Mercedes-Benz 600

Mercedes-Benz W100
600

Manufacturer	Mercedes-Benz
Production	1963–1981 2,677 built[1] SWB: 2,190 LWB: 428 Landaulet: 59
Predecessor	Mercedes-Benz W112
Successor	Maybach 57 and 62
Class	Full-size limousine

600 Pullman in Mercedes Museum, formerly transporting guests of the German Government

600 Pullman Landaulet (model)

600 in Museum Sinsheim, sitting low until the engine re-supplies the air suspension

Side view 600

See also Mercedes-Benz 600 (disambiguation) for other models called "600"

The Mercedes-Benz 600 was a large luxury automobile, intended to represent the absolute pinnacle of automotive engineering. When introduced in September, 1963, it had few competitors, except Rolls-Royce and stretched limousines produced by Cadillac and Lincoln. It was intended to be driven by a chauffeur, and featured an internal power window separating the front and rear seats.

Production began in 1964 and most 600 variants were built until 1972. The oil crisis, as well as the introduction of new S-Class models, slowed demand. Modest production continued until 1981. During this time, 2,677 vehicles were made.

The 600 featured many luxuries, including a complex hydraulic system which powered everything with a pressure of 150 bar, from the windows and seats to the automatically closing doors and boot.

The 600 is also notable for having the world's loudest horn fitted to any production car, as demonstrated by Jeremy Clarkson in episode 5, series 11 of Top Gear.

Owners

Apart from governments and the Pope, famous owners of the 600 include celebrities such as Coco Chanel, Hugh Hefner, Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, George Harrison, Jay Kay, Aristotle Onassis, Jack Nicholson, Simon Spies, Bob Jane, Elvis Presley, Rowan Atkinson and Jeremy Clarkson^[2], Communist leaders include Nicolae Ceauşescu, Josip Broz-Tito, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Enver Hoxha, Leonid Brezhnev,^[3], Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-Il also owns landauet (as seen on a parade in Pyongyang with Chinese prime minister, Oct. 2009) and religious leader Guru Maharaj Ji. African revolutionaries Idi Amin Dada, Jomo Kenyatta and the former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos had four 600s including a Landaulet, a 1981 bulletproof and a six-door version.^{[citation needed]}

Iran royal court and Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi owned multiple 600 models that were used for official and personal use of the late Shah and his court. Some of them were sold after the 1978 islamic revolution and about a dozen of them are in the National Car Museum of Iran in Karaj

Other notable owners include Saddam Hussein, F W Klerk.

Mao Zedong in fact never owned a 600, but rather the Russian made ZIS-110 (as gifts given by Joseph Stalin) and latter the Chinese made FAW Hongqi CA72 and armored CA722. ^[4] However, former Foreign Minister Chen Yi, Deng Xiaoping, wife of the first Chinese Primier Zhou Enlai - Deng Yingchao, and the former King of Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk when he fled to Beijing after Cambodian coup of 1970 all used 600.^[5]

Models

The model came in two main variants:

• short wheelbase
  • 4-door sedan, similar to a modern S600 sedan in layout.
  • 4-door sedan, but with a power divider window separating the front seats from the rear bench seat.

• long wheelbase chassis Pullman
  • 4-door limousine, featuring additional two rear-facing seats behind the driver compartment which was separated by a power divider window (in all but three built)
  • 6-door limousine, with two forward facing jump seats stationed at the additional middle two doors and a rear bench seat.

• A few of the limousines were made with a convertible top over the rear passenger compartment and were called landaulets. This was mainly intended for government use, by the Pope, or by the German government, e.g. in 1965 during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, when she was accompanied by Kurt Georg Kiesinger in open-top tour in Baden-Württemberg. Production of this model ended a year early, in 1971.

Mercedes made two coupés, one of them as a gift for Dr. Rudolf Uhlenhaut when he retired. He had designed the car, together with Fritz Nallinger and Karl Wilfert. A third coupe was constructed from a 600 SWB by Karl Middelhauve and associates.

Some companies altered the car, according to wishes of customers. A funeral coach (hearse) was made from an SWB car. This car, and the two coupés mentioned above, survive to the present day in the United States.

Engine

The 600 was so heavy that the largest engine of Mercedes at that time, the 6-cylinder 300, was inadequate. Instead a new engine with more than twice the capacity was specially developed to move the vehicle and its hydraulically powered amenities, the massive 6.3L V8 "M100" engine with single overhead camshafts, dry sump and Bosch mechanical fuel injection. Adjustable air suspension gave the car a smooth ride and good handling over any road surface.

Produced from 1964 to until 1981 in low numbers, this model had no equal in the Mercedes-Benz lineup until the introduction of the modern Maybach 57 and 62 models in 2002.

The 600's "M-100" engine and air suspension were fitted to the 300SEL 6.3 model in 1968, providing the lighter (and more affordable) car with more competent propulsion. Upon the introduction of the "W116" chassis, a larger version of the M-100 was installed in the limited-production Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9.

Technical data

References

External links

• Begegnungen: Drei Zeitzeugen des 600
• MB Grand 600
• Biggest German Mercedes 600 Page