonishing thing is that the fuel level sending fittings were softened and moved, opening up a hole, about an inch or so, but the main fuel tank never assisted in the fire and still had contained some gasoline.The car was scheduled to be scrapped for parts, for after all, the radiator alone was worth some $5,000.00 in 1960 dollars and the list and offers went on and on. But my father's conviction of rebuilding a vehicle that was second to none in design and stature of the time as said by David Holls (member of the Senior Design Staff at General Motors, and preciously had over looked GM Opal's design program) felt it was probably one of the finest proportioned and executed studies of its era).
We then purchased the remains of the vehicle and proceeded to "search up" parts including everything from instruments, steering column, steering wheel and necessary parts for the hand throttle/ignition retarding mechanisms. Bud Cohen in California loved the car and had faith in my father's ability to rebuild it so much that he'd supplied and given many of these necessary parts for the completion of dad's venture.
In the process of rebuilding, when you found bit of charred wood from one point, you'd fabricated two, a right sided one and left sided one, mirrored; until the frame work was complete and assembled. This venture took all but 20 years to complete. Alcraft of Madison Heights, MI a group of 4 newly landed English body fabricators along with a Master Pattern Maker took on the job lovingly throughout completion. But there was much more to do, as the engine (5.4 litre) although complete had to be rebuilt with parts fabricated as required replacing those not available, along with the clutch, brakes and other safety equipment.The interesting thing about this particular vehicle is that, and it's my understanding, that it was a transition vehicle between the 500K and 540K. Some parts were off the 500K particularly the Bosch head lamps (Bud Cohen furnished the proper 540K units), but the fender lamps were Lucas, King of the Road. The car carried 2 Bosch tail lamps each with 3 lenses, along with a number plate or point of origin plate on each. The front suspension was 500K which had been preciously broken and repaired showing how it'd been scrapped along the ground while being driven. Examined it looked as though the king pin had broken from perhaps hitting a pot hole. Replacement 540K control arms wouldn't fit, another indication of the mixed heritage of this vehicle.
The rear suspension (fully independent, swing axle) was also a cross between the 500K and 540K as there was a compensating valve between the knee action shocks for wich a sudden bump they were shocks, but rounding a corner the fluid was redirected and they acted like a sway bar. Another innovation was the compliant design of the front suspension arms that (it's my understanding) wasn't incorporated in current designs until Buick added it in the 60's, while the rear suspension being fully independent had no trailing arms to locate the wheels, all being handled by the differential housing and 2 - 50mm x 25mm bushings (if I remember correctly). Quite remarkable and risky especially with "today's" chuckhole riddled roads.
The car was put back as built, I believe the only "over chroming" done were the 7 covers on each wheel used to cover the balancing weights, no chrome spokes or hubs,
louvers, wheels or engine parts - all put back as the car was delivered by Mayfair to the M-B dealer in London, England. My father believed that restoring what just that, RESTORING, and not trying to redesign a beautiful creation with chrome and a fancy paint job on both the engine and chassis as well as the body. I passed it by when visiting the Imperial Palace collection back in the 80's, as I just didn't recognize it.The car was used and driven, even being taken back to Toronto on a very rainy day to attend their Concours sponsored by the ACCCC in the early 80's.