Pope's Mercedes 600 Limousine Comes to the U.S.

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Feb 23rd 2011 at 10:02AM

As part of the 125th anniversary celebrations for Mercedes-Benz, a 1965 Mercedes 600 Pullman landaulet (above) custom built for Pope Paul VI will be on display at the 16th Annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in Florida on March 11–13. The historic vehicle is making its first appearance on U.S. soil as part of a featured Class of Mercedes-Benz 600s at the prestigious event. The 600 Pullman was originally presented in September 1963 at the Frankfurt International Motor Show and quickly became the vehicle of choice among the world's wealthy elite; in addition to the Pope, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Hugh Hefner and Coco Chanel owned one. The luxe limousine was equipped with Mercedes' first ever V-8 able to reach 0-62 mph in 10 seconds.

This vehicle built for the Pope was specially constructed with an individual seat for the pontiff that could be raised and lowered during the car's procession through crowded streets. An elevated roof, extended rear doors, and raised floor were also fitted along with other special equipment such as bulletproof glass. Over two decades, the car was used by three popes including John Paul I and John Paul II and was returned to Mercedes-Benz's Stuttgart, Germany headquarters in 1985. It comes to Amelia courtesy of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart where it is one of many famous and priceless cars in its collection.

Tags: Amelia Island Concours dElegance, celebrity cars, classic cars, Coco Chanel, Elvis Presley, Hugh Hefner, John Lennon, John Paul II, limousine, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz 600, Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman, Mercedes-Benz Museum, Pope, Pope John Paul II, Pope Paul VI, The Pope

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Events

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Dan Feb 24th 2011 8:07AM

Great the Pope is coming. How much will this cost the tax payers? This murderous, thieving, child molesting religiously cloaked cult ought to disband and give the money to the poor. Measure the catholic church against the words in the bible and you will see that the catholic church is loosly based and sprinkled with enough of christs teachings to make it seem viable......yet anyone willing to read and educate themselves see a tremendous disparity in the teaching, not to mention its historical disservice to mankind. John Paul knew all too well what Im talking about.....he tried ill give him that.