The Devil's Mercedes: The Bizarre and Disturbing Adventures of Hitler’s Limousine in America

Posted on 03 September 2018 by Robert Klara

In 1938, Mercedes Benz began production of the largest, most luxurious limousine in the world Twenty feet long, upholstered in glove leather, and bullet proof, the Grosser 770K was a sumptuous monster with a monstrous patron Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party Most of the 770Ks didn t make it out of WWII, but several of them did, two finding their way to the United States.In The Devil s Mercedes, author Robert Klara uncovers the story of how Americans responded to these relics of fascism on their soil The limousines made headlines, drew crowds, made fortunes and ruined lives They also entangled the country in a game of intrigue and mistaken identity.Nobody knew that the limousine touted as Hitler s had in fact never belonged to him, while the Mercedes shrugged off as a staff car one later sold off turned out to be none other than Hitler s personal limo It would take 40 years, a cast of carnies and millionaires, the U.S Army, and the research of a librarian to bring the truth to light.This remarkable retelling probes the power of these haunting hulks to attract, excite, and disgust Ultimately, The Devil s Mercedes isn t only the story of a notorious car but what it taught postwar America about itself. Best Read Books The Devil's Mercedes: The Bizarre and Disturbing Adventures of Hitler’s Limousine in America author Robert Klara – kino-fada.fr It s hard to put into words why I liked The Devil s Mercedes so much I don t have a particular fascination with WWII and have no interest in hearing Mercedes owners talk about their beloved automobiles But I do love when an author can take an item that I am unfamiliar with and tell a complete story of it s origins and cultural significance through time That is what Robert Klara has done here, and I was fascinated from cover to cover I inherited from my father and older brother an appreciatio It s hard to put into words why I liked The Devil s Mercedes so much I don t have a particular fascination with WWII and have no interest in hearing Mercedes owners talk about their beloved automobiles But I do love when an author can take an item that I am unfamiliar with and tell a complete story of it s origins and cultural significance through time That is what Robert Klara has done here, and I was fascinated from cover to cover I inherited from my father and older brother an appreciation for classic cars I believe that cars are significant possessions that most people spend a great deal of time in, and like it or not,... these stories are strange, unsettling, and fascinating This quote perfectly sums up reading about anything related to WWII and the Holocaust as unnerving as they are to read, books about these subjects have always fascinated me, and this book is no exception The author did a good job of balancing th...In the 1950s, two Mercedes ard limousines toured the US one a Hitlerian gift to Finland s Marshall Mannerheim later traded to a US businessman for forgiveness on a debt for ball bearings, the other seized by a US soldier in Berchtesgaden and labeled as belonging to G ring As these lumbered around the US 5 tons, 4 mpg , Klara tracks the reactions to them VFW members using them to explain their war service to their kids, Holocaust surviv...Review title Sympathy for the Devil This was one of those odd book titles and subtitles , covers and back cover descriptions that just said Read me , even though it is an equally odd subject that isn t a BIG deal Or isn t it Klara, who has also written a book called FDR s Funeral Train that sounds equally odd and narrowly focused, here takes on the so called Hitler s Limousine Hitler was a lover of Mercedes cars, and the company was glad to oblige him to solidify its sales status by Review title Sympathy for the Devil This was one of those odd book titles and subtitles , covers and...This book manages to tell a compelling story about two cars and their contrasting fate in North America, and seeks to tell a larger tale about the unpleasant relationship between the United States and Canada and the issue of Hitler and his transportation To be sure, this particular history is one that is likely to be of great interest to only a few people because it also has a lot to do about car culture and matters of politics, but although the author does not appear to know cars very well, This book manages to tell a compelling story about two cars and their contrasting fate in North America, and seeks to tell a larger tale about the unpleasant relationship between the United States and Canada and the issue of Hitler and his transportation To be sure, this particular history is one that is likely to be of great interest to only a few people because it also has a lot to do about car culture and matters of politics, but although the author does not appear to know cars very well, he does manage to convincingly talk ab...I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review In 1938, Mercedes Benz began production of the largest, most luxurious limousine in the world Twenty feet long, upholstered in glove leather, and bullet proof, the Grosser 770K was a sumptuous monster with a monstrous patron Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party.Most of the 770Ks didn t make it out of WWII But several of them did, two finding their way to the United States.In The Devil s Mercedes, author Robert I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review In 1938, Mercedes Benz began production of the largest, most luxurious limousine in the world Twenty feet long, upholstered in glove leather, and bullet proof, the Grosser 770K was a sumptuous monster with a monstrous patron Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party.Most of the 770Ks didn t make it out of WWII But several of them di...A morbid, fascinating look into the relic items of a madman, and how they were exploited, sold, advertised, and displayed as post war society continued to come to grips with the Nazi regime and with the monster that was Hitler This book was placed in the 5.00 bargain shelves at my local Chapter s..it stands as the most affordable great read I ve experienced in quite some time Robert Klara s prose style is by turns witty, sardonic and richly descriptive his meticulous, step by step tracking o A morbid, fascinating look into the relic items of a madman, and how they were exploited, sold, advertised, and displayed as post war society continued to come to grips with the Nazi regime and with the monster that was Hitler This book was placed in the 5.00 bargain shelves at my local Chapter s..it stands as the most affordable great read I ve experien...It took me a while to get to this book it was on my to read stack for far longer than I wanted However, it turned out to be a great book with an incredible history on some very controversial vehicles and those they were associated with There was less information on the actual car itself, including no photos at least in the preview version I read than I was hoping for but a good story nonetheless I did find it difficult, at times, to keep up with the lineage of ...Klara has done some meticulous research, and the result is this fascinating book about the ard sedans produced by Mercedes Benz for the Reich and those that found their way to North America after the war The book is flawed, however, by the author s near constant employment of disparaging adjectives whenever mentioning the Nazis Anyone with a brain is well aware that Hitler and his cronies were a bunch of sinister louts, and Klara s name calling only makes him appear unprofessional Real hi Klara has done some meticulous research, and the result is this fascinating book about the ard sedans produc...This was an interesting book about the bizarre adventures of two Nazi cars after the war and interestingly one of them ends up in the Canada War Museum in Ottawa I didn t know what to expect picking t...

The Devil's Mercedes: The Bizarre and Disturbing Adventures of Hitler’s Limousine in America

03 September 2018

Robert Klara