AUBURN, Ind. – Worldwide Auctioneers has launched its latest online sale, imparting a significant business opportunity to Mercedes-Benz aficionados and shops everywhere. Offered entirely without reserve, the Marshall’s Silver Star Motors Mercedes-Benz Auction showcases a lifelong collection of over 100,000 expertly curated classic Mercedes-Benz OEM parts, and 20 project cars from the 1950s to 2000s, with the parts offered for sale as one complete lot. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.
The collection is also a treasure trove for collectors of vintage wooden boats, with two Chris-Craft vessels and multiple engines and parts included in the offering. The sale is online now, culminating in live bidding on Wednesday, July 15.
“Mean Marshall” Ehlers moved from Chicago to the Bay Area of California in the early 1970s with $1,000 in his pocket and was later to become well-known and respected in Bay Area motorcycle groups as a collector of classic British bikes. He was also a lover and owner of multiple Mercedes-Benz automobiles and wooden Chris-Craft boats. A man of singular focus and passion, he switched his full attention in 1998 to Mercedes-Benz and quietly started amassing a huge inventory of hard-to-find Mercedes-Benz parts and cars in warehouses he owned behind his Oakland motorcycle shop. Over the years he purchased multiple Mercedes-Benz parts businesses and dismantlers, whose inventory he constantly purged to retain only what was valuable and usable for resale.
Silver Star Motors became a full-service restoration and repair shop and was the sole Bay Area Mercedes-Benz dismantler for 20 years.
“Mr. Ehlers was a businessman, mechanic and avid longtime Mercedes-Benz collector who knew the value of good parts,” said Chris Peterson, Worldwide specialist. “Silver Star Motors was born from a passion for the marque and became a respected source for parts supply worldwide and the first choice for other service shops and licensed Mercedes-Benz repair facilities.”
On his unexpected passing in 2017, the businesses passed to his son Nils who, having spent the past two years organizing and cataloging the expansive collection has chosen to focus on the motorcycle venture and allow the parts, cars and boats to move on to their next custodians. The collection holds a wealth of everything Elhers deemed worthy of keeping, including over 100,000 classic Mercedes-Benz OEM parts – multiple engines, transmissions, Becker radios, fuel pumps, seats, trim, glass and lights, as well smaller parts and various seats and convertible tops, for models from the 1950s to 2000s.
There are also 20 project cars in the offering, all of which are complete and some of which are running, plus a pair of Chris-Craft Continental Runabout boats, 16 Chris-Craft boat engines and multiple parts. The two boats were disassembled after purchase with the aim of complete restoration so, with the parts included in the boat lot the buyer will be able to completely reassemble each one, with the parts for one already partially restored. The boats and boat parts will be offered for sale as one lot, a Chris-Craft collector’s dream find.
Interested parties should contact Worldwide Auctioneers’ Specialist Chris Peterson at 260-925-6789 for further details, or email chris@worldwideauctioneers.com.
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