To be offered at RM Sotheby’s Hershey 2026 auction, this 1915 Mercedes 28/60 HP is an imposing example of early Mercedes engineering, distinguished by its period town-car body, accompanying tourer body, and an unusually documented history that spans Europe, California, and the American film industry.
Beneath its substantial proportions is a pressed-steel chassis supporting a 7,240-cubic-centimeter T-head four-cylinder engine paired with a four-speed transmission. Power is transferred through a universal-joint propeller shaft to the rear axle. With approximately 60 horsepower by contemporary ratings, the 28/60 HP represented considerable performance for its period while retaining the engineering sophistication and mechanical durability associated with Mercedes’ early automobiles.
The chassis was reportedly commissioned around 1914, although World War I delayed its progress through the Mercedes factory. Factory documentation indicates an intended 1915 delivery through Stuttgart dealer H. Balz & Company, while the car was ultimately delivered in 1922 to Benno Neumann of Laupheim. In 1919, Mercedes updated the car with its later 720-millimeter V-shaped radiator shell. Its original town-car coachwork remains unidentified, although its design bears similarities to bodies produced by Berlin coachbuilder Szawe.
Its subsequent history adds considerable historical interest. The Mercedes was shipped to California for a client identified as Laemmle, believed to have been Hollywood pioneer Carl Laemmle. The car appeared in the 1931 film Waterloo Bridge and later entered Art Austria’s renowned Simplex Garage collection, an important source of period automobiles for the film industry. Austria retained it until the collection was dispersed at a 1970 Sotheby’s auction.
Acquired by a Southern California enthusiast in 1997, the Mercedes underwent an extensive restoration by Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance-winning craftsman Mark Goyette. A matching-specification open tourer body was subsequently constructed by British coachbuilders Crailville, recreating the period practice of using separate “summer” and “winter” bodies. The tourer is displayed on an intricately finished wooden rolling chassis and was exhibited alongside the restored Mercedes at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Today, the 28/60 HP offers more than Brass-Era engineering: it preserves a fascinating connection between early Mercedes craftsmanship, American automotive collecting, and Hollywood history.
Source: RM Sotheby’s
