Designed by the legendary Ferdinand Porsche, the supercharged six-cylinder 630 K was the first all-new model to be introduced following the 1926 merger of Daimler and Benz, forming Mercedes-Benz the marque as we know it today. In racing tune, few automobiles of the era could beat a properly tuned Typ K for all-out, top-end performance—it could reach 100 mph—as well as for the grandeur of its scale and the beautiful quality and appointments of its road-going coachwork. Even factory-bodied cars such as the example offered here were stylishly designed and beautiful to behold.

The latter is supremely evident in this 630, chassis no. 35861, mounted with a handsome four-passenger Tourenwagen body by Sindelfingen. An original 1929 registration in the file records the owner as Felipe Castillo of Madrid; subsequent owners are noted as the uncle of this vehicle's consignor, D. Dionisio Garcia Llorente, for whom a 1934 Madrid and 1937 Vinuesa registrations are on file, then to Antonio Torroba Llorente who registered the car in Madrid in 1973. Remarkably each of these owners has belonged to the same family, with the 630 having reportedly thus remained in the original ownership since new. As proven by the original order sheet, this 630 was fitted from new with a supercharged "K" engine, thus upgrading the car to the most desirable specification.

The car is still extremely, wonderfully original, with considerable enjoyable patina to its exterior and interior finishes, including the rich black leather upholstery and the green and black paintwork. If the top is not the original, it is nearly older enough to qualify, as are the side curtains that remain very usable to be fitted in place for long-distance journeys. Indeed, the present generation of owners has enjoyed touring with the 630 over the years, participating in numerous European shows and events, as noted in photographs included in the file.

More recently the 630 has been unused and therefore would benefit from mechanical sorting prior to undertaking further journeys. In addition to the side curtains and a Hengerer & Grimml luggage trunk, accompanying the car are the aforementioned original registrations and photos, as well as a wonderful original operator’s manual and spare parts book for the 24/100/140 PS model.

Few 630s survive with such handsome open coachwork or such fascinating history, and this example bears the further appeal of handsomely worn-in patina that is so desired in today’s collector car market. It would be a fabulous automobile for the Preservation Class at any number of concours, or simply to continue to enjoy stretching its legs as has now been a tradition for over nine decades.