The 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Roadster was hidden on the estate of German industrialist Hans Prym, who was imprisoned in 1945, during the war and invading American troops stole the car while they lodged at Prym's estate, and it was then brought to America... spoils of war etc.
It was sold in 2011 for £2.9 million to Dutch car enthusiast Frans van Haren.
In 2012, a court in Hamburg ruled that the US troops had no right to take the classic car and ordered that it should be returned to the family of its original owner.
It was seized by the authorities when he took it to a German car show, (stupid move) when the grandchildren of Mr Prym realized they just found a winning lotto ticket that others had invested and restored and now they are flipping it and looking to get about 6 million dollars for it.
It will be auctioned by Bonhams in Chantilly, France, on September 3.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/03/rare-mercedes-stolen-by-allied-troops-in-wwii-set-for-6m-sale/
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/23603/preview_lot/4987334/
My Dad was in Europe from the fall of '44 until the end of the war. He often told the story of an Alpha Romeo that his engineering unit had "liberated." Seems the only guy that could keep it running properly was a German POW. For some reason the car always started running poorly just about the time the POW ran out of cigarettes!
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