1969 Mercedes-Benz 600

Sammlung Sonderklasse - Auction

Lot 026: 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600

Vehicle description

ONE OF 2,190 SWB LIMOUSINES

RARE FACTORY TWO-TONE PAINT

DELIVERED NEW TO MONACO

OWNED BY LORINSER FOR DECADES

Technical details

Year: 1969

Chassis N°: 100.012-12-001271

Engine N°: 100.980-12-001316

Body N°: 80191

Production N°: 900051

Paint: 180 (UT) / 172 (OT) SILVER GREY METALLIC / ANTHRACITE GREY METALLIC

Interior: 741 VELOURS GREY

Options

282 6-PIECE LUGGAGE SET

306 AIR CONDITIONER

401 SINGLE SEATS

411 MECHANICAL AND HYDRAULIC SLIDING ROOF

516 BECKER RADIO GRAND PRIX LM/MW/SW/USW

601 OIL FOR REAR AXLE WITH LIMITED-SLIP DIFFERENTIAL, IN CANISTERS AND CONTAINERS

629 VERSION FOR FRANCE

665 MODE OF PACKING, VE I

KW 05981/01 ONE FOLDING TABLE ON THE BACKREST OF EACH OF THE FRONT SEATS ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT

KW 09411/03 REAR CENTRE ARM REST USED AS A COSMETICS BOX (EMPTY)

Provenance

27/05/1969 UNKNOWN, MC

27/06/1976 SOCIÉTÉ COMPTOIR GÉNÉRAL DES VIANDES, NICE, FR

15/09/1981 FA. LORINSER, WAIBLINGEN, DE

20/08/2024 HANNES DAXECKER, FELDKIRCHEN AN DER DONAU, AT

Documents

FRENCH CERTIFICAT D'IMMATRICULATION (1976)

GERMAN FAHRZEUGBRIEF (1981)

GERMAN REGISTRATION PAPERS (2009)

AUSTRIAN EINZELGENEHMIGUNG (2023)

About the model line

W 100

“Have you got anything bigger?” Konrad Adenauer is said to have asked when he was presented with the new 300 SE as his official state car. As it happened, they did – although it was not quite finished yet. Even while Adenauer was still using the predecessor to the 300 SE – rather, being chauffeured in it, the very model that came to bear his name – Mercedes-Benz had already handed development chief Fritz Nallinger a blank cheque. A mandate to make possible anything that contemporary engineering could conceivably achieve. Stuttgart was to build a new »Großer Mercedes« that, with characteristic understatement, aspired to nothing less than becoming the finest automobile in the world.

Nallinger spared no effort. Air suspension, a hydraulic comfort system, seats, windows and the sliding roof operating almost silently and seemingly by magic, power steering, automatic transmission, air conditioning, electrically controlled heating and ventilation – features that bordered on science fiction in their day. For a brief moment, engineers even considered a twelve-cylinder engine, only to conclude that it offered few tangible advantages over a V8. That the displacement of this V8 was ultimately increased from the originally planned 5.4 to 6.3 litres may well be regarded as a pointed challenge to the British automotive aristocracy of Rolls-Royce.

Its dimensions were immense, its mere presence commanded respect. This technological masterpiece was packaged within more than five and a half metres of automobile, almost two metres wide. And that was the standard, “short-wheelbase” version. For the 600 was also available as the Pullman, stretching to 6.24 metres and offered with either four or six doors. And because it was conceived as much as a vehicle of state as one of luxury, there was also the Landaulet, with its open rear compartment. After all, one was meant to see who occupied the seat in the back.

At its home debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1963, Mercedes-Benz unveiled this rolling superlative to an astonished public. The motoring press lavished praise upon a car that remained hopelessly beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. With 250 horsepower and twice as many pound-feet of torque, the 600 exceeded 200 km/h, while more than one road test credited it with a surprising touch of sports car character. The price tag read an eye-watering 56,500 Deutsche Mark – less would buy a detached family home. But no member of the 600’s clientele was likely to reside in such mundane accommodation. Its owners formed a glittering circle comprising the who’s who of the jet set and the charts, alongside potentates of every description, monarchs, presidents, revolutionaries, dictators, and even the Vicar of Christ.

