Mercedes-Benz 770

Mercedes-Benz Type 770

Mercedes-Benz 770 (W150)
Overview
Manufacturer Mercedes-Benz
Also called
  • Mercedes-Benz W07/W150
  • Großer
Production
  • 1930–1943
  • 205 vehicles
Assembly Stuttgart, Germany
Body and chassis
Class Full-size luxury car
Body style 4-door, 6-seat Pullman (limousine)
Touring car (6 seats)
Cabriolet
Layout FR layout
Powertrain
Engine
Dimensions
Wheelbase
  • W07 (1930-1938): 3,750 mm (148 in)
  • W150 (1938-1943): 3,880 mm (153 in)
Length
  • W07 (1930-1938): 5,600 mm (220 in)
  • W150 (1938-1943): 6,000 mm (240 in)
Width
  • W07 (1930-1938): 1,840 mm (72 in)
  • W150 (1938-1943): 2,070 mm (81 in)
Chronology
Predecessor Mercedes-Benz 630
Successor Mercedes-Benz W186 (1951)

The Mercedes-Benz 770, also known as the Großer Mercedes (large Mercedes) was a large luxury car built by Mercedes-Benz from 1930 to 1943. It is probably best known from archival footage of high-ranking Nazi officials before and during World War II, including Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich.

Series I - W07 (1930–1938)

Mercedes Benz 770 (W07) on display at the 1931 Berlin Motor Show

The 770 was introduced as successor of the Mercedes-Benz Typ 630 with the internal code W07 in 1930.[1] These high-priced cars were mainly used by governments as state vehicles.[2] Reich President Paul von Hindenburg, Emperor Hirohito and Pope Pius XI were among the customers, Adolf Hitler used a 770 from 1931 onwards. 117 W07-series cars were built until 1938.[2]

The W07 version of the 770 was powered by an inline eight-cylinder engine of 7,655 cc (467.1 cu in) capacity with an overhead camshaft and aluminium pistons.[1][2][3][4] This engine produced 150 brake horsepower (110 kW) at 2800 rpm without supercharging.[1][3][5] An optional Roots type supercharger, which was engaged at full throttle, would raise the output to 200 brake horsepower (150 kW) at 2800 rpm, which could propel the car to 160 km/h (99 mph).[1][2] The transmission had four forward ratios, of which third was direct and fourth was an overdrive (mechanics).[3][6]

The W07 had a contemporary boxed chassis suspended by semi-elliptic leaf springs onto beam axles front and rear.[2] Dimensions would vary with coachwork, but the chassis had a wheelbase of 3,750 mm (147.6 in) and a front track equal to the rear track of 1,500 mm (59.1 in).[1]

Series II - W150 (1938–1943)

Hitler in a W150 cabriolet, Bad Godesberg 1938

The 770 was substantially revised in 1938, resulting in the new internal designation of W150.[7] The all-new chassis was made with oval section tubes and was suspended from coil springs all around, with independent suspension at front and a de Dion axle at the rear.[2]

The engine had the same basic architecture as that of the W07, but it had been tuned to produce 155 brake horsepower (116 kW) at 3000 rpm without supercharging and 230 brake horsepower (170 kW) at 3200 rpm with.[7] The transmission now had five forward ratios with a direct fourth gear and an overdrive fifth.[2][7]

In 1938 the huge W150 is thought to have been the most expensive German passenger car for sale up to that time, though it appeared on no price list: the price was published merely as "auf Anfrage" ([available] by request).[8] 88 W150-series cars were built before chassis production ended in 1943. The last cars were bodied and delivered in March 1944.[2][7]

Surviving 770s

Mercedes-Benz 770 (W150), Canadian War Museum
1932 Mercedes-Benz 770 (W07) "Grosser" cabriolet, formerly owned by ex-emperor Wilhelm II
Mercedes-Benz 770 (W07) limousine used by Emperor Hirohito

The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa has on display one of seven cars used by Hitler. A US serviceman discovered this 1940 vintage W150 in Austria at the end of the war, it was shipped to the US and eventually sold to a Quebec businessman who later gave it to the museum. It was originally believed to have been owned by Hermann Göring, but later research concluded it was used by Hitler. The 770K originally owned by Marshal of Finland Baron Gustav Mannerheim was sold to an American collector after World War II. It was featured in the 1951 motion picture The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel as Hitler's parade car.[9] In 1973, Mannerheim's 770K, erroneously alleged to have been the parade limousine of Adolf Hitler, was sold at auction for $153,000; the most money ever paid for a car at auction at that time.[10] This broke the previous record price for an antique car, which had been $90,000 for Greta Garbo's Duesenberg in autumn 1972. It was sold to Earl Clark, a businessman from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, US who wanted the car for a park called Dutch Wonderland.

