Hitler’s 1939 armor-plated ‘super Mercedes’ up for auction

A Mercedez-Benz supercar built for Adolf Hitler will go up for auction in the US eight decades after it was parked in the tyrant’s garage. 

The German 770 Grosser, which became known as the Super Mercedes, was used by the Führer during victory parades such as the conquering of France, Greece and Yugoslavia and to entertain guests such as Italian fascist dictator Mussolini.

Built with bulletproof glass and armor-plated side panels, Hitler personally ordered the 7.7liter beast – serial number 189744 – which he took delivery of in July 1939 in Berlin. 

After the Nazis were obliterated, the US Army seized the vehicle in 1945 and was passed between tobacco tycoons, casino magnates and historians before finding itself under the hammer with Worldwide Auctioneers – Vintage Motorcar Specialists – on January 17 in Arizona. 

It did not take long for it to make its first public appearance, and on October 6, 1939, it debuted as part of a huge motorcade with a carefully orchestrated vehicle formation designed to maximize Hitler’s personal safety. During the proceedings, Hitler was delivered to the Old Reich Chancellery (pictured) in front of a crowd saluting him, with German and International media in attendance, plus representatives of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry’s Technical Services Department

Worldwide Auctioneers has confirmed today that it will present the most historically significant automobile ever offered for public sale at its annual Scottsdale Auction in Arizona on January 17, when this 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen goes under the hammer. It was ordered by Adolf Hitler in 1938

Worldwide Auctioneers has confirmed today that it will present the most historically significant automobile ever offered for public sale at its annual Scottsdale Auction in Arizona on January 17, when this 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen goes under the hammer. It was ordered by Adolf Hitler in 1938

On July 6, 1940, the car carried Hitler on his victory parade held in Berlin following the stunning defeat of France (pictured here)

On July 6, 1940, the car carried Hitler on his victory parade held in Berlin following the stunning defeat of France (pictured here)

As expected, the newest 770K for Hitler was superlative in all possible respects and at Kempka’s insistence, would provide maximum protection for his notorious patron and his chosen passengers. This wasn't to come at the price of style, with Hitler demanding a collapsible soft-top roof

As expected, the newest 770K for Hitler was superlative in all possible respects and at Kempka’s insistence, would provide maximum protection for his notorious patron and his chosen passengers. This wasn’t to come at the price of style, with Hitler demanding a collapsible soft-top roof

According to a letter on file dated September 2, 1938, the 770K was ordered at the request of SS officer Erich Kempka, an early Nazi-party member who served as Hitler’s primary chauffeur from 1934. The letter was issued directly from the Daimler-Benz board of directors to the management of the Sindelfingen Daimler-Benz AG works

According to a letter on file dated September 2, 1938, the 770K was ordered at the request of SS officer Erich Kempka, an early Nazi-party member who served as Hitler’s primary chauffeur from 1934. The letter was issued directly from the Daimler-Benz board of directors to the management of the Sindelfingen Daimler-Benz AG works

According to a letter on file dated September 2, 1938, the 770K was ordered at the request of SS officer Erich Kempka, an early Nazi-party member who served as Hitler’s primary chauffeur from 1934.  

The letter was issued directly from the Daimler-Benz board of directors to the management of the Sindelfingen Daimler-Benz AG works.

As expected, the newest 770K for Hitler was superlative in all possible respects and at Kempka’s insistence, would provide maximum protection for his notorious patron and his chosen passengers. 

This wasn’t to come at the price of style, with Hitler demanding a collapsible soft-top roof. 

Built-in security measures were impressive and extensive, including 30-mm bullet-resistant laminated glass for the fixed windscreen, wind-up door windows and detachable side panels, armor plating protecting the body sides of the 770K and underneath the vehicle and an armored panel at the rear of the car could be raised or lowered depending upon the perceived threat level. 

Despite the seeming urgency for the Führer’s car, a copy of the factory’s commission sheet reveals it was not delivered to Berlin until July 29, 1939.

It did not take long for it to make its first public appearance, and on October 6 it debuted as part of a huge motorcade with a carefully orchestrated vehicle formation designed to maximize Hitler’s personal safety.