The Pope owned just one, as did the King himself, Elvis Presley, along with John Lennon, Udo Jürgens, David Bowie, Elizabeth Taylor, Gunter Sachs and Pablo Escobar. Certain Arab royal garages are said to have housed well over a hundred examples. “President” Mobutu made do with 23, closely followed by the Shah with 21. Mao owned eleven, while Gaddafi’s tally remains something of a mystery. Others were more restrained: Leonid Brezhnev, Tito, the Kim family and Saddam Hussein each found a single 600 entirely sufficient.

Mercedes-Benz had planned to build 3,000 examples a year. Yet even the boundless appetite for prestige among a number of small Mediterranean states proved nowhere near sufficient – and there simply were not enough such rulers to sustain those ambitions. By June 1981, total production had reached only 2,677 cars: 2,190 short-wheelbase saloons, 304 four-door Pullmans, 124 six-door Pullmans, 47 four-door Landaulets, 12 six-door Landaulets, and two coupés that officially never existed. Sales had already begun to decline during the 1970s. New emissions regulations – which effectively barred the model from the American market – and, improbable though it may seem, the oil crisis took their toll on the mighty 600. By 1979 it had quietly disappeared from the sales brochures, at a time when annual production had long since fallen below fifty cars.

Mercedes-Benz lost money on every single 600 it built. Production was exceptionally labour-intensive and expensive, much of the car being crafted by hand. Thanks to the often extravagant wishes of its clientele, scarcely any two examples were alike, hardly a recipe for keeping costs under control. Yet throughout its production life, the company continuously refined and modernised the car wherever necessary. For Mercedes-Benz, the 600 was never about profit – it was about prestige. The competition had been relegated to the sidelines; from that moment on, the very embodiment of luxury and technological progress wore a three-pointed star. No advertising campaign in the world could ever have bought such an image.

To this day, the Mercedes-Benz 600 remains one of the great milestones of automotive history. It became the benchmark against which every state limousine that followed would be measured. Many have tried. None has surpassed it.

Auction information

Auction: 07 November 2026, 14:00

Auction house: Humer Granner & Co

Starting price: 30,000 EUR

Reserve: No reserve

Viewing: 05. November 2026 10:00 – 18:00, 06. November 2026 09:00 – 18:00, 07. November 2026 ab 09:00

Location: Gewerbeparkstraße 17, 4101 Feldkirchen an der Donau, AT

Bidding: In person · Online live · Telephone · Written bid

Auction registration: Schriftliches Kaufangebot, Als Telefonbieter, Online - live

Contact: Wolfgang Humer, +43 650 7262524 / Reinhard Granner, +43 699 17127272

About the auction

This Mercedes-Benz is part of the Sammlung Sonderklasse, one of the largest private Mercedes-Benz collections in Europe. The entire collection will be auctioned from 5 to 7 November 2026 in Feldkirchen an der Donau, Austria. All 83 cars are offered without reserve.

The collection also includes around 1,000 automobilia items and several fully furnished rooms, which will be auctioned on 6 and 7 November by Ni-Cola Classics. Please note that if you want to bid on automobilia, you must register in advance at nicola-ac.de. You can also view all lots at https://auction.nicola-ac.de/

The car auction starts on Saturday 7 November at 14:00, and you can bid in person or online. The cars can be viewed on Thursday 5 November from 10:00 to 18:00. Please note that if you want to bid on this car, you must register in advance with Humer Granner at https://hg.auction/auktionen/auktion-november-2026/.

You can order the catalogue at metropole-auction.com. It also serves as your admission ticket for two people. The catalogue does not replace registration with the auction house.

Participation & details

Vehicle details and photos

Register to bid

Auction overview

Auction catalogue