Just Listed: 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Torpedo-Sport Avant-Garde by Saoutchik

A rare chance to add a Pebble Beach “Best of Show” winner to your collection

Billy RehbockWriter

The annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is considered by many to be the capstone of circuit, attracting the highest of rollers — and often their Rollers — from across the world. That pedigree makes a Pebble Beach "Best of Show" award perhaps the highest honor a car can be bestowed with — and RM Sotheby's will offer the extremely rare opportunity to get your hands on a winner the easy way at its 2017 Villa Erba sale.

The 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Torpedo-Sport Avant-Garde you see here took Pebble Beach's top trophy home in 2012, following a meticulous restoration. It also took home First Prize honors at the 2013 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.

This low-slung roadster represents a high point in luxury vehicle development. Originally commissioned by the wife of a millionaire who made his fortune recycling brass after WWI, the car was displayed at the 1929 New York Auto Salon and subsequently purchased by Frederick Bedford after their fortunes took a turn for the worse.

The torpedo roadster body was built by Carrosserie J Saoutchik, a Parisian coachbuilder. The car is stuffed with old-school luxury features, including a lizard skin interior made from hides sourced in Southeast Asia and wood trim called Purpleheart, which hailed from South America.

Powering the 680 S Torpedo is a supercharged 7.0-liter straight-six that produced 180 hp and featured larger valves, dual carburetors and a larger supercharger than its Type K predecessor. It is the only one of the three short-windshield variants that were made to survive.

Given its pedigree, this award-winning German is not going to be a bargain. Consider having an eight-figure sum on hand if you're considering placing a bid on May 27 at Villa Erba. While you'll probably only spend most of it on this Mercedes, odds are something else will tickle your fancy. Like, for example, this unrestored…

1993Porsche 911Carrera RSR 3.8.

With only six miles on its odometer, Sotheby's says "this exceptional and ultra-exclusive Porsche is thoroughly and absolutely original." It even has the factory-applied Cosmoline over the special-ordered Polar Silver paint for transport and shipping.

Desirability is the name of the game for this 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.8, which ticks all of the boxes a diehard Porsche enthusiast wants ticked, including an air-cooled 3.8-liter flat-six and a five-speed manual transmission. The power plant produced a factory-rated 350 hp and 284 lb-ft of torque, but reviewers claimed the horsepower figure was more realistically around 375.

Despite being almost 25 years old, this Porsche remains produce 0-60 times as quick as 3.7 seconds.

Even though the RSR was the most extreme 911 variant - it featured the wide Turbo body and was stripped down for track-duty - the original owner chose to outfit the interior with more sumptuous equipment. Only one other example was built featuring this fully trimmed interior.

Billy Rehbock's passion for cars started with his dad's Volkswagen Jetta GLX, his mom's Cabriolet, and his own Hot Wheels collection. A USC graduate with a Master of Science in journalism, he's an associate editor for the MotorTrend Buyer's Guide and covers everything from sports cars to SUVs.

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