Posted on 08/03/2005 2:13:55 PM PDT by Rakkasan1
First Sgt. William von Zehle bought a loaded Mercedes Benz while serving in Iraq, and its accessories make him wonder about the previous owner.
The Mercedes Benz 560 has armor plating, bulletproof glass, microphones and a "crowd-control device" that consists of a series of pipes that shoot out flames from the side of the car.
"I guess it was to make sure nobody got too close," said von Zehle, a Wilton firefighter. "One of the neat things, aside from the fact it's armored, is it has microphones that allow you to hear people talking outside the car and loudspeakers so you can talk back to them."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
I watched a "Pimp My Ride" episode where they put a flaming tailpipe on a car before the manager made them take it off. That show cracks me up. Sounds like they could get some ideas from this "ride"
The flamethrowers would come in handy when driving past a Code Pink rally.
Maybe the service records from the previous owner are signed "S. H."
Regardless, this sounds like the perfect car for driving in DC. I wonder if this car will appear on "Pimp My Ride" or "American Hotrod."
Don't know why, but I thought you guys would get a kick out of this.
Yep : )
All your Mercedes are belong to us!
I'll be real interested to see if/how he manages to get that thing back to the States.
***Von Zehle arrived in Connecticut before the car. His Mercedes went from Jordan to Syria to Greece to Spain before finally arriving in New Jersey in May, 2004.
Von Zehle has fixed everything but a broken front passenger window. A new bulletproof window costs $14,170 and it isn't the kind of item local auto parts stores carry.
The car sits in von Zehle's garage.
"One day I'll get it registered," he said.***
This will make a terrific parade car some day!
sounds like half the cars/bikes I've ever owned
"...good car for driving in L.A. traffic...."
Or Memphis for any reaon.
When the traffic cop is standing next to the driver's side window getting ready to ask for my license and registration would be a great time to try out that crowd control feature.
Kinda like the BMW's in South Africa that are equipped with flame-throwing devices to prevent car-jackings.
It's not unusual for the MSC guys to bring back trophy stuff---he just has to get it to a dock. The MSC ships come back empty so just don't mind taking on the weight. I would indeed like to hear the conversations at customs?
A New Ride for Batman?!
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