Hitlers parade car

[Viriathus]

Hi there, - this is the heavily armored Mercedes-Benz 770 Grosser 1938, offered as a gift to the Portuguese Dictator Salazar, by Adolf Hitler. It resides now at a Portuguese museum... This beast weights some 3.960 Kg.

It is considered the most perfect and best preserved worldwide Mercedes-Benz Grosser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET7lHhUeJww

[Viriathus]

a few details...

[Viriathus]

another more...

[Viriathus]

...

[mb770k]

Mercedes 770 Hitler licence plate IA-148697











https://youtu.be/-HrlNGoApfM

https://youtu.be/oVNgtkbcB3I

This car was the one used by Adolf Hitler. It is since 1970, exhibited at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. But originally and for a long time wanted to legend she was the 770 Hermann Goering. Did not count on the insight of a librarian Museum. Here is a long story ...

On 8 July 1940 the Reich Chancellery receives a new 770 W150 type II, ie shielded, controlled Daimler-Benz 3 November 1939 This is the particular insistence of his driver, Erich Kempka that Hitler until then totally opposed to this idea, finally resolved to accept an armored vehicle. The bombing of November 8, 1939 in Munich Bürgerbräukeller is probably no stranger to this turnaround.

The car makes its first laps July 19, 1940, when the Führer went to the Kroll Opera House that since the Reichstag fire in 1933, is home to this meeting. The purpose of this move is to reward, at a grand ceremony, the general victorious against France and the Netherlands, raising the dignity of marshals. The German newsreels are there. We see the IA-148697 leave the Chancellery, the Potsdamer Platz go before reaching the Kroll Oper located just in front of the old Reichstag

From 29 March to 4 April 1941, the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yōsuke Matsuoka, is visiting Berlin. It was aboard IA-148697 he leaves with his counterpart Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Anhalter Bahnhof (Berlin Central Station) to win the Chateau Bellevue, which since 1938 is the official residence of the hosts of the Germany.

A long sequence of "Die Deutsche Wochenschau" No. 552-15-1941 reveals many aspects of this beautiful car ...

This car has come down to us. It is exposed to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. But it also has a history that began in 1945 when seized by the US military and that as a result of a misunderstanding, it is not considered as the car of the Führer but simply that of Goering.

The myth is perpetuated long ... until 1982 and the publication of an article by Ludwig Kosche in the journal "After Battle". which showed conclusively that the car was that of Hitler. The study Kosche is full, meticulous and indisputable. It has not see the impressive documentation he had gathered and which is more than three meters of shelves in the archives of the Museum. The result of research of Ludwig Kosche is available here: http://www.warmuseum.ca/wp-content/u...igkosche_f.pdf (in French) and http://www.warmuseum.ca/wp -content / uploads / 2015/10 / ludwigkosche_e.pdf English.

Below Kosche article appeared in "After the Battle", No. 35-1982

Ludwig Kosche (1929-2000), born in Bremen in Germany, was the librarian of the Canadian Museum of War of 1973 to 1985; Upon arrival of the car, he was fascinated by its history and conducted research privately. He published many articles about it and threw a moment to write a book.

But back in May 1945 ...

Sergeant Joe T. Azara of the 20th Armored Division (20th Armoured Division) had found the car parked on a tray in a car track railway in Laufen, a village north of Salzburg, Austria. After a brief exchange of fire with German snipers, Azara seized the vehicle he had quickly replaced the original engine with another of the same power removed from another Mercedes for its part found in the garages Berghof in Berchtesgaden, just north of Laufen near the Austrian-Bavarian border;

Almost immediately, the 770 will be associated with Goering. And reading the newspaper of the 20th Armored Division, The Dispatch, Kosche attributed this association to a statement made at the time by a Dutch prisoner near where the car had been captured. He said the car had been sent from Berstechgaden because it was broken and that Goering wanted to do more!

Shipped to the United States in August 1945 and recorded as the car of Marshal, the 770 will remain nearly nine years in the garages of alienation Office of the US military property (Property Disposal Office of the American military) .

HJ O'Connell, a collector from Montreal, acquired it at an auction organized by the American Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in November 1956 for 2725 USD.

Then comes a new misunderstanding. O'Connell had told RJ Rumble Rumble Motors in Toronto, care to bid on his behalf. But at the same sale, another car was proposed. It was a Mercedes 540k 1943 decked the nickname "Blue Goose" and who is proved, had indeed belonged to Goering. The 540k for his part, had been seized by the 101st Airborne and yet another 770 carossée in Offener Tourenwagen too. RJ Rumble obviously assumed that the car he had just bought for the other Mercedes O'Connell was known to have been captured by the 101st Airborne.