Another 770 sold at the same auction, sold for $US93,000. Billy C. Tanner, an Alabama developer and campaign manager for George Wallace's campaign in the 1964 US presidential election bought it; but he could not secure financing to complete the transaction and subsequently sold his option to Don Tidwell, a mobile-home manufacturer.

As of November 2009, one of Hitler's 770Ks has allegedly been purchased for several million euros by an unnamed Russian billionaire.[11]

In the Norwegian Mercedes Benz Club's magazine of June 2010 is an article on a 770 Offener Tourenwagen (W150). It was brought to Norway in 1941 by General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. After World War II it was used by the King of Norway. It was later sold to a buyer in the United States. The car won the prize for the best unrestored pre-war car at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2003.

Two other 770s were brought to Norway during the war, one for Josef Terboven and the other for Vidkun Quisling. The Norsk Motorveteran magazine had a short article on one of the cars, which stated that it was displayed for sale to the public, but apparently no one wanted to buy it despite the low price of KR 50,-. It was eventually scrapped and all that now remains of the car is parts of the bulletproof glasswork.

There is one Mercedes-Benz Cat Man 770K Grosser (1938) at the Museu do Caramulo, Portugal. This car is armored, and was ordered by the PVDE, the Portuguese internal secret police, after the 1937 bomb attempt against the Portuguese dictator Oliveira Salazar.

A black 1938 770K, on display at the Technisches Museum in Sinsheim, Germany, allegedly was owned by the German Central government office and used by Adolf Hitler during parades. The car was fitted with mine proof floor armor, thick glass and body work. However, as a convertible parade car the occupants' protection was limited.[12]

There is a 1939 770K on display at the Southward Car Museum at Paraparaumu in New Zealand, which is believed to have been intended as a gift for Edward VIII after the planned German invasion of britain.

A 1939 770K Cabriolet B has made at least one appearance at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California. The car is a 2-door, 5-passenger convertible, making it particularly unusual since the majority of W150 cars were built as hardtop limousines or convertible limousines. It is finished in dark red with a tan leather interior. The car is owned by the William Lyon Family.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Oldtimers Gallery - Mercedes-Benz 770 W07(K) Grosser". Autogallery.org.ru. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Robson, Graham (1990). The World's Most Powerful Cars. Quintet Publishing. pp. 100–101. ISBN 1-85076-254-6.
  3. 1 2 3 Ruiz, Marco (1988). The History of the Automobile. W.H. Smith Publishers. p. 57. ISBN 0-8317-6550-X.
  4. ↑ Rogliatti, Gianni (1973). Cyril Posthumus, ed. Period Cars. Feltham, Middlesex, UK: Hamlyn. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-600-33401-5.
  5. ↑ Rogliatti 1973, p. 94.
  6. ↑ Rogliatti 1973, p. 95.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Oldtimers Gallery - Mercedes-Benz 770 W150 Grosser". Autogallery.org.ru. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  8. ↑ "Als der Fürerschein eine Mark kostet: B Busch blickt in den Rückspiegel: 1938". Auto Motor u. Sport. Heft 19 1976: Seite 76–82. 15 September 1976.
  9. ↑ "Mannerheim's Mercedes Benz 770 F-Cabriolet". Mannerheim.fi. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  10. ↑ "This Day In History: January 6". History.com. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  11. ↑ "Russian Billionaire Buys Hitler's Mercedes: Report". Abc.net.au. 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  12. ↑ "Mercedes-Benz 770K Cabriolet". Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  13. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z12046/Mercedes-Benz-770-K-Cabriolet-B.aspx 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Cabriolet B
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