During the proceedings, Hitler was delivered to the Old Reich Chancellery, with German and International media in attendance, plus representatives of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry’s Technical Services Department. 

The next high-profile outing took place on June 18, 1940, when the 770K was used on parade in Munich for the state visit by Italian Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini.

On July 6, 1940, the car carried Hitler on his victory parade held in Berlin following the stunning defeat of France.

A year later, on May 4, 1941, the last known and documented parade for this 770K ended at the Old Reichstag, where Hitler celebrated the German conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece.

By July 1943, it was sent back to Singefingen for maintenance work at the factory, which meant its days as a parade vehicle were numbered as it coincided with Hitler’s demise.

Despite the seeming urgency for the Führer’s car, a copy of the factory’s commission sheet reveals it was not delivered to Berlin until July 29, 1939

Despite the seeming urgency for the Führer’s car, a copy of the factory’s commission sheet reveals it was not delivered to Berlin until July 29, 1939

Built with bulletproof glass and armor-plated side panels, Hitler personally ordered the 7.7liter beast - serial number 189744 - which he took delivery of in July 1939 in Berlin

Built with bulletproof glass and armor-plated side panels, Hitler personally ordered the 7.7liter beast – serial number 189744 – which he took delivery of in July 1939 in Berlin

Built-in security measures were impressive and extensive, including 30-mm bullet-resistant laminated glass for the fixed windscreen, wind-up door windows and detachable side panels, armor plating protecting the body sides of the 770K and underneath the vehicle and an armored panel at the rear of the car could be raised or lowered depending upon the perceived threat level

Built-in security measures were impressive and extensive, including 30-mm bullet-resistant laminated glass for the fixed windscreen, wind-up door windows and detachable side panels, armor plating protecting the body sides of the 770K and underneath the vehicle and an armored panel at the rear of the car could be raised or lowered depending upon the perceived threat level

By July 1943, it was sent back to Singefingen for maintenance work at the factory, which meant its days as a parade vehicle were numbered as it coincided with Hitler's demise

By July 1943, it was sent back to Singefingen for maintenance work at the factory, which meant its days as a parade vehicle were numbered as it coincided with Hitler’s demise

It was cleaned up in 1976 and it was cosmetically restored, with a report stating it retained the original black leather upholstery, which remained in very good condition, with the odometer reading just 33,309 kilometres at the time. It has added just 50km since then in more than 40 years

It was cleaned up in 1976 and it was cosmetically restored, with a report stating it retained the original black leather upholstery, which remained in very good condition, with the odometer reading just 33,309 kilometres at the time. It has added just 50km since then in more than 40 years

10% of the sale price of the car will be donated and used to educate how and why the Holocaust happened and how to effectively prevent such atrocities in the future

10% of the sale price of the car will be donated and used to educate how and why the Holocaust happened and how to effectively prevent such atrocities in the future

The car has had several owners since World War Two, from tobacco tycoons in Belgium to American entrepreneurs. 

It was sold by the owner of the Belga tobacco company to Tom N Austin, scion of the Austin tobacco dynasty from Greeneville, Tennessee, in 1949. 

He donated the vehicle to his local branch (VFW 1990) of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which used the car for a number of years in parades, carrying dignitaries and Gold Star Mothers who had lost sons on active duty.

Remaining with VFW 1990, the 770K eventually fell into disuse and was placed into local garage storage until 1976, when it was rediscovered by businessmen and classic car hunters Steve Munson and Joe Ogden, of Pewee Valley, Kentucky near Louisville, who purchased the car in August 1976. 

They cleaned the 770K and had it cosmetically restored, with the report stating it retained the original black leather upholstery, which remained in very good condition, with the odometer reading just 33,309 kilometres at the time.  

It has added just 50km since then in more than 40 years. 

Following completion, the car was shown at several destinations around the country and was eventually displayed at the Chicago Historical Antique Automobile Museum Inc in Highland Park, Illinois, which suggested a $1million asking price for the car.

