From ER-models: the 1935 Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 500 Landaulet (W08), King Rama VIII of Siam, chassis No.113559, engine 113559.
The car
One of only 931 Nürburg 500s built, the car with chassis No. 113559 was sold on July 17th, 1935 to its first owner, his Royal Highness Rama VIII, King of Siam, (Thailand, as of 1939). The king was nine years old, at the time living and going to school in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The car was delivered at the Mannheim factory on October 24th, and invoiced by the Swiss importer Hirzel & Stüber on October 30th 1935.
According to Bonhams Auctioneers, who offered this car at their sale in Monte-Carlo on May 21st 2007, the royal Landaulet was sold on January 12th 1950 to a Georges Bauer in Geneva (Switzerland). Obviously, the car had remained in Switzerland all this time.
It changed hands again at some point, and then was purchased in the early 1960s by a Jacques Dumontant in France. As far as I could find out, this monsieur Dumontant might have been a classic car collector from Eymoutiers (in the “Haute-Vienne” Département). In 1980, the car was subsequently sold to the owner who offered it at the Bonhams auction on May 21st 2007.
Bonhams estimated the value of the car, which had been completely restored, to be anywhere between 300.000 € and 400.000 € (or 350,000 USD and 470,000 USD) at the time.
The model
After a long silence, ER-models has just released the 1:43 model of the King of Siam’s Mercedes-Benz 500 Landaulet in a small production of 60 pieces, showing the car exactly as it was offered on auction by Bonhams back in 2007.
As usual for ER-models, the model has been beautifully crafted by EMC/Pivtorak. As we know, perfection and small numbers have their price, and in this case, the model, which can be ordered from: info@er-models.com costs USD 470.00 (+ S&H)
The production of a further 30 pieces is planned, with the car’s landaulet roof closed. Obviously, as there was only one single such car owned by the King Rama VIII, the model will be in the same colour.
A short life, a tragic story, a murder still unsolved.
พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรเมนทรมหาอานันทมหิดล (King Ananda Mahidol)
Ananda Mahidol (20 September 1925 – 9 June 1946), posthumous reigning title Phra Athamaramathibodin, was the eighth monarch of Siam from the Chakri dynasty as Rama VIII.
At the time he was recognized as king by the National Assembly in March 1935, he was a nine-year-old boy living in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He returned to Thailand in December 1945, but six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot dead in his bed.
Although at first thought to have been an accident, his death was ruled a murder by medical examiners, and three royal pages were later executed following very irregular trials. The mysterious circumstances surrounding his death have been the subject of much controversy ever since.
A short life:
Prince Ananda Mahidol was born in Heidelberg, Germany. The first Thai King to be born outside of the country, he was the first son of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej of Songkla (son of King Rama V) and Mom Sangwan, who were both studying there at the time.
He went with his parents to Paris, Lausanne, and then to Massachusetts, In 1927, his uncle, King Prajadhipok, issued a royal edict elevating him to the higher princely class of Phra Worawong Ther Phra Ong Chao, making him a potential heir to the throne.
The family returned to Thailand in 1928 after his father Prince Mahidol finished his medical studies at Harvard University.
However, Prince Mahidol died at age 37 a year later in 1929, when Ananda Mahidol was just four years old. His widowed mother was thus left to raise her family alone.
A revolution in 1932 ended the absolute monarchy and raised the possibility that King Prajadhipok might abdicate. Queen Savang Vadhana, his grandmother, was concerned about Prince Ananda Mahidol's safety, since he was one of the likely heirs. It was then suggested that Mom Sangwal and her children return to Lausanne, and when they did so in 1933, the official reason given was for the health and further education of the princes.
Prince Ananda Mahidol spent most of his youth in Switzerland.
On 2 March 1935, Prince Ananda Mahidol was elected by the National Assembly and by the Thai government to succeed his uncle, King Prajadhipok, as the eighth king of the Chakri dynasty.
For the government it also was quite convenient to have a monarch who was only nine years old, and in school in Switzerland.
In 1938, at age thirteen, Ananda Mahidol visited Siam for the first time as its monarch. He was accompanied during his visit by his mother and his younger brother, Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Foreign observers, however, believed that Ananda Mahidol really did not want to be king, and felt his reign would not last long.
Louis Mountbatten, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was the British commander in Southeast Asia, visited Bangkok in January 1946 and described the king as "a frightened, short-sighted boy, his sloping shoulders and thin chest behung with gorgeous diamond-studded decorations, altogether a pathetic and lonely figure". At a public function, Mountbatten wrote: "His nervousness increased to such an alarming extent, that I came very close to support him in case he passed out"….
