I took many photos (including excruciatingly-detailed shots of engine compartments
and dashboards) of S and SS cars (and some K, 380K, 500K, 540K, and 770 cars) back
in the '50s. Some of these include famed cartoonist and driver, Charles Addams,
in his S tourer out at the Bridgehampton (Long Island) track.
[Moved from Mercedes-Benz page 3 on 05 Dec 2005]
[I had digressed on page 3 re a Type 770K and now have so much on it
and others that it has become a separate topic on its own, here. - 02 Feb 05]
A specific Hitler Grosser Mercedes 770K, the very one found near the
Berghof at Berchtesgaden and presented to General Charles de Gaulle, is now in
Florida and about to undergo restoration; any information about this car or
about similar restorations or parts sources will be very much appreciated by
the present owner (contact me). The most
critical item is a distributor to buy (or borrow as a pattern). This
particular 770K is pictured in the lower right corner on page 227 of Jan Melin’s Volume
I; the licence is Z 96-501.
-
I found my mint copy of the 1933 NSDAP (Nazi) publicity flack book "Deutschland
Erwacht", with dozens of hand-tipped pictures, many with 770Ks, and, of course,
this car isn't one of them (it hadn't been built yet!) - I scanned and posted all of those
with M-B cars below.
(05 Dec 05)
How odd; I realized that I have a model 770K! It was never on
display, is still in its original packing, and is magnificent! It is by Rio
in Italy and is gun-metal gray (in spite of the photos). It is described on
the box as #21, "1938 grande mercedes - 8 cil. - cmc. 7.700 (scoperta)"*,
namely: 1938 Grand (Grosser) Mercedes, 8 cylinders, cc 770 (discovery)*.
31 Jan 2005 photos by and © 2005 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
With the (one-piece) model hood (bonnet) removed, the big 7.7 lit(er)(re)
straight 8 is revealed in all its 7/8" (22.2mm) glory, external pipes and all.
Rio even modeled the steering gear and the fan and fan belt, although it will be
a real bear to try to photograph these details and the full dash and controls.
The registration number, front and rear, is 1A 148485.
* - there's ony one little problem with that - the underside of the model is
marked in relief (cast in) "MERCEDES BENZ CABRIOLET 1937" and
"#1/43". One can logically assume that 1937 vs. 1938 makes no visual
difference whatsoever and that 1/43 is the scale (1:43), not the year (Jan
1943, no matter how appropriate that might seem). Further, perhaps
the translation of "scoperta" to "discovery" needs some work; it could also
mean "detection" or serendipity", neither of which helps much, here.
Oh, good grief; not only is the underside fully-modeled, the front and rear
half axles are each independently sprung on miniature coil springs! With
all that attention to (quite-literally) detail in a model measuring only 5½"
(14cm) long, one might have expected Rio to have the hubcaps turn with the
wheels and the hood panels lift separately; it would have been so easy to
arrange, just as my Chinese model of the 1932
Chrysler Imperial 8 Le Baron Phaeton (at the same scale) has.
On top of all that, I discovered inside the Rio box a gummed foil sheet to
simulate chrome pillars between the windows, with a miniature, illustrated
instruction sheet:
02 Feb 2005 photo by and © 2005 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
There is also a fact sheet! The fact sheet includes both a history of the
type and a specifications sheet in Italian, English, German, and French.
I have scanned the sheet at high resolution, copying the header (in Italian)
and the English text only (measuring only 4" x 3¾" / 10mm x 9.5mm)
and offer it here as a thumbnail image, clicking on which which will bring up
the full sheet to scroll down and as separate history and specs (mis-spelled
"Tecnical {sic} Items") panels:
02 Feb 2005 scan by S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
The English translation from Italian (or German?) is quaint, to say the least.
The 1931 predecessor 770K type is very similar to the K and 24-100/140 types
noted above but with the larger 7.7 l. engine.
