Restoration Corner
Bruce L. Adams

Every Restoration has a Story to tell

Restoring classic cars is a multifaceted process that is three-dimensional in many ways.

There are technical details to contend with in an effort to remain true to the era and Mercedes-Benz, as well as complex management and historical aspects that add a special dimension to the restoration.

I have had the opportunity to restore several 190SLs over the years that told interesting historical stories. For example, the 1956 movie "High Society" featured Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra touring in a 190SL. We restored a similar 1956 model in 1989, which today resides in the Principality of Monaco.

In 1993, the Charles Van Doren family asked me to restore their 190SL, presented to Charles in 1956 by Mercedes-Benz for one dollar and "other considerations." Those considerations, of course, translated to public relations. At the time, Charles was a popular icon after winning the top prize on the television quiz show "Twenty-One." The project provided an opportunity to restore the 190SL as the original and deliver the finished product to Charles at his upstate Connecticut farm. The car is fire-engine red (DB 534 G), with a white leather interior with red piping, fog lamps, and a three-piece white leather luggage set. What a beautiful 190SL, and what an interesting story it tells.

Several years ago I was visiting my friends Rudi and Joan Kamper of the MBCA's Western Reserve Section in Ohio. Rudi wanted to show me his beautifully restored 1937 Mercedes-Benz Type 290L Cabriolet B. The restoration was excellent, and it was clear Rudi was quite proud of the car. But what added to the visit was the story Rudi proceeded to share with me on the history of this particular classic.

The year was 1940, the main character was the German consul to Iceland, Werner Gerlach, and the embassy car he drove - a 1937 290 Mercedes - was the center of this spy story.

That spring, it was a common sight to see German U-boats and British and American convoy ships sharing the harbors in Iceland, refueling and taking on supplies. Then the Brits decided enough was enough. The invasion of Iceland, codenamed Operation Fork, was a British military operation conducted by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. It began in the early morning on May 10, 1940, with British troops landing in Reykjavik, the capital of a neutral Iceland. Meeting no resistance, the troops moved quickly to disable communication networks, secure strategic locations, and arrest German citizens, of which Iceland had many. At the time, Germany had close ties to Iceland, and many of its professional citizens were educated at German universities.

The government of Iceland issued a protest, charging that its neutrality had been "flagrantly violated" and its "independence infringed" and noting that compensation would be expected for all damage done. The British promised compensation, favorable business agreements, noninterference in Icelandic affairs, and the withdrawal of all forces at the end of the war. Resigning themselves to the situation, the Icelandic authorities provided the invasion force with de facto cooperation, though formally maintained a policy of neutrality.

During the invasion, the British captured Gerlach and deported him back to Germany. Gerlach - a brigadier general in the German Army, a member of the SS, and personal friends with Heinrich Himmler - used his position as German consul to Iceland as a cover. Gerlach, a research physician by trade, is credited with patenting the use of spectrophotometers to identify human genes and advancing the principle of determining DNA from blood samples. Gerlach continued his medical research after the war until his death in Kempton, Bavaria, in 1961.

The Mercedes-Benz delivered to Gerlach in 1939 was built at the Mannheim factory near Nuremberg, Germany. Production vehicles were manufactured in Sindelfingen, though the Mannheim Werks built cars for government and military use. Gerlach used his position as ambassador to spy, and specifically this vehicle as a "spy car." The M-B 290 was the perfect discrete moving transmitter to broadcast back to Germany the shipping convoy movements from England to the United States. Because the car was always moving, the British could not get a fix on the transmission.

The car changed hands several times before leaving Iceland for the U.S. in the late 1960s. Two 19-year-old Icelandic men, Jon Hjorleifsson and Audunn Gunnarsson, in the early '60s completed the first restoration of the 290. Working on the car, they uncovered a sophisticated and extensive antenna network sewn between the headliner and the soft-top canvas. Also discovered in the parting-out process were several hidden compartments, including one behind the dashboard that contained a radio transmitter. The 290 had no serial number and, as with similar cars, had been made that way for use by German military espionage agents during World War II.

Rudi recently sold this historical vehicle to a private car collector in Iceland. It is currently on display in Reykjavik at a museum that depicts life in Iceland during World War II, where the car played a significant role in the early part of the war. For more information on the museum and the car, contact the curator, Orn Sigurdsson, at [email protected]. His English is excellent.

Recently a footnote was added to the story. It seems that a young Icelandic boy in the spring of 1940 mustered up the courage to steal the Third Reich flag mounted on the right front fender. Once the car was displayed in 2009 in Reykjavik, an elderly gentleman in his early 80s visited the museum and presented the flag back to the new owner. It seems the boy, now an old man, had saved the flag all these years.

My acknowledgment to Rudi, Joan, and son Dolf for providing the pictures and sharing the history of this restoration. Danke!

Bruce Adams, a member of the Triangle Section, has owned and operated B.L. Adams, LLC, specializing in restoration of the 190SL model Mercedes-Benz for 31 years. For more information, visit www.bruceadams190sl.com

Feature Image: This 290L Cabriolet B, owned by Rudi and Joan Kamper, was once used by Werner Gerlach, who operated under the cover of being German consul to Iceland and who was captured by the British in 1940 and deported to Germany. The car had been used by Gerlach in 1939 and 1940 as a mobile transmitting station to send  news of convoy movements back to Germany. Photo by Harry Wolk.