Chassis 100014 12 000121
Motor 100980 12 000119
Aufbau 00009

The former Austrian state saloon serving three presidents
In the Wiesenthal Collection since 1976
Original 73.000 kms on the clock
Incredible, unrestored condition
Matching Numbers

It is said that Konrad Adenauer asked, “Do you have anything bigger?” when he was shown the new 300 SE, which was intended as his official car. In fact, they did have something bigger – but it was not quite ready. Already while Adenauer was driving, or rather, was being driven in the predecessor to the 300 SE, to which he lent his name, Fritz Nallinger, Head of Development in Stuttgart, had been given carte blanche. Carte blanche to do everything that was technically possible. A new “Großer Mercedes” was to be created: a car which was intended to be nothing other than the best car in the world, no less!

Nallinger had a field day: pneumatic suspension, comfort hydraulics, seats, windows, a sun roof. Everything worked silently, as if moved by an invisible hand. It had power steering, automatic transmission, air conditioning, electrically regulated heating and ventilation and much more, practically verging on science fiction. He even thought briefly about including a 12-cylinder engine, but ultimately decided that this offered few advantages compared to a V8. The increase in its engine displacement from 5.4 litres, as originally intended, to 6.3 could certainly be seen as a jab at Rolls-Royce’s aristocratic lineage of British cars.

It was vast in scale and its appearance was simply awe-inspiring. These technical marvels were housed within a car that was a good five and a half metres by two metres. And that’s the standard short-wheelbase model! The 600 was also available as a Pullman, with a length of 6 metres 24 centimetres and offering either four or six doors. As it was more of a showpiece than a luxury vehicle, there was also a version with an open-topped rear: the landaulet. Ultimately, people wanted to show off who was sitting in the back seat.

This unrivalled vehicle was shown to an amazed public on home turf at the IAA in Frankfurt in September 1963. The specialist press were falling over themselves to praise a vehicle that mere mortals could never afford. With 250 horsepower and double the usual torque, the 600 could reach speeds of 200 km/h. Some tests even alleged that the vehicle had something in common with sports cars. The price ticket revealed the dizzying figure of 56,500 Deutsche Marks: a detached house would have cost less. Owners of the 600 certainly did not live in such mundane surroundings, however. This illustrious group included the who’s who of the jet-set and the leading popstars of the day, along with rulers of all kinds, monarchs, presidents, revolutionaries, dictators, and even the representative of God on earth.

However, he only had one, just like the King, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Udo Jürgens, David Bowie, Elizabeth Taylor, Gunter Sachs or Pablo Escobar. Some Arabian stables allegedly house more than 100 of the these, “President” Mobuto had a mere 23, followed closely by the Shah, who had 21. Mao had eleven, and nobody is quite sure how many Gaddafi owned. Other people had a more restrained approach: Leonid Brezhnev, Tito, the Kim family and Saddam Hussein also had one apiece.

Mercedes had planned to make 3,000 of the cars – a year, mind you. However, the smattering of small countries located across the Mediterranean did not have quite as much desire for status and need for attention as would have enabled this expectation to be met, or, simply put, there were just not enough of them. In total, a mere 2,677 600s had been made by June 1981:

2,190 short-wheelbase models, 304 long-wheelbase four-door models, 124 long-wheelbase six-door models, 47 four-door landaulets, 12 with six doors, and 2 coupés, which officially never existed. Sales figures slumped as early as the 1970s. New emissions regulations, which went hand-in-hand with a sales ban in the USA, and, hard to believe, the oil crisis, sounded the death knell for the 600. The titan was removed from sales brochures in 1979: it had been a long time since even 50 or so had been made in a year.

Mercedes ended up paying more and more for every 600 that was made, as production was time-consuming and costly, with a large amount carried out by hand. Thanks to a host of extravagant customer requests, no 600 was quite the same as any other, which certainly did not make it any cheaper. Despite this, the vehicle was improved and modernised where necessary as time went by. For Mercedes-Benz, the 600 was a matter of prestige. Its competitors had been demoted, and the epitome of luxury and progress bore the Mercedes-Benz star from now on. No advertising in the world could provide this kind of image.

Even in the present day, the Mercedes-Benz 600 is seen as a milestone in automobile history. It is the reference point for all state saloons that came after it – and it has still not been surpassed today!

Every car tells a story: its own, and that of its owners. This 600 Pullman is history itself, and a piece of Austrian history, no less. It is the former Austrian state saloon. Ordered under President Schärf, this four-door Pullman, the ninth ever to be built, left the factory on 4 December 1964 and headed to the company’s representatives in Vienna, Wiesenthal & Co. KG. It was registered to the Austrian President’s Office on 9 December, with the usual number plate for the Republic’s premier vehicle: W-1.000. However, this plate was only affixed at the rear, as the front of the car displayed the Republic’s coat of arms, the Austrian eagle.

The car was black, of course, and the chauffeur sat on black leather while the guests in the back had grey fabric seats. A refrigerator made guests feel at home and a dividing partition ensured discretion. The sun-roof opening from the back of the vehicle towards the front posed a challenge. Before this could be produced, the tools needed for this job first had to be made early on in the production process, as the order sheet reveals.

Adolf Schärf died on Shrove Tuesday in 1965. Just two weeks previously, he had collected the Shah and well-known car enthusiast Reza Pahlavi from the airport - likely in the new state car. Vienna’s mayor, Franz Jonas, was lined up as Schärf’s successor on 9 June 1965, and a week before, the 600 had been lined up for its first service on Troststraße.

The 600 was by Franz Jonas’ side through almost two periods of office. It chauffeured heads of state and royalty, from Soviet presidents through to the the British Royal Couple. Although they were ferried around the country in a borrowed landaulet, this 600 did indeed pick up the Queen from the airport. Even the annual trip to the Salzburg Festival was on its docket. However, Franz Jonas did not see out its service. He died in April 1974, and so the 600 Pullman hosted its third President, Rudolf Kirchschläger, before it was retired.

It returned to Wiesenthal in 1976 and became part of the growing collection. Instead of presidents and monarchs, most of its passengers were now newlyweds. This car, too, had detailed records of the trips it had taken and the condition it was in. It is still in an impressive state nowadays: the 600 is unrestored and has been kept in its original condition. It still has all its original manuals and a fully stamped service book. The rear seats still have the covers they had when it was in official service – and they would have plenty of stories to tell, if only they could talk.