Aktion P: The Survival of a Mercedes-Benz from WWII

Cover artwork for Aktion P (chassis #408377) project.

The discovery of the 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Aktion P (chassis # 408377) from WWII is straight out of Indiana Jones lore. A mere 419 samples of the 540K chassis were built by Daimler AG (Now called the Mercedes-Benz Group AG), and only 20 of those were Aktion P models with all but one having been lost to history.

John O’Leary presenting his research on Aktion P (chassis #408377) in 2018 at the Second International Driver History Conference in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Some consider the 540K a masterpiece of the coachbuilder and the high point of Mercedes-Benz’s own ‘Special Vehicle Production Unit’. Mercedes-Benz 540K cars are held in esteemed collections as centerpieces and rarely come to market. Whenever they do come up for auction, they are unlikely to have led as mysterious a life as the Aktion P.

Richard Reuter removing Aktion P (chassis #408377) from the Barn in Estonia.

During the summer of 1992, Richard Reuter (3rd generation automobile restorer and President of Reuter’s Coach Works) received a call from a woman in Oklahoma with a lead about a unique automobile from WWII. After verifying the information, three Americans- Richard Reuter, Dick Fritz, and Ben Blake went on the adventure of a lifetime, but until now, the epic ‘barn find’ story of the hunt for Aktion P has never been fully documented.

Robert Reuter walks around Aktion P (chassis #408377) during restoration at Reuter’s Coach Works in Danbury, Connecticut.

“There was a moment – the moment we flew out with the Aktion P safely loaded – that made the whole thing worth it to me. It was just an incredible adventure,” stated Richard Reuter. “We would never be able to get the Aktion P out of Estonia and back to the United States today,” he added.

View of Reuter’s Coach Works in Danbury, Connecticut where expert restoration of Aktion P (chassis #408377) began.

John O’Leary was first introduced to the Aktion P saga by his father-in-law Richard Reuter. O’Leary has spent more than a decade researching this unique automobile from WWII.

As archivist for the Reuter’s Coach Works Archive, O’Leary has cataloged the original Daimler AG…

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