Rumble was responsible for the restoration because the car had suffered greatly since his capture. Bullets had pierced the armor plate on the back and the dashboard In addition, there were impacts in the windshield and was fissuré.de same as the right front window. It was long believed that this damage had been inflicted after the war by the Aberdeen Proving Ground for testing the effectiveness of the shield. But Kosche has conclusively shown, again by reading The Dispatch, that the damage had already been found at the time of capture of the vehicle in May 1945, which is completely consistent when we know that the car was parked in was clearly a combat zone.

This thesis is accredited by the work of Leslie Redman curator of the Museum in 1996. The damage observed on the interior of the car and its structure suggesting that the car was hit by a high-powered projectile that can come from an aircraft.

The Rumble restoration was carried out on the basis of a photograph of a 770 of the same type (probably the one currently on display in Rochetaillée). We know that since it is a mistake and 770 O'Connell was thus wrongly decked with a central bar door leading to the radiator. O'Connell had demanded that everything be restored to its original condition, with the exception of broken glass, and because he wanted to preserve the authenticity of the context of war.

After a restoration that cost 5,000 Canadian dollars, the 770 regained its splendid original black lacquer, not without Rumble was observed that up to eighteen layers of paint covered the body in harmony from black to green (actually gray) he called Luftwaffe. This still constituted an index to assign this car to Goering. In fact the last two layers were of American origin and Kosche received the testimony of a former driver of the Chancellery (probably Kempka) who confirmed that this type of car did not go in operational theaters and had not received camouflage paint before the US military does not use it.

A few years later, the car became the property of Claude Pratte, a Quebec industrial. In October 1969, the latter wishing to free themselves of debt to Canadian tax authorities announced its intention to sell the car to the Museum in exchange for a tax clearance. The conservative Lee Muray, wrote to his superior, saying "A resident of Quebec City, has offered to make available to us, either by loan or by gift, the car of Marshal Goering staff. This is a very valuable historical element, and its acquisition is very timely. "

However, there was some reluctance to accept this donation in view of meager evidence for association with a dignitary of the Reich, which were based only on statements. The museum therefore tried to obtain more precise information. It is curious that from the beginning, the museum sought a way to establish the link between the car and Hitler.

In a letter to Rumble on 14 November 1969 Lee Murray says "In collaboration with the owner of the car said to have belonged to Adolf Hitler, we try to reconstruct the history of the car and assess its value, to the this time but also as old car and relic of the second World war. " There is reason to be surprised that no reference to Goering is made. Similarly, in another letter to the attention of an expert, EA Jurist, President of Vintage Car Store in New York, Murray wrote "This is one of the seven cars delivered to the German army in 1940, and we reconnaisons like cars used by the Führer in his public appearances "This letter was limited to evoke it would have been attributed to Marshal Goering."

Rumble then tried a diversion by repeating the received mythology: "There were seven of these units purchased in 1940 by the headquarters of the German army and this particular car was then delivered to Goering, Adolf Hitler not as stated in the first paragraph of your letter. These facts were corroborated by the serial number, etc. "...

Rumble then provides a critical piece of information that had previously been omitted: the serial number of the 429,334 cars listed with the other technical data on a plate attached to the firewall of the car.

Armed with this valuable information, Murray addressed the Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart and hope to receive more detailed information about the history of the car. This request remained unanswered and Murray had no alternative but to ask the ambassador of Germany in Ottawa, Dr. JF Ritter "The Museum is extremely interested in a Mercedes Benz Type 770 car that is in Canada. It is one of seven of these magnificent cars that were bought by the seat of the German army in 1940. the one that interests us bears serial number 429,334 and carries the registration 1Av148697. legend has it that this car was affected to Marshal Goering. "
So early on, we knew the registration number of the car and it was hidden!

The result was not long in coming. The embassy contacted the Ministry of Defence in Bonn, which in turn approached Mercedes Benz. The military attaché of the embassy, Colonel GE Stamp, Murray replied to June 12, 1970 "It was confirmed by Mercedes Benz, Stuttgart, the car in question was delivered to the military house of Adolf Hitler, the 8 July 1940. in addition, it was found that the car had been sent to Daimler-Benz for repairs April 19, 1943 and returned to the chancery September 15, 1943 ". A workshop étéit sheet attached to the response.

