Yard Sale Photos - Goering's Mercedes?

[martin08]

I don't stop at every yard sale. Baby clothes and knick knacks don't have much appeal. But when old farm houses are cleared of antiques, I hit the brakes.

In 2015, I stumbled upon a box with WWII era US web gear. In the bottom of the box were three dozen black and white photos, and an 11X14" canvas print.

All of the items were severely water damaged, and $1 USD sealed the trade. Only about 10 of the photos retained any integrity. The canvas print fared the best, with some staining but no major deterioration.

The armored convertible car is a Mercedes 540K. Note that the wheels and tires in the photos are not the same as the print. But it is perhaps the same car. The sign says it was a gift from Adolph Hitler to Hermann Goering. You be the judge!

Thanks for looking.

Matt - from Maine, USA

[CPB]

A few cars of this ilk were liberated and sent to the US after the war. Some many years later, via other countries. A few of them went on country-wide tours, where the general public would pay a few cents to see it up close, sit in the driver's seat, etc.

Whether the one shown here is or isn't Goering's, I honestly don't know.

I would recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Merced...evils+mercedes


It covers all the well-known AH/HG cars that were discovered after the war, and you may find some clues that help ID the one in the photos.

Chris

[Mil-Archive]

Hello,

I also have one of Göring's Mercedes, *Edit not the same car as the windscreen wipers are different !

[martin08]

Thank you for the replies.

Yes, I believe that the car in the smaller black and white photos was on tour in Connecticut at the time, late 1940s or early 1950s. I do not know where the large print originated.

And through searches, there are pre-war parade pictures in which Goering is observed in a Mercedes similar to the one above, with the spare tire on the front fender instead of recessed into the trunk lid.

I have not been able to find pictures of Goering seated in the style of Mercedes in my photos.

[ZacharyB]

Very exciting find! Good for you and thanks for sharing these pics. I'd be interested in seeing the reverse of the canvas print if you have a moment to post it.

Regards,

Z

[Br. James]

This is really a mixed-bag of roadster photos, some of which were printed from flopped (backwards) negatives -- you will notice that some of the swastikas are backwards in some of the prints, and the steering wheel appears on the left and on the right in the interior shots! And the vehicle in note #3 is a Mercedes staff car, not the roadster style of the earlier photos.

Br. James

[martin08]

Some excellent observations on the car styles and backwards negatives!

And thanks for prompting me to look closely at the back of the large print. It confirms USA origin, 1960s period.

Though the print has a fabric reinforced 'canvas' style construction and it is several mils thicker than average paper, the watermark is "A KODAC Paper", which did not come out until the early 1960s. Not as exciting as I had hoped!

Cheers.