World War II ended not for everyone and some battles are still being fought. For example some people now fight for 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster which was sold at last year's RM Monterey sale for $3.7 million. But this rise of tensions is caused by a decision of a German court which ruled that the car is the property of the heirs of the wealthy German industrialist who originally purchased the car, according to Bloomberg.
According to Sports Car Market, Dutch collectors Franz van Haren and Tony Paalman bought the classic Mercedes at the California auction, but when they had it shipped to Techno Classica in Essen, Germany, this March, the car was seized by the local constabulary.
The Mercedes was bought new by Hans Prym in 1935. When Prym was sent to prison by the Allies in 1945 the car disappeared. Prym's heirs charged that the car was stolen by American servicemen and shipped out of the country, according to Bloomberg. Under German law, the 30-year statute of limitations had not expired because the car was not in Germany. Indeed, nobody seems to know what happened to the car between the end of the war and the 1970s, when it "turned up in the collection of pioneer collector Russell Strauch," as the RM Auction listing stated.
While the Dutch collectors may no longer have their car, they may still be able to get their money back from the RM seller, according to Sports Car Market.
