A Mercedes-Benz supercar built for Adolf Hitler is set to start a bidding war when it goes up for auction in the United States later this month.
The eventual owner will probably have to shell out a million bucks for the German 770K Grosser – the Super Mercedes – used by Hitler during victory parades and to entertain guests such as Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
The 770K Mercedes-Benz supercar came with a number of special features demanded by Hitler himself.
Mercedes-Benz supercar was armour plated
These included a collapsible soft-top roof, 30 millimeter bullet-proof glass for the fixed windscreen, door windows and detachable side panels, armour plated body panels and an armour plated shield at the rear which can be raised or lowered at the touch of a button.
The 770K Mercedes-Benz supercar was ordered at the request of SS officer Erich Kempka, who served as Hitler’s primary chauffeur from 1934.
The car was delivered to Hitler in Berlin on July 29, 1939, and it made its first public appearance a little over two months later as part of a motorcade transporting Hitler and his cohorts to the Old Reich Chancellery.
Even Mussolini took a ride in Mercedes-Benz supercar
The next high-profile outing took place on June 18, 1940, when the 770K was used on parade in Munich for the state visit of Mussolini.
The, on July 6, 1940, the car carried Hitler on his victory parade following the defeat of France.
The last documented parade for this 770K Mercedes-Benz supercar was on May 14, 1941, when it was used to celebrate the German conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece.
When Nazi forces were defeated in 1945 the US Army seized the vehicle and it was passed between tobacco tycoons, casino owners and historians before finding itself going for sale at Worldwide Auctioneers Arizona sale on January 17.
Mercedes-Benz supercar “historically significant”
Auction notes suggest the 770K is “The most historically significant automobile ever offered for public sale” and it is anticipated it will go for in excess of $1million.
The historian Ludwig Kosche who worked at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa described the Mercedes-Benz supercar as “one of the outstanding cars of the century, built by gifted people, and representing the highest in craftsmanship.”
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