Adoption benefits:

* One-year membership in the Borg-Warner Society (the Museum’s most esteemed group of supporters)

* A vintage photo of your adopted car

* Recognition signage with the car during the run of the exhibit

* Recognition and on the Museum’s website under current exhibits

* Listing on the Adopt-an-Exhibit donor wall in the Museum

* A certificate of adoption

Mercedes-Benz Type S

Year Built: 1927

Chassis: Mercedes-Benz S

Engine: Mercedes-Benz Supercharged Inline 6 cylinder

Adoption cost: $2,000

The Model S debuted in 1927, only a year after the merger of the world’s two oldest automotive manufacturers, “Mercedes” and Benz,” formed Mercedes-Benz Automobil GmbH. Based on the Model K, the Type S was part of a performance line nicknamed “White Elephants,” which dominated motorsport into the early 1930s. Multi-time Grand Prix champion Mercedes-Benz driver Rudolf Caracciola used a racing variant of the Type S to become a two-time European mountain racing champion and winner of the legendary Italian “Mille Miglia,” the 1,000-mile road race.

The Type S was available to non-racers as a passenger vehicle which inherited the qualities of a Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix car. The chassis’ frame and underslung springs achieved a low center of gravity, coupled with the supercharged six-cylinder, which produced 180 horsepower. In 1928, The Type S achieved the German sports speed record of 110 mph.