In the meantime, many other doubts were expressed about the alleged membership of the car to Hermann Goering. Thus, on February 17, at the presentation of its assessment, Jurist stated that "it is more than doubtful that every high dignitaries of the Reich will be awarded a 770 personally. By against it is known that several were 770 for the exclusive use of the Führer "

On 15 May 1970 the car became the property of the Museum and it was in September she arrived. Meanwhile, and at the request of Jean Drapeau, Mayor of Montreal, she was presented as "Car Hitler" at the exhibition "Terre des Hommes" (in English "Man and his World"), which had continued three years after the Expo. However, the museum, the association with Goering continued to persist to the point of including a false license plate on the car, WL-148697 (WL for Luftwaffe). This incongruity up to include this issue on the back by masking the original registration!

In September 1971, the museum received a letter from a resident of Ottawa Collett Calverley, casting more doubt on the association of the car with Goering. Calverley had written expressly "to challenge the belief that the vehicle was used by the Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering." He drew attention to the fact that the British had a Mercedes, captured in Bad Homburg in 1945 and believed to have been that of Goering.Il stated that British eu car had three door hinges, whereas only two of the Museum this meant she was less heavily armored. He was an important person we can imagine that the car marshal more protective than for Hitler?

There followed an intense period of uncertainty in the Museum. It seems that we were all ready for the truth but we did not want to change the message carried that far, or lose credibility.

In November 1979 the car was moved from the third floor of the MCG to another gallery. Victor Suthren, then head of the museum's exhibits, noted in a memorandum to the museum historian Bernard Pothier "it seems that we need a new presentation" and asked Pothier to undertake it. Once completed, it contained no reference to Goering likely reflecting growing doubts Museum staff. The car was presented as "German Staff Car, 1940-1945" and although it was in no way refers to the Reichsmarschall, the new legend continued to evoke the eighteen alternate layers of green and black Luftwaffe justified by "an alternative use on the theaters of operations and official obligations." And his capture was always assigned to the 101st Airborne ...

The internal controversy lasted. The curator of the CWM, Ralph Manning, suggested that one could mention the fact that the car was likely to have been used by Hitler in the die where it is known that he had at least six or seven model the same type. And a note from Lee Murray questioning the absence of any reference to Goering Manning added: "We were unable to find an iota of evidence that our car had a special relationship with the Marshal I even think we should leave. drop the reference in any legend. "

That's when comes Ludwig Kosche and action will be decisive.

In its approach, will Kosche was helped significantly by a previous action of MCG. The paint that had been applied to the original number plate of the car at the back has been removed to reveal the original identifier IAv148697. (In fact, the number was only darkened den 1971 and MCG was well aware before). With the original registration and license plates manufacturer under the hood, had Kosche of fundamental elements to prove that the car was that of Hitler.

Furthermore, research on the registration revealed that the little red v interposed between the IA meaning Berlin and the serial number 148697 was mandated shortly after the outbreak of war in September 1939 and to all vehicles unrelated to the army, the police and the postal service. This demonstrated that the car had been used by the military, and therefore by the Luftwaffe. Finally Kosche observed that almost all of the cars used by Hitler personally started with 148 XXX.

Kosche also gathered a significant iconography shows Hitler in the car. One of the photos, taken eleven days after the arrival of the car at the Chancellery, shows the Fuehrer visiting the Kroll Opera House (which houses the Reichstag). All the physical details of the car are similar to that of the Museum, except for some small details that could be subject to future changes) as the hidden headlights and metal strapping around the spare wheels Similarly registration IAv148697 is clearly visible. Hitler is photographed aboard September 10, 1941 during a visit to Marienbad, where he met Admiral Horthy, November 28, 1941, when he attended the funeral of Werner Mölders; and March 15, 1942, when it arrives at the Berlin Zeughaus for a speech. This is also the last known appearance of Hitler and the car.

The car has a number of characteristics that Kosche, "are not present on other photographs showing Grosser Mercedes W150 770." four nozzles defogging / dégivragesous the windshield, doors supported by two short hinges, twenty cooling slots on both sides of the hood "So many distinctive features to allow Kosche to say it was one 770 Hitler

In 1945, Azara has used the car only briefly before it was delivered to one of the senior officers of the 20th armored division, General Cornelius Daly brigade. For the service of the latter, it was painted olive green and with a marking in the form of white star (distinguishing sign of vehicles used by the allied armies). It is interesting to note that recent conservation work revealed via an infrared photo, "barely visible pattern of a star" in the center of the fabric roof. All these brands were present when the car was conveyed to the United States.

Other pictures show that the car captured by Azara is the same today at the museum. After his arrival in Boston August 8, 1945, several photographs were published in the press (Daily Boston Globe "Goering's Auto Bullet Proof to protect Fat Marshal's Hide" The newspaper published some illustrations of the car, one showing the dashboard and the windshield. These same photos found themselves in Newsweek August 20, 1945). It is clear that the damage photographed at the time exactly match here today. In addition, the odometer broke the car on arrival in the US was blocked out of 13 900 km, as the car museum.

