As one of the more beautiful cars of the 1930s, it’s easy to see why the styling of the Mercedes-Benz 500K has been copied so many times. The Classic Factory, operated by H.T. and Diana Price during the 1980s in Pomona, California, was known for its high-quality reproductions, and this exquisite example has come up for sale.
One of the interesting claims made by the seller is that The Classic Factory produced turn-key cars, not kits, and that the quality of these cars was the best on the market. I was very skeptical of this claim, but it turned out after research that many other sources corroborate it. After The Classic Factory closed, the molds for the 500K (they also made Cord 812 and Auburn Speedster replicas) were sold to Heritage Motor Cars, who frankly made some moves to cut the costs (and therefore the accuracy) of the cars they produced. You can see one of these in Jeff’s post from April 2024 here, which I believe to be from the same seller as the pictures have an identical background. Check out things like the hood vents, door handles, and fender running lights for examples of what I mean.
Unusually for a replica, this car includes a pretty decent-looking convertible top. Honestly, I can’t find any visual flaws in the pictures, although some underbody views would be appreciated.
The interior is beautiful as well. An effort was made to reproduce the layout of the original 500k dashboard, including mother-of-pearl inlays. Compare it with this view of the April car and you’ll see what I mean.
Things look pretty good under the hood too, with a Ford 351 “Windsor” V-8 driving an automatic transmission. Being an 80s car, the 500K is also equipped with power brakes and power steering, allowing cruising in comfort. The car is currently located in Phoenix, Arizona, and is listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding is over $25,000 as I type, but there’s also a buy-it-now figure of $42,500. I guess it comes down to whether or not you are interested in a replica. Since the last sale of an original 1934 500K I could find a record of was $1.65 million, I think a replica of this quality might be a bargain! What do you think?
Actually looks pretty nice. So many of these modern takes on classic cars have wonky proportions or VW tail lights or other obvious visual flaws.
Correct. If I were to build a car the last choice of tail lights would be VW Beetle lights.The moment I see a car that isn’t a Beetle, fitted with Beetle tail lights, I know that it is a not an original car!
My comment was going to be that I was pleased not to see the ’70s Beetle front turn signals.
Watch out on this on! Personal inspection required unless you don’t care about money. Seller has numerous eBay identities, never a good sign!
I am the seller and yes, we do have 2 eBay user names, one is mine and the other one is my partner’s, nothing wrong with that, I’m selling my cars under my eBay user name and he’s selling his cars under his eBay identity ! Please check our feedback before making these comments, thank you !
Thanks for chiming in, Robert! Good luck with the sale!
As far as I am concerned, The buy it now is very fair. I have never seen one in person but I have seen lots of close-ups of details and they appear to be well made.
I built a Heritage and what they did to make it affordable allowed for a reasonable priced car that could be daily driven. I sold mine to a lady that shipped it to Germany so she could daily drive it. She said that to a German this car was like a split window Corvette to an American. That was about 30 years ago and I got $32,000 at that time.
The one above might just be worthwhile.
I know of one built in 2012 and never registered. Has a 350 Chev new crate engine and a 700R auto transmission
They want $60,000 CDN
There are only a few replicas I would consider owning. It also depends on your definition of a replica? What is a 32 Ford, Porsche Speedster, Cobra or any other iconic car built from re-production pieces? It all comes down to quality and what you want to do with the car. Final question what is the difference between a replica and a kit car or even a re-creation?