Posted on 07/09/2012 1:55:34 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
(CBS News) EDGEWATER, N.J. - An auto repair shop owner was shocked to find out that a Mercedez-Benz he purchased for a customer used to belong to Adolf Hitler.
"He was surprised," Zenop Tuncer, owner of Euro Tech Motors, told CBS News. "We were all surprised!"
Tuncer, whose shop specializes in classic cars, got a request from real estate developer Fred Daibes that he wanted a Mercedes-Benz 540K. However Tuncer could only procure a 1942 Mercedes 320 Cabriolet D convertible, which Daibes agreed to buy.
Tuncer said he should have been tipped off because the car looked like a military car.
"The color is a flat black, and there are patches covering what would have been a place for the flag post and the siren," he explained. It's definitely for a general."
The car needed some parts, so Tuncer contacted Mercedes-Benz with the serial number. He was surprised when the company told him to look at the serial number again and see if there was an eagle with a swastika next to it. Tuncer found the swastika, which he said was so small he missed it at first. Then, Mercedes-Benz confirmed that the car belonged to the Nazi leader.
According to CBS station WCBS in New York, Mercedes-Benz custom made eight of the vehicles for the Nazis.
The original owner did not know the car's history. and said that his grandfather brought the vehicle to the United States from Germany after the war, WCBS reported. Daibes said he paid $175,000 for the car a year ago, and has recently turned down an offer of $1.5 million.
"It's Hitler's car, he's a devil, but you know, he's still part of history," Daibes said to WCBS. "From a financial point of view the car is worth more money than when I paid for it so that's the only way I look at it."
Tuncer agreed, adding that he would keep the car as well.
"I would not touch the car," Tuncer stated. "I would keep it the original way. It has a story on it."
Zenop Tuncer, owner of Euro Tech Motors, stands next to the Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet D convertible, which was previously owned by Adolf Hitler. (WCBS)
The serial number had a small eagle on top of a swastika, indicating it had been made for the Nazis. (Credit: WCBS)
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I would sell this relic immediately at a fire sale price. Or, I'd donate it to charity. I would not want to own such a memory.
I’d sell it and promptly tithe on the profit.
"THIS is Hitler's car!!"
HELP! The devil's in my car.
HELP! The devil's in my car.
HELP! The devil's in my car...
A certain someone might want to use it in his campaign this fall...
My thoughts exactly!
Rat Race is on my list!
I’d do a top-down original restore. Then auction. Belongs in a museum.
I was just about to post this. This was probably the funniest scene in that movie, especially when he drove the car through the wall at the veteran’s convention.
Thought this was going to be a reverse of those ‘Hitler finds out .....’ vids.
Thought this was going to be a reverse of those ‘Hitler finds out .....’ vids.
At least it is not an evil SUV...
He should sell it to a cab company so people could “Heil” a cab.
He's been offered $1.5 million. Would that qualify as a fire sale price?
—The original owner did not know the car’s history.—
That’s because he died. In Berlin. In a bunker.
I’m waiting for the video of Hitler in the bunker having a tantrum when he finds out that some guy in New Jersey is going to get his Mercedes.
Some history buff or Nazi-lover would probably bid high for the vehicle. I would DEFINITELY inspect the trunk first!
Wait wasn’t that a scene in the movie Rat Race.
"New Jersey?? My car might wind up in the hands of an Italian and I CAN'T STAND those Italians!!!"
...or was it John Voight?...............
Wonder if the new owner is Jewish? This car does belong in a museum or at the Eagle’s Nest next to the house.
It was Klaus Barbies’ car................
I’d be too much of a history geek not to keep it. Yes, Hitler was a monster, worthy of every evil accolade we can throw at him, but he’s still the man who started the single biggest war to date in human history. Same for Ghengis Khan’s saddle, Stalin’s backscratcher, etc.
BUT, I could think of things to do with it that I could imagine pissing Hitler off in Hell. I’m thinking Tuesdays would be “offer free rides to seniors at the Jewish center” day...set up a route to local Delis and Synogouges.
It would be even more /ironic if the current owner had(s) Jewish ancestry.
good one, but I’m trying to think of things that wouldn’t structurally change the car. Maybe fill the radiator with Manischevitz wine
Drag-race it against a Citroen 2CV - and *lose*.
I know Fred, he is doing this to market the car...
Successfully, I might add!
Another story - not Hitler’s car.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/hitler-drove-this-mercedes-or-did-he/
Next a Seinfeld episode where George trades in John Voight’s car in order to by Adolph Hittler’s
I would check for items under the seats
Adolph Hitler......the dentist?
So, the uphostery killed the car’s owner? Is that what I just read?
Like a TODO list or something:
1. Make sure army has cold weather gear.
2. Invade Russia.
With a check mark next to #2 and none by #1.
What ultimately tied it to the infamous Adolf? It’s clearly Nazi, but who kept records that it was Hitler’s own buggy?
No matter what Nazi owned it, of course, it was owned by someone part of that evil. If I believed in ghosts haunting cars (which I don’t), I’d wonder about about 6 million Jewish spirits. It will be interesting to see if calamity follows the owners. One might as well be glad, of course, that it’s now owned by somebody more decent than Adolf Hitler.
Hitler finds out his car ends up in New Jersey. Soon to be on You tube?
He jumped out, shot at the guys and died in bed a week later after a visit from one of Hitler's henchmen.
At first I thought Hitler had him killed? For what? And then the throwaway line about the upholstery. Man, wonder what had been happening on those seats.
Hitler’s sailboat was moored on Miami River back in the 60s. Wonder what happened to it?
Seems to me "original" does not mean what the writer beleives it does.
I would keep it, grow a mustache and comb my hair over my forehead.
Is this the car?
This Wikipedia page shows one:
The page also reports:
"In 2009 in the U.S., a classic car collector offered three W31s for sale for $9 million. With unproven claims of use by Adolf Hitler, they included a blue convertible and a grey Wehrmacht W 31 with a closed cab. A special feature of the convertible was that the front passenger seat could be folded up, so it was possible to stand upright in the car."
The fact that the blue convertible had a front seat that folded up for standing may be proof that it was a car actually used by Hitler.
Ever been there?
Reinhard Heydrich was in one of these cars when he
was attacked and later died
Good riddance for a not very nice guy
I seem to recall that some of Hitler’s family were living in New Jersey. They were children of Alois Hitler’s (Adolf’s half brother) son William Patrick, who came to the US before the war started.
LOL, or have it surrender to the citroen before the race starts.
“On this episode of Pawn Stars...”
Very funny. Great that we can laugh and make fun of things that might have ended entirely differently, isn’t it?
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