Mercedes-Benz 600 - Desire of the Dictators

[@gwheregwhizz]

You can tell whenever a country had a military coup as the logbook showed a change of ownership.

[@RichardCorongiu]

The country of course...not the car... did they change the oil and filter at change of hands ?

[@paleoph6168]

"Reichsmarschall Goering has arrived. Morgen." - James May

[@rolandhazuki8787]

JC: This, James as you know is Mercedes Benz 600 Grosser, the most expensive car in the world JM: Overpriced then, like any other Mercedes 🤣🤣🤣

[@josephkarl2061]

Hey, at least it was able to turn in the width of the runway 😂

[@hanskaesbohrer2809]

the Brits and their eternal obsession with the war - this always tells so much about you guys lol.

[@thechod]

Literally my favourite top gear specially the laugh when James can't u turn on the runway

[@sheevone4359]

"Fair enough, fair enough. Well, let's have a look at the 'big's' famous owners. They are..." "Is Max Mosley on that list?" "No, it's worse! Look: Amin Brezhnev Ceaucescu Tito Hoxha Hussein Castro Klerk Hirohito Pot Tung And Elvis Presley..."

[@pklimbic]

Amongst the dictators, you forgot to mention one Jeremy Clarkson.

[@popefang]

dh

[@nakoma5]

he did

[@rorirocks6663]

​@@nakoma5 Jeremy Clarkson isn't a dictator 😂😂

[@zerocool5395]

​@rorirocks6663 He surely did behave like one on the set of Top Gear "This sandwich is terrible! SMACK!" 😂

[@tng2057]

John Lennon as well.

[@colinrandall8195]

wow when you said comprehensive you weren't kidding, that's an amazing list of owners, a lot of post-colonial history there

[@hanskaesbohrer2809]

Mercedes Benz had at the 1960 and 1970 years a building quality which was unmatched by any rival - it was pure excellence: 10 workers had one supervisor on the line. You can see this with the old W109/109/110/115 - still great machines.

[@andrewbowen4544]

They also made a few quality cars between 2014 and 2021

[@Hwje1111]

@@andrewbowen4544what happened in 2015 and 2020?

[@andrewbowen4544]

@@Hwje1111 They had a bad day 😀😀

[@peekaboo1575]

The 600 is one of the greatest cars ever made IMO. What a machine!

[@patrickl2195]

I think we may have reached peak list in this video!

[@sagittarius_]

I once got the opportunity to sit in a 600. I immediately noticed that this was NOT a car intended for the owner to drive it. It was intended for a SERVANT to drive. The short drivers seat was not close to the luxurious rest of the car.

[@wacholder5690]

The 600 was a "chauffeurs limousine" not intended to be driven by the owner / user. If you wanted to drive yourself the 300SEL 6.3 was the Mercedes to go for after 1967 until 1972. Closely followed in 1975 by the 450 SEL 6.9 ... 🙂

[@philhealey4443]

Yes, my always broken project 600 has the added disbenefit of the hydraulic glass division, putting extra pressure on the driver's compartment.

[@brother-calm]

The 600 is a certified late 20th century nonaligned movement classic. I'd love to hear about West Germany's relationship with the third world, how & why the car was exported etc., rather than just listing states that were rocking the Benz.

[@AldanFerrox]

Intergalactic Binman spoke about that in a video that involved this car. He did it together with HardThrasher. Its called "Top 10 Most Evil Cars Of All Time (Kind Of)"

[@EmyrDerfel]

Also, some of these were obviously not the first owner, so who got the Shah of Iran's Merc after the revolution?

