My question is prompted by the fact that museums seem to have quite a number of vehicles that belonged to high-ranking Nazis. For example, the Larz Anderson Museum (Brookline, MA) has a M-B limousine once owned by Hitler. There are several vehicles (specially modified) that belonged to Herman Goering (Head of the Lufwaffe) in museums in the USA. I wonder how these vehicles escaped destruction-post war germany was a mess! Or did these vehicles get sold to collectors right away? Did somebody in 1945 figure he could make a fortune by reselling Hitler’s car?
Guderian, Halder, and Paulus all survived. von Kluge should have done.
Supposition on my part but I imagine that many of the better examples of Nazi cars would have been appropriated by Allied staff for their personal use.
If you’ve read Band of Brothers, it seems any time combat troops got hold of a nice Nazi car they trashed it before handing it over to officers - “Testing” the bullet-proof windows, draining all the oil or water to see how long it’ll run, driving them off cliffs, etc.
There’s an archetypical Wehrmacht staff car, with a squarish bustle trunk, that shows up in *every * movie or TV show, like “Hogan’s Heroes” or “The Dirty Dozen”. Anybody know the make and model? I’m tempted to say it’s a Horch. Thanks.
Are you sure these cars actually belonged to Nazi big shots? I seem to recall that at one time there were six or seven Bonnie and Clyde “death cars” displayed at traveling carnivals and state fairs.
But Hitler had enough cars, I imagine, that each of the allies were able to get at least one apiece at war’s end. This one’s at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Knowing Goering at least, Im sure he had dozens of cars, as did others Im sure, it wasnt exactly a regime known for frugality.
So a few surviving isnt too surprising maybe? They were often quite valuable cars in their own right, some would have been kept intact for that reason alone Id have thought.
Otara
Tony Sanchez’ book, Up and Down with the Rolling Stones contains a story about Keith Richards purchasing a former Nazi staff car for his personal use. I don’t remember them mentioning a specific former owner, however.