1904 Mercedes Simplex 40 HP Rear-Entrance Tonneau | RM Sotheby's | The Monterey Auction

To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' The Monterey Auction event, 13 - 15 August 2026.
$5,000,000 - $6,000,000 USD

• Offered from the collection of the Owls Head Transportation Museum
• Owned early in life by Anheuser-Busch co-founder Adolphus Busch
• Formerly part of the George Waterman and Kirk Gibson Collection
• Exceptional, modern engineering with 40-hp T-head four-cylinder engine, four-speed transmission, and double chain drive
• Indisputably and wonderfully intact throughout
• Part of the present collection since 1977
• Invited by the Royal Automobile Club to take part in the 2026 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
• Accompanied by Mercedes-Benz Heritage Certificate
• One of the most significant Veteran automobiles offered in recent memory

Mercedes-Benz’s genesis story is well-known—how, long before Daimler and Benz’s merger, the famous name got its start with the former, when French businessman Emil Jellinek willed the creation of larger, more powerful, more modern models, named for his daughter. Mercedes was the first truly modern automobile, with the advanced layout that would eventually be copied by all successful competitors.

Its 40 HP model, introduced in 1903, was, quite simply, a titan. In an era where roads were still filled with horses, with the occasional emergence of tiny horseless carriages with thumping single-cylinder engines, the Mercedes Simplex carried a massive 6.7-liter T-head four with its valves operated by two camshafts in the crankcase, cooled by a modern honeycomb radiator and delivering its 40-plus horsepower through an industry-first four-speed gearbox with H-pattern gearchange and double chain drive. All of this technology sat in the first ever modern C-channel steel frame. Yet great care was taken to engineer the car beautifully and strongly, so that it would be capable of churning over rough roads. The result was the first true “driver’s car,” in which the operator had full control over all aspects of his automobile and, with the H-pattern gearshift, could select a gear anytime it was needed.

It was an impressively built machine in stature, stamina, and force, and priced appropriately as one of the costliest automobiles on either side of the Atlantic.

AN “AMERICAN” MERCEDES

This Mercedes unusually has three interconnected but unique commission numbers and sheets. The original, consistent with the stampings found repeatedly on the car, is 3166, shown on the commission sheet provided by the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center as an Emil Jellinek order for a 1904 40 HP, four-cylinder Mercedes on 16 July 1903. The sheets indicate that the car was completed on 28 September 1904; this also aligns with the engine, which is date-stamped 30 July 1904. This original order declared it was delivered to Viennese agent Nizza-Raden on 20 October 1904, then to Lamberjack of Paris on 24 October 1904—the latter was later stricken out. Several further repair entries are noted, including one for Adolphus Busch, co-founder of the renowned Anheuser-Busch brewery, with residences listed as both Villa Lilly, his summer estate in Landscheid, Germany, and St. Louis, on 9 September 1909.

In 1904, a second commission number and sheet for the car was issued, number 3203, for Paris distributor C.L. Charley, with the date of delivery as 28 October 1904—just a few days after the amended delivery to Lamberjack. Commission number 3203 was, in turn, then superseded by commission number 5105, with engine number VB 365 and wagen number 2626, for Allen, Halle & Company of New York—a reassignment likely due to Allen, Halle’s buyout of Charley’s US distribution and inventory. This last commission sheet shows the car arriving at Allen, Halle’s premises in January 1905 with Mercedes tonneau coachwork; it does not mention any final customer or delivery by the firm, though, again, Adolphus Busch is mentioned on the original commission sheet, number 3166.

Why the car originally identified as commission number 3166 received so many numbers is likely due to the distribution and exporting of the car, and, more pointedly, efforts to avoid some of the prohibitive tariffs applied to cars of its cost in the era for a valued and exceedingly wealthy client.

Interestingly, advertisements first appearing in print in December 1904 for Daimler Manufacturing of America features what is described as being an “American Mercedes,” of the type soon to be briefly manufactured in Queens by Steinway. However, photographs in the advertisement clearly depict what is strongly believed to be this car, the same mechanically as those soon to be produced under license in the States, but two feet shorter and with distinctively European rear-entrance coachwork, more of a 1901–1903 design, as was never mounted to the US-built cars. Further, the Mercedes is badged as an American Daimler, further indicating the bit of mild subterfuge as its manufacturer sought to convince American buyers that production had begun on their shores.

