Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman W100: a selection of real villains and celebrities (17 photos)

What do favorite TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson and drug lord Pablo Escobar? Of course, the "six hundredth" Mercedes! Popular choice of celebrities, religious leaders and dictators. If the W100 could to say he would have written the greatest revelation in the history of literature.





Translation of an article about the legendary German car, published on the HotCars website.



"Six hundredth", considered the predecessor of Maybach, boasts impressive production period (from 1963 to 1981, as many as 18 years). Only the Simplex 1903 lasted longer on the assembly line. buyer, depending on the social status, had the opportunity choose one of two modifications with different wheelbases. And for the whole period production, the company sold a total of 2677 cars of the generation W100.





Now that he is almost 60 years old, the cost of this the scoundrel soared ten times, given the modest volume of production. True, it was never intended for ordinary people. It was created so that they can be admired as a work of art on wheels. And, of course, to transport the richest and often dubious members of society.





Much like today's Tesla or BMW, the W100 was considered purely as a status symbol. Is it a beautiful car? Undoubtedly, Yes. Can anything but a high price justify an endless list prominent personalities to whom it belongs? Most likely not.





However, when you specifically offer it to political leaders and presidents, abstract Tom, Dick and Jerry, who play movies, write music and come up with fashion trends, begin to feel like they a swollen ego deserves the most luxurious ever built cars.





W100, which proudly bore the title of "the most expensive car in the world", featured an incredibly complex and extremely expensive hydraulic system with driven by an engine that required 50 horsepower to levers and switches worked silently. Yes, 50 out of 300 "horses" left just so that the passengers did not have to hear annoying sound of windows going up.





Two different versions - short SWB (3200 mm) and long LWB (3899 mm) - intended for two different types of wealthy people: those who wanted to enjoy the six-figure sum he had just spent behind the wheel, and those who are so obscenely rich that they can no longer bother with black job like driving a car.



The only thing that distinguished these modifications from each other, except for a couple additional seats is an optional soft top in the style of landau, available on a stretched machine. Due to the steel frame, increased dimensions and weight, the “six hundredth” needed more power than it could give any Mercedes engine of those years. This was the impetus for development of the remarkable M100 unit, the predecessor of the legendary M117. Both versions were equipped with the same 6.3-liter V8 (with one overhead camshaft and Bosch fuel injectors), which developed 250 horsepower and 503 N•m of torque.

The 600 also did not last long as a coupe: two production versions were donated to someone from the German management.



I hope you didn't think we were just going to refer to the crowd celebrities and politicians without naming names? Do deep breath, the list will be long: Coco Chanel (French fashion designer and founder of the fashion house of the same name), Hugh Hefner (founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine), Elizabeth Taylor (actress and cinema), John Lennon (one of the founders and members of the musical group The Beatles), George Harrison (rock musician and lead guitarist of The Beatles), Jack Nicholson (Hollywood actor), Ronnie Wood (musician of The Rolling Stones and The Faces), Elvis Presley (famousour american singer), Rowan Atkinson (British actor who played my beloved Mr. Bean's eccentric), Jay Leno (host of The Tonight Show on NBC).



And now let's look at an even more impressive list of dictators, politicians and religious leaders. For nothing speaks of equality is as eloquent as the 600th, for which your compatriots paid with their taxes: Kim Jong Il (Great leader of the DPRK), Khalid Ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud (fourth king of Saudi Arabia), Pol Pot (former Prime Minister of Cambodia), Hirohito (124th Emperor of Japan), Idi Amin (3rd President of Uganda), Fidel Castro (Cuban revolutionary, who led the country from 1959 to 2008), Saddam Hussein (former President of Iraq), Mao Zedong (founder and first ruler of China), Pablo Escobar (Colombian drug lord and terrorist).

Amazing, isn't it?



The car confidently claimed the title of the most expensive in the world, therefore, the guys from Mercedes-Benz should not have been shocked by the fact that it will be bought by the worst people that ever lived. Not not to mention the dubious place that the company occupied in the history of throughout all this time. In Mercedes, it seems, imbued with the idea creating the perfect machine for the villain. Moreover, they say that power windows had enough power to cut off limbs ...

As mentioned earlier, the "six hundredth" was destined to become rare with the very beginning. Otherwise, everyone would not dream of him celebrity. 148 cars were produced annually, and most of them either buried deep in some collector's garage, or still have been used by dictators as a show of force.



However, over the past few years, several specimens, mostly short-wheelbase. The cost of a car rock and roll pioneer Roy Orbison, for example, reaches $400,000 (24,900,000 at the rate of 62.25).

You definitely can’t say the same about the LWB version - it’s real piece goods. Not surprisingly, only several transactions. It seems that such limousines are sold far from prying eyes to avoid the spotlight.



In 2021 auction house Bring A Trailer sold a long model for 295 000 $, and the restorers from Mechatronik put up a restomod for a hefty 3 $100,000. That's all you need to know about the price level. Because the a significant portion of these vehicles are still owned by acting dictators, it's hard to say if we'll ever know the true value of the model in the market.