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Probably one of my most interesting and joyful cars to write about in my handful of years was this 1970 Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman. The short history was it was delivered new to King Idris of Libya shortly before a coup d’etat by the infamous Muammar Gaddafi. Somehow the car made it out of Libya and spent time in Japan and later came to California where it was acquired by the seller in 2011. It underwent over a $150,000 worth of work to get it into condition it is, and that is the last I heard of it in 2018.
Well, it looks like the car didn’t go into hiding as it was featured in Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle, then recently went up for bid on Bring a Trailer as a premium listing from the same seller. After the dust settled, someone named MalibuScott became the new owner for $300,000 all in. Truth be told, I thought that was a very nice price for the new owner. Looking at the amount of time and money that went into this car, I don’t see a big profit for the seller unless he got this for a song when it was sitting. Fun to see this one come up again, and maybe not the last we’ve heard from it.
The below post originally appeared on our site October 31, 2018:
Oh Maybach, how far will you fall? Normally when screaming about depreciation, its the Maybach 57, not the king of the hill 62 like we have here today. Just to refresh, the 62 was the extra-long wheel base version that measures 20-feet-long (!) that allowed rear passengers lay completely flat. It rang in at $360,000 … in 2004. Just to put that into perspective, the 2004 Rolls-Royce Phantom was only $320,000. This car was unbelievably expensive and its hard to argue it was worth it when you see it now and take a close look at it. That also probably explains why it is so cheap now.
There are few cars I geek out over more than the Mercedes-Benz 600 and all of its crazy variations. There is just something about the ”money is no object” philosophy with these cars and the seemingly endless options that were offered. One of those options was the factory Pullman body that turned this sedan into a limousine. Wildly popular with celebrities, industrialists and heads of state, these offered the best the automotive world had to offer with seating for six. Today’s car, a 1964 Pullman for sale in Germany, was built for and used by the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe: Siemens AG.
Earlier this month, Carter looked at a 1979 BMW 733i Limousine that was an interesting car to say the least. Like he mentioned, it is really tough to top Mercedes-Benz when it comes to limousines, both aftermarket and factory. I personally think a factory Mercedes Pullman is without question the best limousine in the world, but some aftermarket companies have figured out how to make a nice product as well. Today’s car originally passed muster, but like all things, didn’t age all that well.
This 1987 560SEL up for sale in The Hamptons was converted to a limousine by Carat Duchatelet. Carat Duchatelet was a French company (now Belgian) that converted Mercedes S-Class into limos and other armored vehicles while adding their own special touches. This car was stretched to add a center divider as well as changed out the interior color to something a little more creamy. The entire car screams 1980s and I have come to find out that this car has an option I have never seen before on a Mercedes limousine: a calculator holder!
Update 1/17/19: After failing to sell at $14,999, this oddball limo has been relisted at $9,999.
In terms of German marque limos, it’s safe to say that Mercedes-Benz pretty much has the segment cornered. Andrew has recently covered a crazy supercharged stretched E-Class, a classic if poorly executed W126 S-Class, and of course the market-defining Pullman. Even an unlikely G-Class made the ranks of stretched Benzs.
So it would appear that few are looking for “The Ultimate Driving Machine” for a vomit-inducing ride to the altar, the prom, or some Garth Brooks tour date with six of their closest college buddies. Yet that hasn’t stopped someone from trying. But to me, if the marque was unusual, the model which they chose is even more strange:
