Mercedes-Benz is known for building luxury vehicles and their top model in the 1960’s set the bar for luxury. In 1965, when this Mercedes 600 Pullman was new, it offered an impressive balance of luxury, comfort, and performance. It was originally sold in the American market, but somehow it ended up in this shed in Aalsmeer, Netherlands. Special thanks to reader Niels K for sharing this find with us! If you want to take a closer look, it can be found here on Marktplaats.
The 600 came with an impressive list of standard features, including power features such as power doors and trunk lid. This one’s interior looks good, but is in desperate need of a good cleaning. While all the luxury items might have made the car enjoyable to drive back in 1965, it will likely make maintaining this one a headache. The seller says it received a full service before being put into this shed and has documents showing what was done. It has been parked for the past 6 years, so hopefully that means everything is still working as it should be. These big limos are powered by a 6.3 liter V8, which was rated at 300 horsepower and over 400 pounds of torque, but fixing it could get expensive.
The 600 is highly sought after and with only 2,677 ever being produced, they can easily reach the six figure mark. If everything is working and is in nice condition, the seller’s asking price of $83,278 too far off from market value, but that’s a big if. Importing it shouldn’t be too difficult, but shipping could be expensive, especially if it’s by the pound.
At $85 000 this is hardly a barn find, but a neglected , overpriced joke.
Coming from a guy who loves OLD Mercedeses,
This car is rare, but my guess is, that the majority of them survived. Just the appearance of the car leaves a big impression, comparable with the Düsenbergs in the 1930ies…
Looks like this dealer has too much inventory to keep them clean and representable.
Not even at this asking price ?.
For this figure you can buy a clean one that has the matching mechanical condition too.
I do agree with your comments, how a seller can ask for such a price without even cleaning the outside. These big Mercedes were fitted with a pneumatic suspension system which don’t like to be stopped for a long time. Parts are available but at pharaonic prices. A friend of mine has a 300SEL stretched saloon fitted with the 6.3L same engine. Can you imagine that this car was GIVEN to him? Santa Claus does exist sometimes…
Now the car:
Trunk lid isn’t shut right (first and probably not last hydraulic problem).
The star on the trunk lid is broken (on a $85 000 car ?) and the one on the hood is missing.
Interior is non matching reupholstered seats. Wrong pattern too.
Carpets are shot and faded.
Air suspension is most likely beyond maintenance and the car should not be lying flat on the ground. They have an emergency set of block that you can apply, so this doesn’t happen. (Add another $15k just for that).
And you have not even started on the expensive stuff, like the Fuel injection pump/engine in general, hydraulic windows and seats (Hope, that they’re not leaking and were fixed before the cheap upholstery job)., the brakes (Just a set of pads are several hundred dollars) and early 600 had hydraulic door latches.
So what they say about Ferrari s applies here as well.
There is no such thing as a cheap 600.
Especially if you’re paying for the car without the proper maintenance.
I can easily see the same sum disappear into fixing this car on day one !
…and what’s with that cheap Xerox copy-Service Manual ??
And give that poor thing a bath, will you?
I don’t know much about MBs, but a friend of mine who does pointed out that this is NOT a Pullman…
You’re absolutely right.
It is so commonly mis-named I did ignore it.
This is actually a ‘plain’ 600 or SWB version, if you will.
The Pullmann is usually the Stretch (Factory) version that came in either 4 or 6 door configuration.
And lastly there is the Landaulets (Rear part of the roof has a convertible top) which in almost all versions only was built on the Pullmann chassis.
Agreed. But calling the MB600swb “plain” is funny. These cars were primarily used by heads of state, CEO’s, Richie Rich types etc. They exude power & class. The MB 300SEL with the 6.3 is nice collectable.
The movie “Trading Places” gave this car its 15 min of fame….
This car was also in the movie ” Witches of Eastwich” with Jack Nicholson
I remember a friend father having one of these, quite an amazing ride, looking back, my guess is the ride was smooth do to that very expensive hydraulic suspension, I can only imagine in todays $’s what would the cost be to get that car to sit back up to proper ride height.
Eastwick
Out of ALL the cars shown….This one SCREAMS…..GIVE ME MONEY…What a pile..
This one really caught my attention. It would be quite a challenging project to tackle but it might be rewarding too. If the mechanicals aren’t enough of an obstacle, I shudder to think about finding trim items like wheel covers but I imagine they’re available somewhere. For me the price of it and getting it over here is so far beyond my means it would be like winning the lottery twice in a row with the same set of numbers. But I wish the buyer luck.
It’s an impressive car in the manner of a big Mercedes-Benz, but the $83K entry cost plus who-knows-how-much-more-to-make-it-right is terrifying.
I don’t want to diminish Daimler-Benz’ high level of engineering skill and their cars’ impressive build quality, but for me there are quite a few cars I would rather tackle than this big boy.
Bring 2 trailers for this one-1 for this barge and 1 for the cash it will take to make this roadworthy again.
Actually I was thinking the barge would be needed to hold all the cash to make this right.
Another great ride for a first-class trip to bankruptcy court!
I have a friend restoring one. Big project.
Not for the faint of heart or pocket book.
Its sitting on the ground so you know there are issues with the suspension.
I shudder to think of the resources it would take to get this 600 back on the road.
BTW , thank you Josh and Barn Finds to List this car.
I would have never found it on my own.
I was just ranting on the car and more so this ‘Dealer’.
This case is living proof, that this field has been taken over by greedy mongers that are destroying the Collector car market by buying up cars that are really just for the end user, requiring work and investment beyond the reasonable.
By that they are driving up the prices and making it absolutely grotesque for anybody to make this work.
I hope this guy will fall on his face, but I know he will sell it for what he probably has in the car (so far) which is most likely less than half of asking price.
I am the person sending this inn, i will keep barn finds updated regarding the dutch market ;) i do see that the cars listed here in the netherlands are all way to high prices. When people find anything, which is a little bit special, then they think they struck gold :(
Keep you all update! ;)
I believe that you can still order any part for any M-B from the factory and they will make it for you (I believe BMW and Porsche do likewise) so availability may not be the problem. It’s the blood-curdling price of such rare items that will make you think you’re ordering gold bullion.
Not exactly.
Mercedes has a back log of parts that they really don’t want to relinquish, because their Classic Centers (Stuttgart and Irvine) are restoring cars and will need the parts eventually.
They claim a lot of parts (NLA, no longer available) and for the most parts is true.
They will in reasonable quantities re-manufacture parts, when the demand is high enough and the parts can be sold at a profit, not at breaking even or at a loss.
They have discovered about 2 decades ago, that that part of the business can be lucrative too……..
85k and you can’t even bother to wash it? Let alone air it up and put the hubcaps on…..