[@brother-calm]

@@EmyrDerfel yeah some of them were acquired secondhand. Berlusconi, Mugabe, Mubarak, and anyone else who took power after 1980 for example. All the other heads of state mentioned experienced a phase of productive diplomatic relations and/or outright material support from West Germany during the 600's production life. Good question. Pahlavi had a really large collection of cars, including a couple of custom 600s. Part of his fleet was auctioned to international bidders immediately after the revolution, and the rest are stored and maintained by volunteers at the National Auto Museum in Tehran

[@char1737]

Coco Chanel had two one in Paris and one in the states This rare example of Mercedes-Benz's luxury flagship was owned from May 1999 into the early 2000s by Jamiroquai front man, and noted car connoisseur and collector, Jay Kay. One of the shorter wheelbase models, the car was delivered new to Ets Royal Élysées of Paris, France, and is to have been owned by Coco Chanel. Jay Kay commented in an old interview: "A fantastic car! And it's even Coco Chanel's old car."

[@worawatli8952]

Rowan Atkinson bought one of this, it was when he realized that his passion for car was out of control, he said he drove 50 yards and felt "such a prat". rofl Look up "The Driven Man" a great documentary/autobiography by Rowan Atkinson

[@lordmuntague]

He also loved driving big HGVs. The "We Like Trucking" sketch in Not The Nine O'Clock News was no accident.

[@Lylelanley99]

"Garnering notoriety for its seemingly endless list of clients, many of whom were famous for all the wrong reasons." Ringo Starr was also an owner.

[@emjackson2289]

"Papa Doc" Duvalier wasn't even the best Doctor in Doctor Feelgood!

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

Great video as ever. And interesting list of notable 600 owners - such as Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, Brezhnev, Mao Tse Tung and Jeremy Clarkson. LOLs a plenty

[@wmalden]

I had a 600 Pullman from Corgi Toys purchased at Heathrow in 1965. It was dark red and had working wipers. I sold it on eBay a few years ago.

[@michaelhafner7815]

Looking forward to you uploading on weekends,always highest quality Infotainment , but todays episode was especially near and dear to my heart. Thanks alot for this channel!!

[@EdgyNumber1]

That roll call was impressive! 👍

[@rupanjan]

What a client list Merc had!

[@gavin18787]

If the car had an owners club back in the day it would have not been a club you wanted to be a member of! haha

[@doggo7]

(blast everyone ear drum)"now that a horn"

[@sheevone4359]

Aaaand it got us kicked out...

[@stewy62]

Your last sentence summed things up nicely !

[@hazeliadams1]

loved the roll call of all the dictators! cheers

[@stevecooksley]

"Famous clients for all the wrong reasons" - bit harsh on Clarkson, but fair enough.

[@wmalden]

For those not familiar with British English, a hood is a the soft top of a convertible.

[@simontaylor2319]

aka a"hoodie"

[@2ToneWalt]

Quite possibly one of the most over engineered cars mechanically and boy ain't she a beaut. The hydraulics alone blow my mind.

I saw Sly of The Family Stone fame's grey Mercedes-Benz Pullman in the Oceanview district of San Francisco circa 1970. It was a standout luxury vehicle !.

[@adrianrutterford762]

Saturday morning viewing sorted.

[@peterfinucane8122]

Agree. Great work again

[@duncancurtis5108]

Cue the Monty Norman Bond music.

[@zerocool5395]

Goes great with my morning coffee/cigarette before starting the day.

[@thomasfrancis5747]

Mercedes still uses the Maybach name for top end models. A video for the Toyota Century would be good if you can find sufficient source material.

[@char1737]

Hector & Achilles preferred mode of transportation

[@nlpnt]

Not mentioned is WHY it became so associated with dictators; it was the Cold War, for a head of state of a newly-independent nation it was an "unaligned" choice when a Rolls-Royce was so strongly associated with the old colonial power Britain and a Cadillac with the rising American hegemony, while Soviet limos and Tatras were only even available to governments already under Moscow's sphere. (Brezhnev is a special case, he used a ZIL for state duties of course but was a car collector, he also had a Cadillac Eldorado among others most of which were "gifts" from other foreign leaders).

[@LadySophieofHougunManor7325]

Fantastic video as always and informative as always

[@Tom-Lahaye]

That's a quite elaborate list of heads of state!

