The Problem With Hitler's Cars

"JR1" (type35bugatti) 05/07/2014 at 13:38 • Filed to: Hitler's Cars, dictators cars, oppositelock, Mercedes

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Let's say one day you were on a jog and you decide to run off the beaten path for a change of pace. As you run along you come to an abounded barn in the woods. You glimpse inside and there it is. A 1930's Mercedes Benz. But you're not sure what specific car it is or who owns it. Curiosity overcomes sensibility and you have to find out what car is sitting in the neglected barn. You open the door and after a little research you realize you discovered a Mercedes Benz 770k once owned by Adolf Hitler.

Hitler of course needs no introduction he was one of the cruelest and most hated men ever to walk the earth. What would you do with your discovery? You just stumbled across one of the most significant automotive and historical discoveries of the 21st century. A car like this could be worth millions of dollars. A car like this is worth millions of dollars actually. Most Nazi memorable however is shunned and burned or kept away from the public because the objects are simply to radical to display in a museum. Some of the cars from the era are valued at multiple millions of dollars, but should they be? Or should they have been burned or used for target practice. Just think this 770k pictured above could have been is Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Hitler could have personally given the orders to bomb London from the seat of this car. A Mercedes Benz 770k is an extremely important and dark part of our cultures history.

For the record the 770k pictured above was at Pebble Beach. At a certain time in history the car was indeed owned by Hitler. The cars that have passed through his hands have sold for higher prices than any other car in the world at certain points in history.

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What draws people to these pieces of history? Most of the cars early lives they were under the ownership of people who did unspeakable horror to our world. So why hasn't that tainted the collectibility of these cars? As a history major I understand certain objects from history need to be kept. They are part of our collective culture of better or for worse. But Hitler's cars. A murder who killed millions of people once sat in some of these Mercedes 770's. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that any individual would want to own one of these cars.

What would you do? If you found the next barn find Hitler car do you buy it and restore it, use it as target practice the next time you go to the gun range, or something less extreme and just donate to a museum? I know I personally wouldn't spend millions to keep it in my private collection like this Russian billionaire did:

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Meatcoma > JR1 05/07/2014 at 13:44

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The car doesn't choose it's owner... Otherwise I'd have a line of cars all leaking oil and transmission fluid and coolant from my driveway all the way down the street for miles.

JR1 > Meatcoma 05/07/2014 at 13:45

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I agree with you but at the same time would you want to be an owner who pays millions of dollars to buy a car once owned by Hitler? Give it to a museum sure, but I wouldn't keep it for myself.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > JR1 05/07/2014 at 13:48

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Hate the man, don't hate the car - that's what I go by. That's the reason why I was incensed when I read in the news that some teenage twats who visited a museum dedicated to the history of the Nazis spat in the Mercedes.

If I ever found a barnfind that once belonged to a someone infamous in history, I wouldn't desecrate it. I would relish in its presence, acknowledge the fact that it was a part of something big and significant. I would explore it and try to understand the reason for its existence then and now. If I had the money, I would try and restore it but keep it original. If I didn't have the cash, a donation to a museum would be necessary. Cars like that Mercedes 770K would never be objects to simply pass over, because like all old antiques, they definitely have a story to tell.

Anon > JR1 05/07/2014 at 13:50

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I don't care if it was Sadam Hussein's car, if I found a car worth millions of dollars you better believe I'd sell it!

KirkyV > JR1 05/07/2014 at 13:52

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JR1 > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 05/07/2014 at 13:53

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I agree with you, I just suppose I wouldn't want to ever own something once owned by Hitler. You would join a list of owners that for the most part is rather terrifying. At the same time it is too important to destroy. So to a museum is where I would take it.

Meatcoma > JR1 05/07/2014 at 14:00

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Would I buy a piece of crap 1994 Escort that Hitler owned for millions of dollars? No.

Would I buy a blue Mercedes 770k convertible for millions of dollars? Not if I can get a similar one for less. I doubt there are many fine examples of this car owned by someone else and those probably would command almost as much.

Is he buying it for that much because of Hitler or because of car?

ptak appreciates old racecars > KirkyV 05/07/2014 at 14:55

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Straight from the mouth of Hitler's greatest enemy. I couldn't agree more.

Supreme Kiwi Zorro > JR1 05/07/2014 at 18:08

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What's the point of selling it for money that will be gone in a matter of time? And donating it to a museum where it will probably get vandalised or stolen? Nein, I'd save it in a heartbeat and leave it in its original condition to show age. Excellent writeup! :D

Did you know that Hitler's actual 770 Großer Cabriolet "chariot car" was armoured? It weighs 4,800kg! Many other NSDAP officials rode in unarmored 770 Großer Cabriolets.

JR1 > Supreme Kiwi Zorro 05/07/2014 at 18:15

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I did know it was armored I did not know that it weighed more than a small planet!

JR1 > Meatcoma 05/07/2014 at 18:26

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Good point, at the time I assume little if any 770ks made it out of Hitler's greedy little hands.

Supreme Kiwi Zorro > JR1 05/08/2014 at 17:43

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Last night, I had an interesting discussion with my husband about a question in your post (why people buy priceless cars that were owned by evil people). The only answer we came up with is "fascination". Some people are just fascinated with evil people. Some evil people actually did good things like how Hitler singlehandedly saved the economy from Great Depression by creating millions of jobs in many innovative projects like Volkswagen, rockets, jet and rocket planes and so on. We can't wrap our heads around the fact that there are more people who are fascinated with Nirvana guitarist Kurt Cobain. Cobain was just a musician who didn't do anything that changed the world.

Just a thought.

JR1 > Supreme Kiwi Zorro 05/08/2014 at 18:26

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You actually bring up a lot of good points. I never thought of it that way.

Supreme Kiwi Zorro > JR1 05/08/2014 at 19:39

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Hah, thanks. :)