Elvis Presley's 1970 Mercedes-Benz 600. Image via Bonhams.
Bonhams auction house this weekend sold The King's 1970 Mercedes-Benz 600 at Mercedes-Benz World near Weybridge, Surrey, U.K. for a price of $187,390 including the buyer's premium. Elvis Presley's former super cruiser will now reside in Germany--a homecoming, of sorts.
Presley owned the car, a powder blue Salon Limousine model, for two years before giving it to a friend, James Leroy Robertson. The car was exported from the U.S. in 2005 when it was sold by Robertson Motors Memphis, though fans attempted to stop the export.
This isn't the only Mercedes-Benz 600 Presley owned, however: he had another around the same time, though it appears to remain in private ownership.
The 1970 Mercedes 600 is itself an impressive piece of machinery. Available with up to six doors, with a power dividing window between front and rear passenger areas, and even built as a landaulet in a few examples, the 600 was powered by a 6.3-liter, 250-horsepower V-8 engine, with a curb weight over 6,000 pounds, a top speed of 129 mph, and more hydraulic power accessories--including a self-leveling suspension--than you could crush with a Panzer tank.
Other notable public figures that have owned Mercedes 600s include: Jack Nicholson, George Harrison, John Lennon, Jeremy Clarkson, Fidel Castro, and, of course, Kim Jong-Il.
[Bonhams via Auction Central News]
