If the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is a little too modern for your tastes, perhaps this 1965 Mercedes 600 Pullman will do the trick.
Currently listed on eBay with a buy it now price of $285,000 (£212,907 / €239,087), this ultra-luxury behemoth is still a head turner more than five decades later.
According to the seller, the car was belonged to Chen Yi who joined the Communist Party and steadily rose up the ranks as he became mayor of Shanghai in 1949. He went on to become China’s Foreign Minister and was even featured on the cover of Time magazine for an article titled “The Enemy in Asia – Red China’s Foreign Minister Chen Yi.”
This kind of a status allowed Chen Yi to have a very special car and he reportedly had the Pullman shipped to Shanghai immediately after its arrival in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, his time with the car was short as he was “accused of disloyalty” during China’s Cultural Revolution and the car ended up in the hands of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).
The car was put into long term storage, but was eventually discovered in the 1990s by a German engineer working for Volkswagen Shanghai. He acquired the car and had it shipped back to Germany. The Pullman has traded hands several times since then, but it only has 13,164 miles (21,186 km) on the odometer.
The model, one of two to have ever been imported in the People’s Republic, has never restored and is in “incredibly original condition.” However, it was shipped to the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in California two years ago where it received a full service.
The listing is light on actual specifics, but the model should have a 6.3-liter V8 engine developing 250 hp (186 kW / 253 PS). Another interesting feature is the car’s hydraulic system which was used to power everything from the windows to the seats to the trunk.
Mind you, this is not the first time this particular car has gone up for sale. It was also listed back in August by the same company, for the same price, but we gather it failed to find a buyer, hence why it’s available once again.