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."
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.
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