Page 29 - Demo

29who brought it to North America and owned it for only a brief period before it found its way into the hands of an enthusiast named Paul Suckling residing in Toronto. In the 1960s, the vehicle was stored and unfortunately caught fire. Rob Williams – who inherited his prewarcar knowledge from his father Don – shared that sections of the car's body were removed after the fire. Notably, those body panels and doors were not lost or destroyed in the incident; the car did new wood framing though to bring it back to life. Impressively, the vehicle's metal is entirely original, and it still maintains its matching-numbers drivetrain.The 540K found its way into the hands of publisher Richard C. Mertz in 1968. Mertz, along with his son Steve, imported the car to the United States and embarked on a meticulous restoration journey, documented with extensive photographs. Refurbishment of the panels was entrusted to Alcraft, a prototype shop in the Detroit area. The father and son team also received help from Harry Flynn, Harry Kennedy and John Graham, while Bud Cohn of California contributed many parts for the process.In 1984, after Richard Mertz's passing, the 540K transitioned to Steve, who completed the restoration.