Saturday, March 6, 2010

German staff car

Mercedes' from Raiders of the Lost Ark up for Auction 1937


Miscellaneous, Mercedes-Benz
'1937 Mercedes' from Raiders of the Lost Ark up for Auction

How would you like to own a piece of Hollywood automobile history? The custom-built "1937 Mercedes" German staff car from Raiders of the Lost Ark will be one of over 500 items up for sale.

The black on black car, used in the chase scene during which Indiana Jones chases after the Ark of the Covenant while Nazis try to stop him, is made to look like a 1937 Mercedes 300, but is actually composed of Jaguar components. It was built on a Jaguar Mark IX chassis, equipped with a Jaguar Mark V body, and is powered by a Jaguar XKE 250 horsepower dual-overhead cam engine mated to a Jaguar four-speed manual transmission.

Craig Hinton of Leaping Cats Coventry, England, constructed the vehicle to be able to reach 120 miles per hour and handle the demands of a chase scene. Hinton moved to Florida after filming and exhibited the car in special events, including the Bal Harbour Councours D'Elegance on July 10, 1982. The car still has dents on the rear passenger side from filming, but is otherwise in great condition-all fluids have been changed, and the brakes have been bled.


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