Tag Archives: Presley

Der Großer Ultra Luxury – Mercedes Benz 600 SWB

So here is a little teaser question to start the week, what do American actor Jack Nicholson, Cambodian totalitarian dictator Pol Pot and Colombian drug dealer Pablo Escobar all have in common ? Answer at the end of this blog.

In order to compete with Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Cadillac, Lehmann-Peterson stretched Lincolns and the Chrysler Imperial Crown Ghia in the Ultra Luxury market segment Mercedes Benz built the 600 also known as “Der Großer” which was launched in September 1963.

Mercedes Benz 600 SWB, Brooklands Double Twelve

Since the biggest Mercedes Benz 3 litre 183 cui was never going to be up to the job of propelling this heavy weight, Mercedes Benz developed it’s first V8 engine, featuring single overhead cam shafts, with a capacity of 6289 cc / 383cui that produced 250hp.

To ensure the silent operation of the air conditioning, power window’s, sunroof, seats, auto door and boot/trunk closure and the suspension damping Mercedes Benz eschewed complex electrics and developed a complex hydraulic system that operates at a nominal 3200 psi, all well and good until it develops a leak and or the system gets refilled with synthetic automatic transmission oil, which eats the all rubber seals, instead of the correct mineral based oil.

Mercedes Benz 600 SWB, Brooklands Double Twelve

The windows are hydraulically activated by door switches that have a variable rate of closure depending on how hard one presses the switch, whack it inadvertently and someone could loose an arm, similarly if one touches the open boot/trunk lid it will close automatically, try and push it shut and one will likely as not break the hinges.

To keep ones hydraulics in order Mercedes Benz thoughtfully equipped the car with a hydraulic spares kit that contains brass spacers to keep the power seats from collapsing in the event of hydraulic system failure, three hydraulic blocks, three line connections, a set of hydraulic line plugs and clips, four wooden wedges to insert in to the window channels to keep the windows up, a spare hydraulic flex line, an oil container and an instruction manual to help you use all of the above correctly.

Mercedes Benz 600 SWB, Brooklands Double Twelve

The design of the 600 is credited to Italian Bruno Sacco, German Friedrich Geiger and Paul Bracq, the latter allegedly helped in the design of 600 pick up and hearse conversions that were built by Karl H. Middlehauve in the United States.

In all 2,677 Mercedes Benz 600’s were built up until 1981 they include; 2,190 Saloons, like the 1965 example seen at Brooklands Double Twelve a couple of years ago in these photographs, 304 4 door Pullmans, 124 6 door Pullmans and 59 Landaullets and 2 Coupé’s one of which was given to Mercedes Benz 300 SLR designer Dr. Rudolf Uhlenhaut upon his retirement.

By now you have probably guessed that Jack Nicholson, Pol Pot and Pablo Escobar have all owned a Mercedes Benz 600, the latters was destroyed in an attack in an attack in 1988 five years before his death. Other entertainers who owned a 600 include; Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, George Harrison, Karen Carpenter, Elvis Presley and Rowan Atkinson, politicians who owned 600’s include; Josip Broz Tito, Nicolae Ceaușescu, Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, F. W. de Klerk, Leonid Brezhnev, Idi Amin, Fidel Castro, Ferdinand Marcos (times 4 !), Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, Saddam Hussein and Chairman Mao Tse-tung / Zedong, no other drug dealers are recorded as having owned a 600.

Thanks for joining me on this “Der Großer Ultra Luxury” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a vehicle said to be responsible for the cancellation of a rivals model amid accusations of industrial espionage. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The Day We Went To Beaulieu – The National Motor Museum

A couple of weeks ago I was at a local Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) meeting when a fellow member mentioned that the South West Mensa group he belonged to was going on an organised trip around The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu and invited his fellow IAM members to join him, I of course needed little prompting and ended up taking regular GALPOT contributor Tim and a last minuet guest Alberto from Madrid too.

Grenville Steam Carriage, National Motor Museum Beaulieu

Among the delights of the museum I did not cover on my previous visit was the oldest working self propelled vehicle in the country, an 1875 Grenville Steam Carriage capable of 18 mph, that was built by Robert Neville Grenville in nearby Butleigh Court, Glastonbury, Somerset.

Lancia Corsa, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

When it comes to varied careers few vehicles can beat this 1910 Lancia Corsa that Billy Knipper drove to win the Tiedeman Trophy in Savannah on November 11th 1910, before it was used as a service vehicle by the Fire Chief of Lenox Massachusetts, it subsequently also served as a garage recovery vehicle !

