Original Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman heads to auction

Ex-Chinese Foreign Ministry limo to be offered at Bonhams' Mercedes-Benz Museum sale

This Pullman was kept in the Foreign Ministry motor pool, and accumulated just 13,148 miles. Photo by Bonhams.

Bonhams is gearing up for its single-marque sale at theMercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, and collectors of the marque will have plenty to choose from in just about every price category. The lots on offer will range from vehicles over a century old down to the latest production models, though classic cars will make up the lion's share of the cars on offer.

In a couple weeks, Bonhams will have not one but two original 600 Pullmans on offer in Stuttgart, and one of them has a fascinating history. To be fair, it's hard to find a 600 Pullman thatdoesn't have a fascinating story behind it, but the 1965 model above deserves a special mention.

Through much of Mercedes-Benz history, the Pullman occupied the top spot in the automaker's model hierarchy, and the limousine's exclusivity made it a favorite among royalty and world leaders alike. That hasn't changed over the nameplate's lifespan, even though a few alternatives to the Pullman have appeared over the years (some of them from Mercedes-Benz itself), and the 1960s model has aged the most gracefully.

This particular example came to China from West Germany in 1965 for Chen Yi, one of the military leaders of the time and a close confidante of Mao Zedong. Chen Yi served as foreign minister from 1958 until his death in 1972; this particular Pullman was purchased specially for him. After his death, the Pullman was kept in a Shanghai factory garage to serve as the prototype for Chinese-built limousines, a common practice at the time, though it appears that that project was eventually shelved.

This limousine was discovered in the early 1980s by Hans Luwich, a German engineer working for Volkswagen Shanghai, one of the first joint ventures between a western automaker and China. Volkswagen had just entered the Chinese market and was setting up a factory in Shanghai using existing infrastructure, so it makes sense that this car popped up during the launch of the joint venture at one of the car plants. Luwich brought this example to Germany in 1993 and titled the car in 1998. He didn't attempt a restoration, instead keeping the interior and exterior as is. The odometer currently displays only 21,160 kilometers, or 13,148 miles, suggesting that it had been used for official state functions by the foreign ministry as opposed to everyday transportation for the head of the agency.

It's believed that China's ruling elite simultaneously switched to Hong Qi (Red Flag) limousines cribbed from Russian designs as soon as those became available, but top officials have always used a wide variety of foreign cars. Top officials ordered at least 600 Pullman limousines from Mercedes-Benz for use as official state cars and everyday transportation.

Bonhams 

The leather looks evenly worn and nothing appears to be out of order. 

Even in hardtop examples, Pullmans came in a number of configurations in four-door and six-door forms. This example is one of the more common ones, with a third row of rear-facing seats behind the front row arranged conference-style in an inserted midsection. Each Pullman is a little different inside and out; this one appears to have been optioned in a fairly standard manner, with two individual-style seats in the middle row, a bench rear seat for three passengers and a power-divider window, in addition to rear shades. The description does not state whether this one has an air conditioner, which would be mounted in the trunk, or whether it has a set of champagne glasses stowed in the armrest of the middle row. A Becker Grand Prix is visible in the dash, and, most importantly, nothing appears to be missing from the interior -- which is often what happens when cars spend years sitting in government garages.

The condition of the interior appears commensurate with the car's claimed mileage and age. Overall, it appears to have been really well maintained. It's doubtful the car was kept in climate-controlled storage during its time in China, so some deterioration of the interior due to the high humidity of Shanghai's climate can be expected.

Bonhams 

The interior is said to be all original, and looks right for the age and mileage. 

This example is estimated to bring between $200,000 and $340,000, which might seem like a bargain compared to what some other recent examples have brought, especially given the claimed provenance and original condition. Values for the best examples from this model year, in this approximate configuration (four-door hardtop limousine) have stayed fairly flat until 2008, with examples trading in the $80,000 to $90,000 range. They took off in early 2009, gradually climbing up to $200,000. A number of recent high-profile sales, including a barn-find six-door Landauletloaded with all imaginable options but needing a restoration that could easily eclipse $500,000, brought €537.600 or $719,680.

The barn-find Pullman Landaulet result doesn't mean that all neglected Pullmans with a ransacked interior are in this price range, and it certainly doesn't mean that the best examples are north of that price point, either. Interest in this model does seem to be rising a bit despite astronomical restoration costs due to the scarcity of parts, as well as the sheer acreage of interior and exterior body panels. Cars that need heavy restoration are best left alone because many pieces of trim would need to be made from scratch. Then again, the majority of examples do happen to be cars with needs; few owners see the point of undertaking restorations of cars that still reliably trade around $100,000 for unrestored examples. Given that the best examples have only now broken through the $200,000 barrier, Bonhams estimate likely reflects confidence in its provenance and seemingly solid condition.

A later 1973 Pullman in the same approximate configuration and specification will also be offered at the Bonhams Mercedes-Benz Museum sale, although with a slightly less romantic story behind it.