The Mystery Mercedes Owned by the Astor Family Found in Berlin, Germany
Karl-Helmut Larkamp, Managing Director of vintage car dealer Thiesen Berlin GMBH has identified the Mystery Mercedes first posted on VanderbiltCupRaces in 2011.
Larkamp: "This is a 1911 Simplex Cardan driven . The car is in my showroom in Berlin and is still completely untouched. Astor family was the first owner. We will get it running and driving again without restoring it. It will be part of a huge collection in Germany."
Mr. Larkamp has provided photos of the 1911 Simplex Cardan as it looks today.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
March 3, 2011 Post any .
This image from the original post "Can You Identify This Mystery Long Island Mercedes?" was provided by automobile historian Walt Gosden with the following comments:
Walt Gosden: "I read with interest your post about the early Mercedes roadster. There was another early Mercedes here on Long Island and from what i can recall from a casual conversation about the car with Henry Austin Clark Jr. when he brought it up about 35 years ago when we were working together in his library (I was his librarian for about two years in the mid 1970s).
The car was a 1905, in excellent original untouched condition, was still owned by the family that bought it new (possibly the Astor family). The car wasn't for sale - ever - and at that time had some interest by one of the grand kids (great grand kids?) of the family who were "going to get it running". I never heard anything further about the car, so it to my knowledge still exists out there someplace".
1911 Simplex Cardan (Courtesy of Karl-Helmut Larkamp)
Comments
From the photos, it would appear to have little rust or corrosion on the body proper or wear to the upholstery. The mechanical parts, that is the big question. Corrosion from the old oil is a problem that will have to be addressed.
Not a comment (other than “WOW!”) but could we please have a higher-resolution shot showing the year of the NY license plate (or just the date itself) and the story of how the car got from LI to Berlin? Sam, III
Wow!!! The car is in amazing condition. They’re smart NOT to restore the car. It’s fantastic as it is.
Rog
As already stated by Sam, please more details on its journey to Berlin…
In answer to the year of the license plate,it looks to me it’s 41
Very nice to see such an early car this nicely preserved. Give us notification if you find out when It’s up and running.