Bonhams is gearing up for its single-marque sale at the Mercedes-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 that doesn'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. 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), even though the model from the 1960s has aged the most gracefully.
This particular example was imported into China from West Germany in 1965 for the use of 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 passing in 1972, and this particular Pullman was one of the cars in the Ministry's motor pool, purchased specially for him. After his passing, the Pullman was kept in a Shanghai factory garage to be used as the prototype for the creation of 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 busy setting up a factory in Shanghai using some existing infrastructure, so it makes perfect sense that this car would pop up during the launch of the joint venture at one of the car plants. Luwich brought this example to Germany in 1993, titling the car in 1998, but had not attempted a restoration, instead keeping the interior and exterior as is. The odometer currently displays just 21,160 kilometers or 13,148 miles, suggesting that it had been used just for official state functions by the Foreign Ministry as opposed to everyday transportation for the head of the agency.
Even though it is commonly claimed that China's ruling elite simultaneously switched to Hong Qi (Red Flag) limousines cribbed from Russian designs as soon as those became available, the truth of the matter is that the top officials have used a wide variety of foreign cars from the time of the formation of the People's Republic of China and into the present day. And a number of 600 Pullman limousines had been ordered from Mercedes-Benz by top officials for use as official state cars or even everyday transportation.
Even when it came to hardtop examples, Pullmans came in a number of configurations in four-door and six-door forms, and 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 mid-section. Each of the 428 Pullmans built is a little different inside and out, and 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, a power divider window, and 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 wheat happens when cars spend years sitting in government garages.
The condition of the interior appears commensurate with the claimed kilometrage and age of the car, and overall it appears to have been really well maintained. It is doubtful that the car was kept in climate-controlled storage during its time in China during its operation life and when it was retired from regular use, so some deterioration of the interior due to the high humidity of Shanghai's climate can be expected.
This example is estimated to bring between $200,000 and $340,000, which may 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 and 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, and then took off in early 2009, gradually climbing up to $200,000. A number of recent high-profile sales, including a barn-find six-door landaulet loaded with all the options imaginable 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 that certainly doesn't mean that the best examples are north of that price point either. But interest in this model does seem to be rising just a bit despite astronomical restoration costs due to the scarcity of parts, as well as just the sheer acreage of interior and exterior body panels. Cars with needs are best left alone as many pieces of trim would have to be refabricated from scratch, but then again the majority of examples do happen to be cars with needs, as few owners see the point of undertaking cosmetic restorations of cars that still reliably trade around $100,000 for unrestored examples. Given that the best examples have only just 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.
Click here for auction information and a full list of lots.
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