The next owners were Earl and Tom Blakely, who acquired the 770K in September 1978 and registered the car in Georgia. 

On April 7, 1983, the 770K was sold to Ralph Engelstad, owner of the Imperial Palace Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, the home to his famed Imperial Palace Auto Collection.

Following the eventual passing of Engelstad in November 2002, 189744 was sold to a new European owner in 2004 as part of a 21-car package of significant Mercedes-Benz automobiles.

At the time of the sale of 189744 and the other cars in the package, this transaction marked the single most valuable private transaction in the classic-car world – a remarkable singular valuation that continues to stand today. 

While much has been written over many years, perhaps no other historian has followed this rare breed more closely than the late Ludwig Kosche, a German resident of Canada and noted historian and librarian who worked at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

Of the 189744, he said: ‘The purpose of this display is absolutely not to glorify Hitler and his destructive policies, no. It is to show you one of the outstanding cars of the century, built by gifted people, and representing the highest in craftsmanship. 

‘But it is also as a memorial to the fighting prowess of American soldiers that we take pride in displaying this showpiece of a fallen dictator. 

‘And above all, as a reminder that the evil which this car symbolizes, must never again be allowed to happen.’

  •  10% of the sale price of the car will be donated and used to educate how and why the Holocaust happened and how to effectively prevent such atrocities in the future

The specifications of Adolf Hitler’s supercar: From the bulletproof windows to the mammoth 7.7l inline eight-cylinder engine

Known alternatively as the ‘Grosser,’ German for the ‘large Mercedes,’ the 770K was also famous worldwide from introduction as the ‘Super Mercedes,’ an almost otherworldly expression of Germany’s pride in the country’s characteristic and celebrated engineering prowess.

Powered by a mammoth 7.7-litre inline eight-cylinder engine with overhead-valve architecture, the 770 was built in two distinct series – the W107 of 1930-1938, and the ultimate Type W150 from 1938 to 1943.

Extremely expensive, obsessively engineered, robustly constructed and hand-crafted, the 770, whether in W107 or W150 form, was purpose-built to carry the most opulent and impressive custom-coachbuilt bodies ever devised and obviously intended for captains of industry and heads of state. 

Particularly in the case of the Type W150 cars, the market was global in scope for anyone possessing the required financial means, and factory brochures were produced in both German and English. 

Performance was massive, with the supercharged Type W150 cars easily capable of exceeding 100 mph – approximately 106 mph according to period road tests – a significant benchmark of the pre and post-War years. 

While challengers of the period included Bugatti’s Type 41 Royale, 16-cylinder Cadillacs and Marmons, Packard Twelves, the 12-cylinder Hispano-Suiza and Lagonda, and Rolls-Royce Phantom III, the supercharged W150 770K (K=Kompressor or supercharger) was bettered by none.

Underneath, the W150 chassis was thoroughly modern, with oval tubular frame members for exceptional strength, rigidity, and resistance to torsional (twisting) forces. 

Independent coil-spring front suspension and a stable, parallel-wheel de Dion-type rear axle were derived from the mighty Mercedes ‘Silver Arrows’ Grand Prix cars of the 1930s and delivered exceptional handling and passenger comfort. 

While sharing the basic engine design of its predecessor, the W150 was more powerful, having been tuned to develop 155 horsepower naturally aspirated and 230 horsepower with the ‘Kompressor’ or supercharger engaged.

Four standard models of the ‘Super Mercedes’ were catalogued by the factory, including the spacious Pullman Limousine with three-row seating, the elegant yet sporting four-door Cabriolet D, the more formal Cabriolet F, and the stunning Offener Tourenwagen (Open Tourer). 

All but the Cabriolet B are documented to have included a number of partially-armored examples with various levels of factory-specified armor plating and thick safety glass, plus 10 fully-armored Innenlenker-Limousine variants. 

In total, 88 W150 Grosser Mercedes 770s were built, through 1943 when the program was cancelled. 

All bodies were produced by the renowned craftsmen at Mercedes-Benz’s Sindelfingen Werks to predictably impeccable hand-built standards.

 

 

 



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