The Mercedes-Benz 600 “Brezhnev” is a limousine of extra class, a real rarity and an automobile unique - it makes the hearts of all classic car enthusiasts beat faster. This automobile is cult, you can also call it a sovereign with that driving feels like cruising, harmonious drifting and gliding down the road. Sitting in the car, everything is like usual, but completely different.
The origin of the Mercedes-Benz 600 is in the mid-1950s. Fritz Nallinger, leading developer at Daimler-Benz, started developing a car on the highest technical level. The form finding was completed in 1960. The test drives were absolved with twelve various prototypes before the exact specifications of the car were determined.
The series internal, called W100, was shown at the International Automobile Exhibition (IAA) in Frankfurt on the Main in September 1963. About two weeks before, the Mercedes-Benz 600 was presented to ten specialist journalists from all over the world. The public was very positive about the “big Mercedes”. The production started in September 1964. The first orderer, an architect from America, got the first delivered car.
The production of the 600s is supposed to be a loss-making business for Mercedes-Benz for years due to the customer special requirements and the continous manual labour increase the high cost. Nevertheless, the production was carried on for reasons of prestige. The Mercedes- Benz 600 was essential for the reputation of Mercedes-Benz. The Mercedes-Benz 600 did not even reach ten percent of the desired annual production, so he was a very rare car.
Among the prominent owners of a Mercedes- Benz 600 you can find: Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Herbert von Karajan, Aristoteles Onassis, Coco Chanel, Gunter Sachs, Schah Reza Pahlavi, Kaiser Hirohito, Mao Tse-tung, Maria Callas, Aga Khan, Fidel Castro, Leonid Brezhnev.