Austin A90 Atlantic, National Motor Museum Beaulieu

Desperate for foreign earnings to revive the war ravaged economy and repay Britain’s huge war debts Austin came up with the wonderful Austin A90 Atlantic which was aimed squarely at the US market with power windows and hood on the convertible, unfortunately it was completely usurped by the more powerful and rakishly styled Jaguar XK120, but the six cylinder engine ended up powering several larger Austin Saloon / Sedan models and the much admired Austin Healey 100-Six.

Cadillac Seville, National Motor Museum Beaulieu

A real surprise was finding the last Cadillac bought by Elvis Presley in the National Motor Museum, this 1977 Cadillac Seville MY series 6K is said to have also been driven by “The King” the day before his death on August 16th 1977.

BRM P301, National Motor Museum Beaulieu

In the learn something new department was that the last time I saw the chassis above was at Le Mans in 1992 when it was fitted with a closed cockpit coupé body and a 3.5 litre / 213 cui V12 BRM motor.

The car caught fire during the race which it started despite the fact that only Wayne Taylor had qualified in it. The fire damage was repaired but the car was not allowed to restart on the Sunday because it had covered insufficient distance.

I knew the car had been subsequently raced in open cockpit form but had not realised the BRM motor was replaced by a turbocharged 3 litre / 183 cui Nissan V6 motor.

In the latter form the renamed P301 was prequalified for the 1997 Le Mans 24 hours with 38th best time by Harri Toivonen and Johnny O’Connell, completed just 6 laps of the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours, from 34th on the grid, after the engine failed, qualified 6th on the grid for the International Sports Racing Series at Donington, but failed to start because of an electrical problem, started 5th on the grid at Misano in 1998, but retired with drive shaft failure and finally failed to start at Donington in 1998 after it crashed during qualifying.

My thanks to Bill and all the Mensa members who made my guests and I feel so welcome.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Day We Went To Beaulieu” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Corvette that raced at Le Mans. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Luxury Elegant Loss Leader – Continental Mark II

Continental was designed to be a stand alone luxury and elegance brand from Lincoln to compete with GM’s Cadillac and Chrysler’s Imperial Brands that would build on the success of the 1940’s Lincoln Continental.

Continental Mark II, Desert Classic C d'E, Palm Springs

Having considered and rejected the idea of employing an outside team to design such an important vehicle Ford designated a team from it’s own special products division comprising chief stylist John Reinhart, chief body engineer Gordon Buehrig assisted by Robert McGuffery Thomas and chief engineer Harley Copp to design the Continental Mark II in late 1952.

Continental Mark II, Desert Classic C d'E, Palm Springs

Ford had hoped to build the car using unibody / monocoque construction but Copp is credited with rejecting the idea on grounds of tooling costs for what was always intended to be a low volume hand built vehicle, and so the car was built with separate chassis and body.

Continental Mark II, Desert Classic C d'E, Palm Springs

For a car that was launched in 1956 there is a remarkable absence of chrome work giving it, size not withstanding, a refined European look. Power came from a factory blueprinted (hand made from closest to specification hand picked parts), 6 litre / 368 cui Lincoln V8 that was tuned to give 300 hp.

Continental Mark II, Desert Classic C d'E, Palm Springs

The likes of Continental owners Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and the Shah of Iran had only one option choice to make, wether or not to have the US$595 factory fitted air conditioning or not. Elizabeth Taylor was given a Continental Mark II by Warner Brothers that was specially painted to match the colour of her eyes.

Continental Mark II, Desert Classic C d'E, Palm Springs

Priced at US$ 10,000 in 1956 the Continental cost the same as a contemporary Rolls Royce or two Cadillacs, until the arrival of the US$ 13,074 Cadillac Eldordo Brougham in 1957. Surprisingly Ford reckoned they were loosing US$ 1,000 on each Continental Mark II built.

Continental Mark II, Desert Classic C d'E, Palm Springs

Between late 1955 and 1957 around 3000 Continental Mark IIs were built at the end of the production run the Continental brand was reabsorbed into the Lincoln brand and the name hence forth continued as a Lincoln model name.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for the photographs of today’s featured 1956 model seen earlier this years at the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance at Palm Springs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Luxury Elegant Loss Leader” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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