[@bernardkealey6449]

Does anyone know what happened to the one the IDF flew in to Entebbe in July 76 to distract the airport guards during the raid to rescue hostages? The subterfuge wasn’t as successful as intended because 2 weeks earlier Amin had swapped out his black one for a new white one.

[@PinPointHealth]

Absolutely outstanding documentary! A joy to watch. Thank you.

The Maybach is back !! Aa d a very beautiful car !!!

[@Your.Uncle.AngMoh]

I fell in love with this model with the first one I saw in 1971/2 which was the chosen vehicle for the King of Malaysia. The partition between the driver and passengers in the LWB model means the room for the driver is compromised. At 6'6- 198 cm- this will make one of these gorgeous vehicles a little cramped. I still want one. The only REAL colour to have is black. It will sit in the garage with my red "pagoda" 280SL.

[@Steven-p4j]

Any mention of the Maybach I wonder?

[@stevenmacdonald9619]

The Mercedes 600 is clearly one of the most notorious cars of all time. Yet, Rockstar Games cannot gain licence for brands of cars for the GTA series. Funny old world.

[@Loretta2004]

none of the cars shown, when talking about the W 189, IS in fact a W 189. Just to make sure. They are all W 120 or W 121's. The pope is also not riding a W100 in this picture. The only 4-door Landaulet was built for someone else.

[@paulmclaughlin4092]

Thank you for this, one of my all-time favorite cars! 🤗

[@drstevenrey]

W100 is not a code, it is a number. W means Wagen, hence car, and 100 is the number given to the design. And the engine was the M100, Motor, engine, design number 100. Pullman was a body designer and Pullmans were always the stretched versions.

[@SCR-ce2fs]

What a tremendous video - thank you

[@MattBrownbill]

I had a LWB merc of this era as a wedding car. It broke down, and a Lincoln replaced it, in a bit of a hurry. 😂

[@vinnydaq13]

I want that 2 door coupe version so bad! ❤❤

[@torgeirbrandsnes1916]

Great vlog as always! It would be quicker to mention the nations that did not have this awesome limo. Lol! Scandinavia, France, Greece, Canada and the US.

[@kasperkjrsgaard1447]

There was one in Denmark. Owned by the charismatic travel agency owner Simon Spies.

[@macheerouistrash]

Whoa I'm surprised to learn that B.J. Habibie also own a Grosser! I do remember reading awhile ago that Habibie also own another Mercedes with an interesting backstory, a Gullwing (I think it's a 300SL). It is said in the 80s, some university students found a broken Gullwing deep in the jungle of Jambi (some goes as far as saying that the Gullwing is hanging on a tree) but they and the locals weren't sure about what car is that (or even if that is a car at all, as the unique design of the Gullwing makes some of them think that it is an UFO). Upon hearing this news, Habibie inspect the findings and knew that it was an old precious mercedes Gullwing, but as for why that Gullwing ends up in the jungle in the first place no one is 100% sure about that. The speculation is that some local kingdom family members left that Gullwing in the jungle to hide them from capture during a war. Habibie then ordered the car to be brought back to Jakarta to be restored. The process was quite hard as spare parts had to be ordered from Germany and even then Merc hadn't produce that Gullwing for awhile so there are parts that had to be recreated or modified from their available cars at the time, making his Gullwing a special frankenstein one. I think the car is on display on a museum now. Unlike some names mentioned here, Habibie wasn't a dictator tho, he was a nice and smart but unlucky guy that served for a long time under Suharto (which is the actual dictator). I guess his time studying in Germany gave him good taste of great German cars :D

[@hectornecromancer5308]

Speaking of B.J. Habibie. I have just found out that he also owned 300SL Gullwing that is unique among other Gullwing, that it's a restored Gullwing using the chassis of W124 coupe. Resulting in a more beefy outlook

[@Sauceyjames]

Bro got past the 10 minute mark with listing all of the dictactors lol Would be cool if M Bison / Balrog had one in Street Fighter.

