Istorie
On a 2009 episode of the British television show Top Gear, co-host James May rattled off the following list of confirmed 600 owners: Leonid Brezhnev, Fidel Castro, Nicolae Ceausescu, Idi Amin Dada, Enver Hoxha, Hirohito, Saddam Hussein, Mao Tse Tung, and Marshal Josip Broz Tito.
Full description
The Mercedes-Benz 600 was the company’s third generation post-war luxury car and the successor to the W186/189 “Adenauer“ models.
A massive and imposing automobile, it had few peers apart from the Rolls-Royce Phantom V and, arguably, stretched Cadillacs and Lincolns. There were two wheelbases: 3,200 mm and 3,900 mm. The short wheelbase versions were both sedans, one with a division window and one without. Long wheelbase cars were called “Pullman“ and included a four-door limousine and a six-door car with additional jump seats. Most 600s – 2,190 of them – were on the short wheelbase. Long wheelbase Pullmans numbered just 429. The 600 line remained in production until 1981, although only a few were built after 1972.
In 1953, Paul Bracq, the 600’s designer, graduated from the Ecole Boulle, the famous art and design school in Paris. In 1957, after a short stint in the military, he became chief of Mercedes-Benz’s advanced design studio in Sindelfingen. He’s credited with the 1960s “Pagoda“ SL and the W108/109, W111, and W114/115 sedans.
A special engine was developed for the 600 in the form of a 6.3L V8. It had single over head cam shaft (SOHC) and Bosch mechanical fuel injection. All 250hp were needed to propel the 3340 Kg of fully loaded car. Luxury features included a complex hydraulic system that powered everything from the windows and seats to the automatic closing doors, sun roof and boot lid. Adjustable, self-leveling, air suspension gave the car a good ride. On a 2009 episode of the British television show Top Gear, co-host James May rattled off the following list of confirmed 600 owners: Leonid Brezhnev, Fidel Castro, Nicolae Ceausescu, Idi Amin Dada, Enver Hoxha, Hirohito, Saddam Hussein, Mao Tse Tung, and Marshal Josip Broz Tito. Other owners reportedly included Irish leader Eamon de Valera, Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Korean dingbats Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, Ferdinand Marcos, Deng Xiaoping, and Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk. Time magazine says King Hussein of Jordan ordered one when new, as did Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus and Indonesian president Suharto.
This car has 29,670 miles on board.
