Years ago, when I began Pochering, I chose the Bugatti because it was by far the most beautiful of the bunch, with its fender flares and paint job. I also wanted a hardtop with roll-up windows. Fortunately, when I scouted all of the local hobby shops, I came across two brochures that showed me what was available, and a supplier that had them all in stock (in 1991, the Classic line ended at K86). I decided against the Rolls-Royce chassis because it just didn’t look right as a coupe, and the sedan was probably not a good first choice as it had the most parts. The Mercedes styling didn’t do a thing for me, and the Alfa looked incredibly plain.
This time around, remembering how frustrated I got building the Bugatti, and fearing that
I might give up at some point, I wanted to minimize my investment in money and time by getting 
the least expensive kit in the line. This lead to the “Mercedes-Benz 540K True Roadster” (K91) which, in fact, turned out to be a 500K Spezial Roadster. All of the Pocher Mercedes chassis are 500Ks, not 540Ks, and an actual example of this car is owned by the Imperial Palace automotive museum in Las Vegas.
From the external photographs, I could see why it was cheaper than the other Mercedes kits: it had no rumble seat, no convertible top, no windows going up and down, and I had read that it had plastic wire wheels. All of these things were okay because I was most interested in the inner workings of the machine, but unfortunately, once I acquired the kit, I learned that there were many internal things missing to help contribute to its lower cost. I was very disappointed.
Fortunately, by this time, I had a copy of a book entitled “Expert Tips for Perfecting Your Pocher Mercedes Kit”, and I was already in contact with one of its authors, David Cox. He sent me a copy of the instructions for an earlier Mercedes kit (K85) and I could see exactly how they differed. As it turned 
out, so many people were having so much trouble with so many details, that Pocher’s solution wasn’t to improve the parts, but rather to leave them out so people wouldn’t have to bother with them. Fortunately, the key parts they left out were often easy to replace, so I didn’t feel so bad. In the end, the only sub-assemblies that I’m missing are the supercharger linkage and some hand brake linkage.
The tips book also provided me with many suggestions for improvement, and this is where I approached the Mercedes differently from the Bugatti. With the Bugatti, I made sure that I did everything correctly and by the book. With the Mercedes, I decided to go further and spend a lot of time adding extra detail.
My actual experiences building Pocher model cars are described below, but first, I must provide two significant pieces of advice:
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Get the book “Expert Tips for Perfecting Your Pocher Mercedes Kit”. This book is truely priceless. It is not only pertinent, but it is also a constant companion encouraging you to do more with your Pocher kit and making you feel better that you did (even tip 7). There is also a book specifically for the Alfa Romeos, and the advice these books give can be applied to the other Pocher kits, as well. Contact Model Motorcars and order one right now.
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Ream all screw holes. As most parts are screwed and bolted together, there are many
holes in plastic parts that are supposed to accept screws such a 72301, 72302 and 72303.
Unfortunately, many of these holes are too small, and their smallness may result in the
screw suffering metal fatigue. I first experienced this early on with the Bugatti, and it was
really devastating being faced with the prospect that this may happen with every screw.
Naturally, from that point on, I’d have to drill out every screw hole, but instead of using a drill bit, I found that a 1.19mm or 3/64” jeweller’s screw driver was the perfect size for reaming these holes. The added benefits of a screw driver over a drill are the facts that it will stop at the bottom of the hole, and you won’t be repeatedly changing the bit in your pin vise. Whichever route you choose, these holes must be enlarged.
- Depending on your browser, the backgrounds may print when the page is printed, and if
you’re interested in just the text, you should simply “copy and paste” it. This is done by pointing at any part of the text with the mouse, right-clicking, selecting option “Select All” (or something like that), and pressing key combination [Ctrl]+[C]. Then go to any word processor (such as Notepad or WordPad), and press [Ctrl]+[V]. From there, you can then print the text.
- The images are not consistent because I used several methods to make them, including different lighting sources (usually a flash or two, sometimes the sun), different films (colour print, different brands, 50 or 100 speed), different developers (one liked adding blue), and different methods of cleaning them up after scanning. It took a few rolls to figure out how to take decent pictures, and I’m still trying different things. Out of more than 200 photographs, the ones you see here are essentially the best of the bunch. Excluded are some very good pictures that did not scan well. And overall, I still have to apologize because none of these images is nearly as good as the printed photographs — I’m blaming the screen resolution.
| My Bugatti Type 50T (K76) experience. |
| My Mercedes-Benz 500K Spezial Roadster (K91) experience. |