Photo: classic-sterne.de
Cars that belonged to celebrities sell for a few times over the price of other similar vehicles without any famous owners in the past, and yet this 1973 Mercedes-Benz 350 SL owned by the former Romanian Dictator Ceausescu only has an asking price of 80,000 euros ($88,000).
Well, Ceausescu wasn't exactly the kind of guy you would want to sit next to at a dinner party. Not only was he one of the last remaining communist dictators in Eastern Europe, but legend has it he wasn't exactly a very bright individual. Besides, he condoned political imprisonment and torture, so there's that to consider as well.
Still, he wouldn't be the first person of questionable morals whose possessions attract a lot of money in an auction. The only problem is he isn't really that big outside Romania, and within the country, there are very few who would dare use his car without fearing they would find it torched the next day.
This meant the SL sold for just 50,000 euros back in March during a charitable event that saw the proceedings go to an organization that looks after special-needs orphans in Eastern Europe and West-Africa. The buyer, however, is keen on making a profit just eight months later, so they have put the car up for sale on Germany's biggest car sales website.
Not much has changed since the auction this spring, meaning the 1973 Mercedes-Benz 350 SL still has just 17,500 kilometers (10,873 miles) on the clock and is still in perfect running condition. As for the price, it all comes down to how much you value its past ownership. We don't expect Ceausescu fan clubs to pop up anytime soon (make that ever), so it's not like the number of people interested in this car is going to grow over time.
In fact, soon enough he'll just go down in history books as an evil ruler that the world is better off without and everybody will forget about him. As for his Mercedes-Benz 350 SL, it's just a very nice piece of German engineering that happens to have had the bad luck of being bought initially by a maniac. Is that worth 80,000 euros? Only you can decide, but keep in mind that the current owner paid 30,000 euros less just eight months ago.
Still, he wouldn't be the first person of questionable morals whose possessions attract a lot of money in an auction. The only problem is he isn't really that big outside Romania, and within the country, there are very few who would dare use his car without fearing they would find it torched the next day.
This meant the SL sold for just 50,000 euros back in March during a charitable event that saw the proceedings go to an organization that looks after special-needs orphans in Eastern Europe and West-Africa. The buyer, however, is keen on making a profit just eight months later, so they have put the car up for sale on Germany's biggest car sales website.
Not much has changed since the auction this spring, meaning the 1973 Mercedes-Benz 350 SL still has just 17,500 kilometers (10,873 miles) on the clock and is still in perfect running condition. As for the price, it all comes down to how much you value its past ownership. We don't expect Ceausescu fan clubs to pop up anytime soon (make that ever), so it's not like the number of people interested in this car is going to grow over time.
In fact, soon enough he'll just go down in history books as an evil ruler that the world is better off without and everybody will forget about him. As for his Mercedes-Benz 350 SL, it's just a very nice piece of German engineering that happens to have had the bad luck of being bought initially by a maniac. Is that worth 80,000 euros? Only you can decide, but keep in mind that the current owner paid 30,000 euros less just eight months ago.
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