Similarly, the later W-150 / 770K is stylistically and mechanically much like an
overgrown 540K:
(Unprovenanced pictures from Web)
The National Archives of the United States holds the print from which this crop was
made, of Hungary's regent, Admiral Horthy (one can readily see why my
Hungarian-born mother despised the man) at a meeting with Hitler at Berchtesgaden;
the two are about to enter a Mercedes Grand-Pullman limousine (identified as the
specific W-150 / 770K noted above):
(Image cropped from photo in the Heinrich Hoffman Collection
of the National Archives, Washington, D. C., courtesy of current owner of car -
top of original, showing considerable empty sky, cropped to save bandwidth)
[Thumbnailed image - click on picture for larger image]
The tall man holding the door open is Heinz Linge, at that time Hitler's
chauffeur/valet/bodyguard (the last), and the incredibly tall cinematographer
in the background is Walter Frentz, Hitler's and Leni Riefenstahl's cameraman
(note how casually solicitous Linge appears to be, instead of being at
ramrod-straight attention).
[The scratch across Hitler and the vertical crop mark through Linge appear
on the original print.]
The car, which was one of only four armo(u)red closed saloons made for the
Führer's entourage barely shows; I hope to have more photos for you soon.
Hitler's Mercedes-Benzes
The foregoing coverage of what may very well have been Adolf Hitler's last car
is in no way intended to glorify the man but only to record the car itself.
Similarly, Hitler used many Mercedes-Benz cars throughout his meteoric rise
to power and he used them very well indeed. He had the good sense or
good advice (unfortunately) to use open cars so that he was accessible to the
people (those he wished to be accessible for), mostly K and 770K Grosser
cars, although some appear low enough that they might have been S or SS
models. I finally found my copy of the Nov 1933 Nazi propaganda book,
"Deutschland Erwacht"; that means "Germany Awoken", and
is a play on the original NSDAP (National Socialistisches Deutsches Arbeits
Partei - National Socialist German Labor Party - Nazi) slogan, "Deutschland
Erwachen", exhorting "Germany {to} Awake". The book is very much
intended to glorify the Führer (Fuehrer - Leader), the Nazi Party, and the Third
Reich. All the hundreds of photos in the book are hand-tipped; it was
NOT a casual political pamphlet! So, let's see the cars and how they
were used (I have included both the German captions and my translation of
them and the pictures are in more-or-less chronological order from the earliest
of 1924 through the last of 1933 - note that some have split windscreens and some
have one-piece windcreens):
(04 Dec 05)
[L = Links/Left, R = Rechts/Right]
Pages 33 and 36 -
L - Der Führer verlaßt die festung Landsberg, 1924
L - The Fuehrer leaves the Landsberg Prison, 1924
{too bad they didn't let him rot there!}
R - Dritter Parteistag: 1927 in Nürnberg, und wieder marschiert des Braune Heer
R - Third (Nazi)party day: 1927 in Nuremberg, and the Brown Army (the
Brownshirts) march again
[Thumbnailed images - click on pictures for larger images]
Pages 49 and 68 (top) -
L - Blutzeugen der Bewegung
L - Bloody witness to the movement
R - „Heil Hitler!" „Heil Hitler!" Der Führer auf der Fahrt zu einer Kundgebung
R - "Heil Hitler!" "Heil Hitler!" The Fuehrer on the road to a rally
[Thumbnailed images - click on pictures for larger images]
Pages 71 and 94 -
L - Von Kundgebung zu Kundgenung eilt der Führer
L - The Fuehrer rushes from rally to rally
R - Reichspräsident und Reichskanzler am 1. Mai 1933
R - Reich's president (Paul von Hindenburg) and Reich's chancellor Hitler
on 01 May 1933 (the occasion of a great youth rally)
[showing the left side rear detail of K or early Grosser {?} window framing
similar to later 770K model shown above]
[Thumbnailed images - click on pictures for larger images]
Pages 115 and 116 (top) -
L - Zwei Arbeiter für Deutschland reichen sich die Hand
L - Two workers for Germany shake each other's hands
R - Der gesunde Instinkt des Volkes hatte schon lange in Adolf Hitler den Führer
erkannt . . . .
Freudige Begrüßung auf dem Wege zu einer Kundgebung
R - The sound instinct {sic} of the people has long been realized in Adolf
Hitler as the Fuehrer . . . .
