Event rolls out Mercedes kept hidden in WW II

KALAMAZOO -- A 1938 Mercedes Benz hidden in a basement under a rose garden during and after World War II will be the star attraction at the Orrin B. Hayes Fun Concours event Saturday.

The restored, one-of-a-kind 540K Sport Tourer is owned by Bill and Barbara Parfet, of Kalamazoo, and displayed at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. It is valued at $3.5 million.

The car will be loaned to the Hayes car dealership for the event, which will feature members of the Western Michigan Section of the Mercedes Benz Club of America displaying their vehicles, made from the 1950s through 1970s. The event also will include the new, highly publicized 2010 E Class Mercedes Benz models.

The Parfets' 1938 Mercedes Benz has a unique history, said Jay Follis, marketing director for the Gilmore Car Museum.

Only two of its kind were built, and only one survives, Follis said. It was purchased new by a Dresden, Germany, man who built a secret area in his walkout basement and hid the car there during World War II, when he feared the Russians would seize the car.

``He rigged up his basement to fit the car and then bricked it up so that anyone going into the basement couldn't see it'' Follis said. ``Then he planted a rose garden over the top to hide it.''

When the Berlin Wall came down in the early 1990s, the man brought the car out and sold it. It was restored by a Canadian company and purchased by the Parfets, who since 2005 have displayed it at the Gilmore Car Museum.

Bob Bolinger, a salesman at Hayes, said the $3.5 million Mercedes on Saturday should be quite the draw.

``It was handcrafted and has been meticulously restored,'' he said. ``It's something you just don't see every day.''

The Fun Concours event, which last year attracted 30 Mercedes Benz owners, will again feature the restored, vintage vehicles of club members. Each registrant also serves as a judge, selecting the car of his or her choice in different categories.