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.
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