[@ronanmc2112]

That list of political owners is a fantastic piece of film. Well worth splitting that out into its own video. Great history overall as always

It IS a very stylish car after all - unlike modern Mercs!

[@that1niceguy246]

For anyone wondering 'Großer' [with an article, der Große] simply means 'big one'.

[@FitzArias]

"gaining notoriety, due to its long list of clients, most of whom were famous for all the wrong reasons"

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

Ok, we get it, it's owned by a bunch of wrong'uns.

[@DDDquick]

See Range Rover Sport, VW Phaeton, Bentley Continental.

[@Random-nf7qb]

One small detail: The Bulgarian 600 is one of 3 built without air conditioning

[@nlpnt]

7:35 I would call that a 2-door sedan, not a coupe. It looks like a big Opel Kadett B.

[@sahicizm]

In Turkiye 600 was the presidential vehicle like the others but utilised with many different presidents while she was in use, not only one president in contrast to many other 600s.

[@sheevone4359]

"Fair enough, fair enough. Well, let's have a look at the 'big's' famous owners. They are..." "Is Max Mosley on that list?" "No, it's worse! Look: Amin Brezhnev Ceaucescu Tito Hoxha Hussein Castro Klerk Hirohito Pot Tung And Elvis Presley..."

[@fahrenfreude]

Emperor Hirohito was not the owner of a Mercedes 600.

[@sheevone4359]

@@fahrenfreude I have no idea, I'm just quoting.

[@carlosborrasetaylor7630]

The Best or Nothing. ❤

[@uncipaws7643]

The 600 kept its 1960s look until the end, looking rather old fashioned against the S class of the 1970s. It seems like the customers were fine with this conservative design language.

The Maybach is back as a sedan , convertible , and SUV !.

[@MrVorpalsword]

Brilliant

[@fredburley9512]

I read an article comparing luxury limousines once and the Lincoln Continental of the late 60's beat everything hands down. 👍

[@wacholder5690]

Most likely written by an enthusiastic american. The Continental is a nice looking but cramped box with too much room wasted, drum brakes and life rear axle. Neighbors had a Gen.4 (1963 model I think) in the mid-1960s and if you don't pay attention while getting in you hit your head on the roof or arms on the door pillars. Technically it is based on the 1958 Thunderbird and shares many components with it, but doesn't even come close to a Rolls Royce nor a 600. It's only plus was a slightly bigger engine with 7 liters and 324 (SAE) hp.

[@QueerOkie]

Dont forget Charles Schultz, the creator of 'Peanuts'. He had a red one that became known as 'The Red Baron'. It had a cameo in 'Princess Diaries 2'.

[@emjackson2289]

The Owners Club meeting would have been interesting when Idi Amin and Jean Bokassa brought their "meat pie" dishes for the buffet table.

[@Sacto1654]

But yet, the story is not complete. In 2015, Mercedes-Benz revived the Maybach name for special versions of the W222 generation S-Class sedan between 2015 and 2021. And now, the Maybach name is on a higher-end luxury version of the EQS SUV electric vehicle, known as the Maybach EQS680. In short, the legacy of the original M-B 600 model is still hanging around.

[@Normanx964]

There was one 2 door coupe made.

[@ccjelley2390]

that's enough dictators, ctd p 94, Erich Honecker preferred the ZIL

[@rockall66]

He could hardly travel in a top West German car as Dictator of East Germany.

[@drstevenrey]

Global recession always sound so much like a lame excuse to change stuff to the worse. Stop worrying about recessions and just do your jobs. Fact: Since every single recession, afterwards the cars were less economic, more expensive and built worse than before. Recession is just an excuse.

[@michaelpielorz9283]

No wonder the 600 was sold to a special class of owners because the RR Silver Shadow became a Volks Royce at that time.

[@warmstrong5612]

So you're either "Kamp" or 'Camp Commandant'.

[@RichardCorongiu]

Hmmm might have to get one... apart from the corner shop on the way through...for milk... a Country....

[@gustinian]

Wait! What if the car itself causes despotism...!

