2021- First one out of the gates this year:
ILARIO, with the 1:43 model of a rather intriguing Mercedes the 540K Cabriolet, with coachwork by “Norrmalm” (Karosseri Aktiebolaget Norrmalm), which was located in the nowadays residential district of Vasastan of Stockholm, Sweden.
Just released in a very limited quantity of only 45 pieces, the model, made in the typical Ilario quality, is priced at 298 € (minus French VAT for export outside the EU) plus shipping.
The car’s early years:
There are only three cars with Norrmalm coachwork known to have survived, and this is the only Mercedes-Benz to have been bodied by the Company. Mr. Johan Oscar Olhager was the chief of design of Norrmalm and designed this bodywork for its first owner, Mr. Max Gumpel of Sweden. The Mercedes-Benz 540K was delivered to Mr. Gumpel as rolling chassis W 169389 on September 30th1937. The subsequent coachwork was completed by Norrmalm in February of 1938; the Cabriolet was registered to Max Gumpel on March 4th of that year with the license plate A54.
The coachwork was designed to cope with the harsh roads and snowy winters of Sweden. The car has two batteries, and an oversized fuel tank for extended range of travel. The dashboard was designed by the brothers Gunnar and Knut Espeland.
It is equipped with Marchal headlights, spotlight and running lights.
For whatever reason, it was also equipped with a siren in front of the radiator (bragging rights?)
There is also an oversized mascot of the nude goddess Diana with her bow shooting an arrow into the sky on top of the radiator, in lieu of the MB-star.
The interior features front seating that was widened, designed to accommodate three passengers, two ladies and a gentleman.
During World War II, it was put into storage and saw little use. Thanks to Gumpel’s influence, it received a special 'non-conscription order', allowing the car to remain with Max Gumpel and not be conscripted to the Swedish Army.
Leonard Max Gumpel (1890-1965) was a rather flamboyant individual and celebrity. He was born in a rich
family and was a very successful building contractor. He was also an Olympic swimmer and represented Sweden at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, and at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, he was part of the Swedish water polo team, winning respectively the silver, and the bronze medal. Gumpel had a short relationship with Greta Garbo before she moved to Hollywood. They were close personal friends for the rest of their lives, and she was a frequent guest of Gumpel’s when visiting Sweden. It is believed that she often rode around with him in this 540K Cabriolet.
Max Gumpel kept the car until 1955, when, on July 29th, he sold it to Michael Savosnick for 5000 Kroner.
The successive owners:
- - Michael Savosnik, owner 1955-1964, sold to:
- - Carl Kristoferson , 1964-Autumn 1964, sold to:
- - Howard Sluyter, Dallas (TX), Autumn 1964-early 1980s, sold to:
- - John Ridings Lee, Dallas (TX), Early 1980s–1986, sold for $450,000 to:
- - Jerry J. Moore – 1986-1990, sold for $950,000 to:
- - Jerome Sauls – 1990-1991 – sold for $ 1,200,000 (through Hill & Vaughn)
- - Private Japanese collection – Dec.1991-1994 - ?, sold for ? to:
- - Private Japanese collector – 1994-2000, sold for ? to:
- - Terena Shaw (Canada)– 2001–2001, sold for ? to:
- - JWR Collections 2001-2017 sold for ? to:
- - Robert Jepson Jr., Savannah (GA) 2017 - present
The car has been restored and/or repainted several times over the years, lastly by its present owner Robert Jepson.
Shows and prizes:
The 540K was exhibited in:
- 1987 or 1988 at Pebble Beach (CA), Concours d’Élégance,
- 2001 Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance (CA),
- 2019 Concours d’Élégance in Hershey (PA),
- 2019 Concours d’Eĺégance at Cobble Beach, (Owen Sound, ON) where it was awarded on Sept.15th the Best of Show and the People’s Choice Awards.
VECTOR (Ukraine) offers a 1:43 scale model of a Mercedes-Benz 0303 with 'hotel body', one of several so-called "Rotels" (rolling hotels) of the German travel company 'Rotel Tours' from Paderborn (Westf.).
The 0303 is only one of many other - newer - chassis, all from Mercedes, several even 4x4 truck or bus chassis with hotel/rotel superstructures, in use worldwide, except in the present Covid times, in Africa, Asia, Russia, the Americas, Iceland, and Europe).
A very interesting way to see the world...though not necessarily everyone's cup of tea.
Oddly enough, Vector has given its model a completely faded red color. Hopefully the bus didn't stand in the blazing sun for that long!
Although the model itself is interesting, this avoidable color flaw would be reason enough for me not to buy the model. There are more than enough color photos of the various "Rotel" buses on the website of the company and generally on the Internet to produce a color-accurate model!
(с)BERND D. LOOSEN
