Hidden Garages of Mercedes Benz - The Grand Mercedes

" The famous 3-pointed star. It's everywhere and stood guard except for 1 secret location off limits to the public. Inside these doors are the hidden garages of Mercedes-Benz. "

" August 28 1963. Ten international automotive journalists are the first to see the new Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman."

" That's the famous 600. The target for the constructors, designers, and developers of this car were to build the ultimate luxury-orientated car of the world. They succeeded with that task."

" Mercedes' corporate brass tells its top engineers not to worry about time or cost. Simply put, the design team is told to create the best car in the world. It takes them 7 years to develop and build what soon is known as the Grand Mercedes."

" The 600 was filled up with a lot of innovations. The suspension system was completely hydraulic. You had a hydraulic system to move the backseats, even the backrests up and down."

" That's not all this one-of-a-kind hydraulic system does. Project chief Fritz Nalinger calls the 600 an engineer's playground, and play they do. The unique hydraulic system operates virtually everything in the car including a hydraulic suspension system and 4-wheel disc brakes."

" It was a V8 engine with 250 horsepowers, which means that the car has quite a lot of power. This was also important because the 600 was also the first car from our factory built in armored version because we sold a lot of these cars to different governments worldwide."

" The 600 Pullman is huge. It's 20 feet long and even without armor, weighs 6,000 pounds. A massive 6.3-liter V8 with overhead camshafts and fuel injection is built just for this car. The special engine powers the Grand Mercedes to top speeds approaching 130 miles an hour."

" The car behind me was owned over 30 years by the German government and was used for driving famous visitors, statesmen like Queen Elizabeth from England or the former czar from Persia."

" The original sticker price is $42,500. But money is no object. Celebrities flock to the car. John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Hugh Hefner, and Aristotle Onassis are just a few of the rich and famous who buy the 600. Despite an 18-year-long run from 1963 until 1981, only 2,677 Grand Mercedes are built."

" The Pope of the Vatican who for long, long years drove also a 600, the so-called Landaulet, which mean that the rear part of the cabin can be opened like a cabriolet or convertible with 1 seat just for the Pope to see the masses."

" Today you can buy a 600 Pullman for anywhere between 150,000 to 2.5 million dollars depending on both the car's condition and who originally owned it. The pursuit of excellence and celebrity is never cheap. Not then, not now."

" Everything you can imagine was put into this car. Started from the hydraulics and, and, and, you know. But that came out of, let's say, the goal to build the best car in the world. And the remarkable thing is that finally, the engineers succeeded with that goal, eh. [time=0:04:30]"