While it somewhat goes without saying that any Mercedes-Benz 500 K is a special automobile, there have been a few that have always stood apart, quite literally recognized since the moment of their creation as Special. These are the vaunted Special Roadsters, a style which came into its own on the 500 K chassis and continued through the run of the successor 540 K, in several different distinct styling variations.

Among the most dramatic was the early 500 K Special Roadster, which owed much styling inspiration to the great SSKs that came before it. It featured an extremely long hoodline, with the radiator and supercharged, 180-horsepower eight-cylinder engine relocated several inches rearward, allowing the fenders to emerge more powerfully at the nose. The front end seemed to extend forever back to a low, vee’d windshield, at which point the doors swept in an elegant curve, recalling the cut-down sides of the supercharged Mercedes racers of the previous decade—and then the rear of the car descended, sharply, in almost a fastback sweep. It was not for nothing that these cars established the Special Roadster’s status as one of the most dramatic, and, indeed, beautiful automobiles of the Classic Era—and they are commonly known today, in enthusiast parlance, as the “short-tail, low-door” models, distinguishing them from the two later series.

Today only seven original examples of the short-tail, low-door Special Roadster remain in existence, with all of them part of long-term, prominent private collections. Only one of them has been judged Best of Show at the revered Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and it is that which is offered here: A car whose fascinating history extends from England, to South Africa, to the United States, with colorful characters who always appreciated its myriad charms.

THE GORE 500 K

Built with right-hand-drive for the British market, chassis number 123702 was supplied to peer, author, and translator, the Honorable Arthur Gore, Viscount Sudley, later the 7th Earl of Arran, for whom it was registered “CCP 528.” It retains the original British-market “GB” lettering and special taillight on the rear deck, alongside the dual rear-mounted spares. Purportedly it was also originally specified with additional driving lights and horns, perhaps to suit the Viscount’s driving style—or its intended destination. The Viscount had served in South Africa in the early 1930s, and the car found its way to that country, in his hands or otherwise; it was acquired there by the 1950s by early enthusiast Desmond Fitzgerald, by which time it was carrying registration number “1 LPC.” It was with Mr. Fitzgerald that the 500 K first moved to the United States, and it has remained here since.

In the early 1960s, the car was acquired from Fitzgerald by the prolific early collector and trader Jim DeBickero of Illinois, who sold it around 1963 to Lester Braunstein of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, California, at the time a prominent and very active collector in the Golden State. Mr. Braunstein completed the first restoration of the car and took it around the concours circuit, including in 1965 to Pebble Beach; it was also featured in an article in the April 1973 issue of Motor Trend. Soon thereafter the 500 K was sold to Tom Barrett, who, rather amazingly, sold both this car and a similar 500 K Sport Roadster at the same time to Allen Woodall of Georgia.

Late in the 1970s, the car was acquired from Woodall, reportedly its tenth owner, by legendary Silicon Valley figure, Thomas Perkins. At the time, Perkins was building what would become one of the finest and most distinguished collections of performance cars in the world, focusing on pre-war supercharged sports cars. This collection, not duplicatable today, included the future Ralph Lauren Bugatti Atlantic, the famous Gurney Nutting Duesenberg SJ, Woolf Barnato’s own “Blower” Bentley, and the prototype Squire now in The Simeone Collection, among others. His automobiles were the subject of a book written by Mr. Perkins, aptly titled Classic Super-Charged Sports Cars, in which he wrote of the 500 K that, at the time of his acquisition, it had been driven several hundred thousand miles.

Following a full restoration by the late Mercedes-Benz specialist Ken McMurphy’s AutoEuropa of Martinez, California, the car was brought by Tom and Gerd Perkins to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance of 1982, and was awarded Best of Show—then as now, the most significant victory for a vintage automobile and its owner.

Later in the 1980s, Mr. Perkins began the process of divesting his collection, and in 1988 the 500 K was dealt through Charles Howard to the present stable, where it has been proudly maintained for the last 37 years. It has made very infrequent appearances in that time, most prominently returning to Pebble Beach for commemorations, including the epic reunion of past Best of Show winners in 2000.

This stands as one of the most significant supercharged Mercedes-Benzes in existence, and is the first original “low-door” Special Roadster to have become available in this country in the last two decades, showcasing its importance. It is in the first rank of its type—and boasts an illustrious provenance that few can claim, extending like its powerful visage from Viscount to Pebble Beach, and beyond.