THE FINDING AND RESTORATION OF A REMARKABLE CAR

A photograph in the archives of the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum shows what is clearly, line-for-line and trim-for-trim, this exact car in the 1930s. The photograph shows it fitted with a well-constructed, high-quality wood and leather fixed top with a fold-down windshield, likely added early in its American ownership (now fully restored, and still with the car). It was taken at the premises of George Waterman, who with his compatriot Kirk Gibson built inarguably one of the finest collections of veteran and Brass Era motorcars beginning in the 1930s.

Waterman and Gibson famously acquired many of their cars from original ownerships, something still possible with cars that were at the time only a quarter-century removed from delivery, at most, and in an era when wealthy “automobilists” frequently expected to own their first car for the rest of their lives and maintained it accordingly. Most of the acquisitions were made locally in New England, in particular within their home state of Rhode Island, and so it is likely that commission number 3166 was procured within the Ocean State, and equally likely from an owner immediately subsequent to Busch.

Both Waterman and Gibson kept separate collections with separate inventories, although the cars were regularly housed together. The printed inventories that exist note that Waterman held what is described as a “Mercedes Touring, rear-entrance – 1903” and Gibson a “Mercedes Touring, rear-entrance – 1904.” Given the dating, it is thought that commission number 3166 was Gibson’s.

The car remained in Waterman/Gibson auspices well into the 1960s, at which point it was procured by Thomas J. Watson Jr. One of the most consequential American business leaders of his generation, Mr. Watson was the son of the founder of IBM Corporation, and as IBM’s second president between 1952 and 1971, is widely credited with having urged IBM’s entry into the computer market, which eventually became its sole focus and allowed it to continue as a titan of international capitalism. He was broadly active in philanthropy and diplomacy, serving as the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union during the Carter Administration and as the 11th National President of the Boy Scouts of America, and eventually received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

When it came to matters of leisure, Mr. Watson was a skilled aviator and yachtsman, and also enjoyed early automobiles. The 1904 Mercedes was restored under his care in 1971 by Wesley Ives and James Olmsted of Vermont, as noted in a newspaper article from that year. In 1974, Mr. Watson spurred the creation of the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine, as an educational collection of pre-war automobiles, aircraft, and other means of transport. He eventually donated much of his automobile collection to the museum, including the 1904 Mercedes, which was transferred to their auspices in 1977.

On inspection the Mercedes remains astonishingly, remarkably original, including not just its original coachwork, but the original fenders of paper-thin aluminum, with their delicate tapered brackets, and the original floorboards and panels. The correct make-or-break ignition system, so often replaced on these early cars, remains in place. Every single piece of trim and every single stamping is exactly what one would expect it to be, indicative of just how remarkably intact and preserved the car was when acquired by Waterman and Gibson, and how unusually thoughtful and sympathetic Ives and Olmsted were in restoration.

Recently, in preparation for sale, the car had the honor of being visited and examined in-depth by the experts of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, in one of only a handful of times that they have performed an inspection of a vintage Mercedes outside of Germany. Their detailed expertise on the car is expected to be received by the time of sale.

Because of the outstanding originality of its components, commission number 3166 is perhaps the finest example of an early Mercedes surviving with original, factory-built coachwork. In preparation for sale, it has been recently serviced, including fitment of a new low-tension ignition coil, a full rebuilding of its original fuel tank, and restoration of the original fuel pressure system, with all its original lines and fittings. The car is equipped with a discreet, fully functional electric starting system for ease of use. In about 30 miles of recent exercise, it was noted as displaying breathtaking performance for a car of its era, effortlessly maintaining speeds on faster modern roads and showing no less of enthusiasm when accelerating up prodigious grades.

The car is offered today to benefit the Owls Head Transportation Museum’s expanding STEM programs, focusing on science, technology, engineering, and math education for the next generation through the laboratory and classrooms of their on-site Science & Technology Center. Further, The Royal Automobile Club is pleased to confirm that the car would be most welcome to participate in the 2026 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run should the lucky new owner wish to.

Seldom shown outside of the Owls Head Transportation Museum in the last half-century, this extraordinary veteran automobile now proudly comes to market, wearing its rich heritage and fascinating history as the finest survivor of one of the most dramatic, powerful, and fascinating machines of its time.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo26/.