Photo: Worldwide Auctioneers
Back when Germany was ruled by one of the most frightening men of the 20th century, Mercedes-Benz used to manufacture extremely luxurious cars for the Nazi regime. The 770K was one of them, and this particular Grosser Offener Turenwagen is one of five surviving cars. Adding to the exclusive factor, chassis number 189744 is one of three examples known to be in private hands.
Before anything, it should be mentioned that 10 percent of the sale price of chassis number 189744 will be donated to education services related to the Holocaust in a bid to ensure atrocities like that never happen again.
There’s no estimate on this automobile, but it's a given you're looking at a multi-million dollar blast from the past. Then there’s the sheer rarity, this car being the last of eight pre-series models. As for the production-spec W150, Mercedes-Benz manufactured 88 examples in Sindelfingen by mid-1943.
Worldwide Auctioneers describes the 770K Grosser Offener Turenwagen as “the most historically significant automobile ever offered for public sale,” though that’s debatable in more than one way. What is crystal clear, however, is that the 770K “did not choose its user or its use. People – with the fallibility and prejudices all too often part of human nature – were responsible for that,” so don’t blame the car for what Hitler did in the '30s and '40s.
An armed example of the breed that benefits from a bullet-resistant windshield, the German Chancellor’s parade car is equipped with the sort of engine that you won’t find in any modern passenger car: an inline-eight that displaces a mammoth 7.7 liters. Supercharged for good measure, 230 horsepower are sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual.
In addition to Hitler and other prominent Nazi officials, the 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen proved popular with Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Spanish dictator Franco, Portuguese dictator Salazar, and… wait for it… Pope Pius XI.
“If the original Hitlerian provenance of this Mercedes can be set aside, if only momentarily, surviving examples of the Mercedes-Benz 770 Grosser - or Super Mercedes - remain quite likely the world’s greatest achievement in terms of automotive design, engineering, and construction,” explains Rod Egan, principal and auctioneer at Worldwide Auctioneers.
There’s no estimate on this automobile, but it's a given you're looking at a multi-million dollar blast from the past. Then there’s the sheer rarity, this car being the last of eight pre-series models. As for the production-spec W150, Mercedes-Benz manufactured 88 examples in Sindelfingen by mid-1943.
Worldwide Auctioneers describes the 770K Grosser Offener Turenwagen as “the most historically significant automobile ever offered for public sale,” though that’s debatable in more than one way. What is crystal clear, however, is that the 770K “did not choose its user or its use. People – with the fallibility and prejudices all too often part of human nature – were responsible for that,” so don’t blame the car for what Hitler did in the '30s and '40s.
An armed example of the breed that benefits from a bullet-resistant windshield, the German Chancellor’s parade car is equipped with the sort of engine that you won’t find in any modern passenger car: an inline-eight that displaces a mammoth 7.7 liters. Supercharged for good measure, 230 horsepower are sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual.
In addition to Hitler and other prominent Nazi officials, the 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen proved popular with Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Spanish dictator Franco, Portuguese dictator Salazar, and… wait for it… Pope Pius XI.
“If the original Hitlerian provenance of this Mercedes can be set aside, if only momentarily, surviving examples of the Mercedes-Benz 770 Grosser - or Super Mercedes - remain quite likely the world’s greatest achievement in terms of automotive design, engineering, and construction,” explains Rod Egan, principal and auctioneer at Worldwide Auctioneers.
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