Joyful greetings on the way to a rally
[Thumbnailed images - click on pictures for larger images]
Pages 116 (bottom) and 144 -
L - Der Führer begrüßt einen Veteranen der Arbeit (Meister Bender von
Mercedes=Benz)
L - The Fuehrer greets a veteran of work (Master Bender of Mercedes-Benz)
R - Der Führer und seine Getreuen - Nürnberg 1933
R - The Fuehrer and his faithful - Nuremberg 1933
[Thumbnailed images - click on pictures for larger images]
Page 68 (bottom, with enlargement)
Propagandamarsch, München 1932 nach der Aufhebung des Uniformverbotes
Propaganda-march, Munich 1932 after the abolition of the uniform prohibition
[Thumbnailed image left - click on picture for larger image]
Page 150 (with enlargement)
Appell der 100 000 SA-Männer beim Reichsparteitag in Nürnberg /
Vorbeimarsch
vor dem Führer auf den Adolf-Hitler-Platz
Roll call of 100,000 SA men at the Reich's (Nazi) party day in Nuremberg /
March-by in front of the Fuehrer on the Adolf-Hitler-Place (in the sense of
plaza or square)
[Thumbnailed image left - click on picture for larger image]
Page 149 -
Hitler nimmt den Vorbeimarsch der SA auf dem Reichsparteitag Nürnberg 1933
ab
Hitler inspects the march-by of the SA at the Reich's (Nazi) party day in
Nuremberg in 1933
It is not at all surprising to find that "Reich" means "empire". The Reichsführer
(leader of the empire) was a maniac, a mass murderer, and a monster but, oh, what
cars he had at his disposal!
This is simply incredible; I finished up posting the "Deutschland Erwacht"
photos above in the evening of 04 Dec and the morning of 05 Dec 2005 and
that very afternoon got a call from Gary J. Zimet, Curator of
MOMENTS IN TIME INC., P.O. Box 37, Washingtonville, New York
10992, 845-496-6699 (FAX 845-496-6367), that he had the purchase
documents for Hitler's 29 Jan 1929 order #43966 for a Model 15/70/100
6-cylinder 4/5-passenger Mercedes-Benz for Munich!
(05 Dec 05)
The 6-cylinder 15/70/100 is a far smaller car than the 8-cylinder 24/100/140
or 24/160/200 or K or 770K but it is still a more-than-respectably-large-enough
car to impress the "troops"; for comparison, the 6.8l. and 7.1l. S and SS cars
were 26/120/180, 33/220, 27/170/225, and 36/250 cars.
The full documents can be seen at
Gary's site but he gave me permission to show you them here (I have
drastically cropped them, to save memory, by omitting much of the
"boiler-plate"). They turn out to be that for Hitler's car plus an
apparently-undated NSDAP (Nazi Party) order, signed by Hitler, for a 4-door
6/7-passenger open tourer for Berlin; they may well be for cars shown above.
(image courtesy of G. J. Zimet/Moments in Time - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed image left - click on picture for larger image]
(image courtesy of G. J. Zimet/Moments in Time - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed image left - click on picture for larger image]
(image courtesy of G. J. Zimet/Moments in Time - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed image left - click on picture for larger image]
(image courtesy of G. J. Zimet/Moments in Time - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed image left - click on picture for larger image]
(image courtesy of G. J. Zimet/Moments in Time - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed image left - click on picture for larger image]
(image courtesy of G. J. Zimet/Moments in Time - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed image left - click on picture for larger image]
It appears to me that Hitler's Munich car cost 13,000RM and the party's Berlin
car 10,000RM (the party got a break?).
Both cars are specified to have compressors (superchargers), to be dark blue,
and to have wooden wheels. It is amusing that the top material on
Hitler's car is specified as "Rubberduck"; the seats are black leather. I
will struggle through the other specs as time and my big Langenscheidts
dictionary permit; some old technical terminology eludes me.
of this series of Mercedes-Benz pages.
[For those interested in the Chrysler side as well,
see my Chrysler page, et seq.
(with the Walter P. Chrysler story).]
Cyclops fans; see Cyclops on my Automotive page!
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S. Berliner, III
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2005
- All rights reserved.
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