The article Kosche responded to most of the historical questions about the car, and formally identified the car as that of Hitler. However from the publication in February 1982 it was not until April 1984, for destination that public information be corrected in these terms "photographic evidence that Adolf Hitler used this car at least until 1942" . Finally, we have also updated the party mistakenly attributed the capture to the 101st Airborne instead of the 20th Armored Division.

Once this is complete identification phase, it was necessary to the development of a suitable exhibition space in relation to the increased importance of this vestige of history. It opened in September 1986 was the subject of an MCG press release stating "that originally attributed to Hermann Goering, the car has been formally identified as a personal car service of Adolf Hitler ... "

By placing the car in a Bavarian postcard setting and reminders of the Nazi period, the idea, laudable, was to inform the public about the context that led to the outbreak of the second world war. But this approach was seen as a way to glorify the Nazi period in the manner of Leni Riefenstahl. The Museum was able to reply to these criticisms by adding in the background a reminder of the worst atrocities of Nazism.

Finally, in 2000, the car indirectly knew another episode when the idea to sell the car at auction surfaced. Fortunately, there was not anything.

This is a part of my 770 blog : http://mb770k.canalblog.com/archives.../33781681.html

[Geoff Walden]

ok but i only know a guy at 101st airborne(Screamin' Eagles) called Talbert.He took Hitler's car and made some experiments on it (For example he drive the car off a very high cliff in austria or he tried to shoot and see the bulletproof glass on the car.) But i exactly know that talbert and the all 101st airborne were at berchestadgen (Sorry i can't spell correctly).You should know there is a shelter for hitler in the Austrian alps called Eagle's Nest. The berchestadgen is the name of the province where the Eagle's Nest is. So 101st had a very much fun in that province cos there were lots of nazi wealths so they took them and gone off to the america.
All i know about the subject is that i hope i could help you

holy ****! Amazing story! Thanks for sharing!

Since this thread resurfaced ... A nice story, yes, but quite inaccurate/incomplete. Floyd Talbert was First Sergeant (acting?) of the "Band of Brothers," Co. E, 501st P.I.R., 101st Airborne. They found a Mercedes staff car in one of the motor pools in the Berchtesgaden area (not in the Berghof).
When they received orders to deliver this car to higher HQs, they shot at the bulletproof windows, ran the engine without coolant (maybe they drained the oil as well), then pushed it off a cliff, so the higher-ups couldn't confiscate it. This was probably north of Berchtesgaden, but searches have failed to turn up any trace of this car.

Of course, Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest (not a "shelter") are not in Austria, but in far southeastern Bavaria, in Germany.

[oldflagswanted]

BoB = 506th

... "Band of Brothers," Co. E, 501st P.I.R., ...

BoB = 506th.
OFW
(below) My favorite AH car photo.

[N.C. Wyeth]

Who knows . . . the car might not have - but maybe these came back with Floyd!

a few details...

Hey - Thanks! I got a thrill out of seeing the horn button on that photo you posted - reminds me of the logo on a pennant I once had in my collection . . .

[hs132]

Hello, after reading this interesting thread I did some research as I remember seeing one of AH's cars in 1973, Scottsdale, Az and it was for sale by Barrett of Barret-Jackson auctions. It kind of creeped me out as I'm pictured in one of the photos. Im the guy with the board long sideburns at age 20 with a $100 collection. Best Bill Bourque

[hs132]

1

[mb770k]

Many Thanks for the research
This car imported in 1948 by Christopher Janus is now at Lyon Air Museum in Orange County
It is the Mannerheim 770

[Geoff Walden]

BoB = 506th.
OFW

Thanks for correcting the typo in my post.

[Larrister]

Here's a photo of Hitler in one of his MB cars.
Note the MB behind him has the same number plate.

Cheers,
Larry

[mb770k]

770 w 150 Offener Tourenwagen 1939

Hello everyone,
I just discovered this magnificent Offener Tourenwagen:
Chassis 429329 ordered by the Chancellery of the Reich on 3/11/1939 and delivered on March 21, 1940. (not armoured)
This car would currently be in the UK, after being the property of the collector Etienne Veen.
The registration number is wrong (besides the license plate is not in conformity): it corresponds to another car of the Chancellery (a Pullman Limousine)
If any of you know anything about this car, I'll be delighted.
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/144
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/145
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/146
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/148
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/147
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/149
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/158
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/157
https://servimg.com/view/19752655/159