We’re stuck!

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This time it's not the automobile we are talking about. It's us who are stuck! You may remember the East-Indies Mercedes Mystery we wrote about in 2011. The Mercedes was owned by a Mr. Tan Tjoan Keng from the Dutch East Indies, who had this Mercedes made by a special department of Mercedes under the management of Hermann Ahrens, who was in charge of the design department for the development of "Spezialbau" and "Stromliniën" (coachbuilding and aerodynamics). Our article fueled the interest of the grandson of Mr. Tan Tjoan Keng and prompted him to start a thorough research on the car. So far, original drawings and photos from the Ahrens archive have come to light and it is now known that Mr. Tan Tjoan Keng and his Mercedes went from Stuttgart via Spain, North Africa, Turkey to Eastern Europe. In 1938 the Mercedes was shipped to Indonesia. After the war, Mr. Tan -and presumably his car- returned by ship back to the Netherlands. From there the history of the Mercedes becomes unclear. It was last seen in 1949 when offered for sale in a Dutch magazine, and again in another advert dating from 1951. This is the last trace of the car and now we're stuck. It is unlikely that the Mercedes still exists, but not entirely impossible. Who knows, it could linger in a collection like the one recently unearthed by Artcurial. Mr. Tan's grandson -and we of course- would very much like to know more. Can you help?

(Text Rutger Booy)

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