The death of a king:
On the morning of 9 June 1946…:
- At 06:00, Ananda was awakened by his mother.
- At 07:30, His page, But Patthamasarin, came on duty and began preparing a breakfast table on a balcony adjoining the king's dressing room. ( the king had two pages But Patthamasarin, and Chit Singhaseni.
- At 08:30, But Patthamasarin saw the king standing in his dressing room. He brought the king his customary glass of orange juice a few minutes later. However, by then the king had gone back to bed and refused the juice.
- 09:00, Prince Bhumibol Adulyadejvisited King Ananda. He said afterwards that he had found the king dozing in his bed.
- 09:20, A single shot rang out from the king's bedroom. Chit Singhaseni ran in and then ran out along the corridor to the apartment of the king's mother, crying "The King's shot himself!"
Justice?
In October 1946, a Commission of Inquiry reported that the king's death could not have been accidental, but that neither suicide nor murder was satisfactorily proved.
In November 1947, King Ananda's secretary, Senator Chaleo Patoomros, and the pages, But and Chit, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder the king.
The trial began in August 1948 and finally ended in May 1951. The court ruled that King Ananda had been assassinated, but that Senator Chaleo had not been proved guilty, and that neither of the pages could have fired the fatal shot.
The charges against Chaleo and But were dismissed and they were released. However, the court found Chit guilty of being party to the crime.
Chit appealed against his conviction, and the prosecution appealed against the acquittal of Chaleo and But. After fifteen months of deliberation the Appeals Court dismissed Chit's appeal, and also found But guilty.
Chit and But appealed to the Supreme Court, which deliberated for ten more months before finally upholding both convictions, and this time convicting Chaleo as well.
The three men's petitions for clemency were rejected by King Rama IX (Bhumibol Adulyadej) on 17 February 1955, and they were executed by firing squad the next day.
Yet King Bhumibol Adulyadej later said that he did not believe they were guilty.
What really happened?
An account of the death is given in William Stevenson's The Revolutionary King, written with the co-operation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej:
Stevenson's account is that Ananda Mahidol could not have killed himself, either by suicide or by accident. He was found lying on his back in his bed, not wearing his glasses, without which he was almost blind. He had a small bullet wound in his forehead and a somewhat larger exit wound in the back of his head. His pistol, an M1911 given him by a former US Army officer, was not close by. The M1911 is not especially prone to accidental discharge; it will fire only if considerable pressure is applied to the safety plate at the back of the butt at the same time as the trigger is depressed. It is a heavy pistol and awkward to use by an untrained person. It would have been almost impossible for Ananda Mahidol, a frail 20-year-old, to lie on his back and shoot himself in the forehead with such a weapon. Had he done so, the impact, according to forensics experts, would have blown his skull apart, not caused the small wounds seen by many witnesses. Stevenson writes that no cartridge case was found, and subsequent inquiries ordered by King Bhumibol, but suppressed by later governments, found that the Colt had not been fired. In addition, the Colt was found lying in the bed, on the left-hand side of the king. However, the king was right-handed.
(Sources: Britannica.com, Bonhams, W. Stevenson “The revolutionary King”)
Ilario released a few days ago the latest version of the 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K “Norrmalm”, top down, in its present day looks, i.e. in blue. The model is excellent; it could be superb, had Ilario not missed the fact that the (inside) lining of the soft-top is beige, and not the same blue as the roof’s outside. I wished I had been able to see a picture of a pre-production before…This mistake could then have been avoided.
the model with a production of 45 pieces only, can be ordered directly for 298.80 € (+ shipping), from Ilario at: www.ilariostore.com
MAL Studios send us pictures of their 1:43 scale pre-production model of the 1904 DMG Daimler in the stake truck version. Some improvements would still be needed. The model is priced at around 100 € (+ shipping), and can be ordered in English, German, and of course in Russian, from andranikpasha@mail.ru and can be paid for by PayPal.
For Sale:
For lack of space, our MBMC-member Bengt Bengtsson is starting to “thin out” his collection of 1:43 Mercedes-Benz models.
He is offering today two models, Mint but without Box:
- A rare model of the Viano minibus, for 60 EUR (+ postage)
- A 300SL from “The Dinky Collection” (re-issues by Matchbox), Mint, no Box, for 15 EUR (+ postage).
If interested, please e-mail him at: velavelozlda@gmail.com
Or you may call him at: +(35)1926692790
(с)BERND D. LOOSEN
