Adolf Hitler's Mercedes-Benz 770
Hitler never learned how to drive
Updated 30 Mar 2023
Hitler atop his Mercedes-Benz 770.
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The Großer Mercedes, a popular choice among high ranking Nazi officials
Added by Leyton Nightingale
Mercedes-Benz 770
A large luxury limousine built by Mercedes-Benz from 1930 until 1944. It became best known as the car of choice among axis politicians during World War II. The car itself was manufactured to be a car for politicians and was adapted for presentations and parades. Reich president von Hindenburg, Japanese Emperor Hirohito and even Pope Pius XI were chaperoned in the car. The car could produce 155 bhp at full throttle and gained a top speed of around 170 km/h. Although sold by Mercedes-Benz, the car didn't have a price tag. It was offered on request only with optional modifications.
Mercedes-Benz 770.
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An association Mercedes-Benz will want to forget
The car was originally offered as gifts to the axis politicians at the time. Apart from receiving notoriety within the Nazi party, Benito Mussolini of Italy, Francisco Franco of Spain and Carl Gustaf of Finland, among others, were recipients of the luxury limousine. All received a car with bulletproof metalwork and glass windscreens.
Hitler atop the 770 greeting crowds.
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Adolf Hitler's interest in cars
Hitler himself could not drive. He never attained a licence, not did he ever have need to as he would always be driven around and learning how to was interrupted by time spent at war, in prison and growing the Third Reich. That wouldn't stop him from having an interest in cars, he personally was involved in the development of the Volkswagen Beetle and had a collection of cars to boot, mainly all Mercedez-Benz throughout the 1920's.
Abandoned 770.
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Modifications to Hitler's car
Hitler would at times situate himself in the rear seats when trying to keep a low profile, or next to his chauffeur Julius Schick, when engaging the crowds. He requested the front seat of his car to have a raised platform underneath the foot-well and handles placed on the passenger side window to be elevated and stand tall for the public.
Hitler during parade in the 770.
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Why Mercedes-Benz?
During the 1920's Hitler was attempting to make a name for himself as a politician and leader of the German people. At this time of his life he resided in Bavaria, specifically close to Munich and not so far away from neighbouring city Stuttgart, the birthplace of Mercedes-Benz. The brand had a quality and status. To drive a Mercedes in those times, and maybe even still today, meant you had significance enough to be important. A decisive trait for the image of Hitler among the people. Despite being born an Austrian, Hitler was a supporter of German nationalism. Being seen with Mercedes-Benz was seen as pride in German manufacturing and engineering, well met by the German people.
A Mercedes-Benz 770.
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The other cars of Adolf Hitler
His Mercedez-Benz 770 is perhaps the most well known as it was the car he was most often seen in during his parades infront of the adoring crowds. But he was driven around in other models too. Before it the type 630, also popular with other Nazi officials Göring and Himmler, it was a massive car with a 6 cylinder engine, perfectly spacious for a right wing political party in the back. Another car Hitler was seen in was a Mercedes-Benz W31 Type G4 which Hitler also gifted to Franco of Spain to win favour with him.
Transporting of the 770.
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Seizure of the cars
During the allied advancement into Germany and in preparation of the fall of Berchtesgaden in April 1945, RSD and SS troops had loaded the car on a railway flat-car, where it was found in May 1945 by troops of the United States Army 20th Armoured Division in Laufen. Found in a damaged condition, a liberated Dutch forced-labour mechanic got the car working, advising the troops that it was Herman Göring’s automobile, was seized by the United States’ 20th Armoured Division in the closing days of World War II in May 1945. The car later turned out to be Hitler’s personal vehicle confirmed by many publicly released photographs. The 20th Armoured Division’s Sergeant T. Joe Azara discovered the vehicle on a railroad yard in the little town of Laufen, Austria, located north of Salzburg. Azara successfully locked the vehicle, unloaded it from the flatbed, and got it going after a firefight with German snipers. Eventually, however, he had to swap out the original engine with an equal engine salvaged from a Mercedes near Hitler’s hideout in Berchtesgaden, Austria.
Hitler w/ his Mercedes-Benz 11/40 PS.
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What became of Hitler's 770
In May of 1970, Claude Pratte, a businessman from Quebec City, gave the automobile to the Canadian War Museum in exchange for a tax deduction. Years before, he bought it from Montreal collector H. J. O’Connell for $2,725. O’Connell had bought it through auction at the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in November 1956. When the car was purchased, it was sent to Toronto, where another $5,000 Canadian was spent to restore it.
Hitler and his chauffeur Julius Schick.
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Other claims
As of November 2009, another one of Hitler's 770Ks was allegedly purchased for several million euros by an unnamed Russian billionaire although this car has never been confirmed by an expert or historian as being a personal car of the Reich leader.
Thre 1940 Mercedes-Benz 770 used by Hitler.
Canadian War Museum
Post World War II
After the fall of Nazi Germany, Mercedes-Benz and other German companies would disassociate themselves from the Nazi party. At one time the supporters and giver of gifts, Mercedes-Benz would want to liberate themselves from their recent past. While they stopped production of the 770 and would never again manufacture such a model due to its negative image, during the 1940's Mercedes-Benz would only produced two new models of car in the entire decade, the W136 and the W191.
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