[@robertwilloughby8050]

And Charles De Gaulle owned one privately from 1965 until his death.

[@simontaylor2319]

Not a car to buy & restore unless you have wads & wads & wads of money. I think Ringo owned one which he would park outside Abbey Rd Studios alongside John's RR (presumably taking up much of the car park)

[@chuckselvage3157]

John Lennon had one. "Imagine if their was no possessions"...

[@millsyinnz]

LOL, if I was a dictator that had a car like that, I would probably insist on driving the car myself.

[@JenniferinIllinois]

The car chosen by nearly every 20th century dictator (and Elvis Presley). 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@TheHylianBatman]

Someday I'll own a Mercedes.

[@rob5944]

Good engineers the Germans, copied and matched by the Japanese. Dedicated and disciplined.

[@JTA1961]

They've come a long way •••Down...planned obsolescence means that now, very soon after warranty ends... they become endless money pits

[@hendrikvanderwalt6960]

Not the Adenauer shown. Research the facts

[@minutemanqvs]

I had to laugh: dictator, dictator, Silvio Berlusconi, dictator, dictator 😂

[@TheChill001]

It's also been a state car of the Belgian royal household

[@andrewsmactips]

Great content as always, but Maybach is pronounced My Bark.

[@enisra_bowman]

since when?

[@andrewsmactips]

@@enisra_bowmanSince the birth of the German language.

[@rockall66]

He's not German, May Bach is the English pronunciation.

[@fahrenfreude]

Bark is wrong. The German CH is a guttural sound for a consonant that is not used in English.

[@kineticdeath]

most of those bad leaders who died early probably died while trying to push their 600 big in a no engine drag race against a rolls royce owner

[@andrewbowen4544]

What did Clarkson call May's Rolls Royce "Ford Zepher with a Rolls Grill"

[@pdsnpsnldlqnop3330]

Given a choice of getting a Mercedes 600 or a heroin habit, I think the latter is likely to lead to a much more favourable outcome. It is the ultimate in car dependency, if you get one of these steel boxes then your fate is sealed. Driving one of these is like asking the rest of the world to shoot you by firing squad. Might as well get a hearse.

[@1greenMitsi]

so if you desire a 600 youre basically a would be dictator given the means 😂

[@gwood19841]

What a very long list

[@wacholder5690]

7:15 Pope Paul the 6th ... but the car is a 300SEL, not a 600.

[@rturner4205]

"You're either going to kill millions of people, or you're going to die on the bog trying to get 50 million cheeseburgers out of your poo chute." James May on 600 Grosser owners.

[@MS940]

Was there any dictator of that time who didn't acquire Mercedes 600? 😂

[@FortuneZer0]

I aint a dictator.... yet...

[@baobo67]

Benz have always aged gracefully. Those 600s were notoriously unreliable.(Personal experience)

[@philhealey4443]

Disuse is the key enemy. Speaking here also with experience.....

[@RichardCorongiu]

Of course it couldnt produce them at that rate ...how many counties are there to take over....

[@aruns4u4ever]

The only human being who bought this car was Jeremy Clarkson

[@TheInstructor66]

Seems like its a high risk to be killed or lose your job, if you own a 600. I think i stick to my 1969 Alfa Romeo Gt junior.

[@wcsii]

Hey.... I LOVE Mercedes Benz! I wanted to move to Germany after I became a mechanical engineer and work on them. But I chose history. And now that I’m 18 & new to history or newly found the love of history. I asked my grandfather about this but he gave me an explanation I don’t think I can repeat.... Why do people throughout history give J€w$ a hard time? And do they deserve it?

[@H.EL-Othemany]

6:28 Morocco Currently the car isn't used as much.

[@joieman]

Nigerian military leader Murtala Mohammed was assassinated in one of these in 1973

[@duncancurtis5108]

Gen Orlovs motor in Octopussy, nicked by Bond and driven into a clearly faked steam locomotive at Merry Feadows😅😅