The Mercedes-Benz 540K is a two seater cabriolet / four seater coupé / seven seater limousine from Mercedes-Benz, built from 1936 to 1944, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Under the bonnet: 5,401 . Friedrich Geiger drew it.
What is underneath
Power comes from 5,401 . It weighs Up to 2700 kg. It shifts through a 4-speed manual / 5-speed manual (optional on late cars). The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2980 mm (SWB) / 3290 mm (Normal) / 3880 mm (Special). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Mercedes-Benz 500K; its successor was the Mercedes-Benz 580K (Prototype only); assembly was at Sindelfingen, Germany. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Chevrolet Suburban, the Bugatti Type 57, the Volkswagen Beetle — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Mercedes-Benz catalogue sit the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and the Mercedes-Benz C124.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Mercedes-Benz 540K has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.