Soviet Brezhnev's secret passion goes under hammer

[order_of_victory]

A posh black Mercedes 600 which once belonged to one of the longest-serving Soviet leaders, Leonid Brezhnev, is going under the hammer at auction in Germany. Since Brezhnev's death, thr owner of the car has been a mystery.

The car?s next owner will be able to take a cruise in a piece of Soviet history.

The communist leader was known for a passion for luxury, and the hand-made car was just one vehicle in his collection.

In the 1960s the Mercedes 600 was believed to be the best ever vehicle in the world. The Pope, John Lennon and Chairman Mao were among its fans.

Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982, a period associated with the beginning of the USSR?s economic decay.

As huge money continued to be poured into producing weapons, the country struggled to keep up with the west in the arms race. At the same time food and consumer goods began to disappear from shops.

Leonid Brezhnev had to conceal his luxurious tastes. So, in public he only used Soviet limousines - the ZIL and the Chaika.

But Brezhnev's infatuation with high-end cars was only a top secret for Soviet people. Western leaders were well aware of it. American President Richard Nixon presented him with a Lincoln, and the German Chancellor Willie Brandt with a cherry Mercedes.

Taken from Russia Today

[Alex K]

Just about sums up totalitarian states really!

regards

Alex

[Guest Rick Research]

So did he drive it (indoors, somewhere?) or just sit in it, in a garage?

[new world]

So did he drive it (indoors, somewhere?) or just sit in it, in a garage?

Absolutely, he was driving his cars!

I remember reading somewhere that the driver would come to pick him up in one of his fancy cars and Brezhnev would take the driving sit. He was good driver and really enjoyed navigating those cars.

Other members of Politburo and his security officers were not crazy about his passion for safety reasons.

William

[Christian Zulus]

Brezhnev's cars and what he read

Gentlemen,

comrade Brezhnev had about 80 (eighty) private cars - among them, such rare items, as a Citroen-Maserati (gift from France).

Brezhnev never read books or political literature - he was rather uneducated, despite the fact, that he was the bearer of 7 (seven) Lenin-Prizes (one for literature ).

His reading focused to car magzines and magazines about circus and their artists - no joke, that's the plain truth .

In his earlier years comrade Brezhnev was hunting women and in his later (impotent) years he was hunting game.

People told, that he had been a nice and charming person, but I am not sure, if Brezhnev was really a 2nd Lenin or Stalin .

Best regards

Christian

BTW: What's the condition of the MB 600 and the estimate prize ?

[order_of_victory]

Hi Christian,

Here is the acctual video which shows Merc and other vehicls that belongned to him:

http://www.russiatoday.ru/features/news/19775/video

It also shows the price but I was unable to catch it

Order of Victory

[new world]

Christian,

With all due respect, where did you get this nonsense from?

You should study facts from Brezhnev's biography and then draw judgement about his education and reading habits.

Just for your information, he graduated from technical institute with engineering degree. Requirement, teaching methods and curriculum were very rigorous at such educational institutions.

After graduation he worked as an engineer, raising rapidly through the ranks. I doubt he would be any successful if he lacked education.

Upon joining the army he studied at the tank school, which is not your basic math.

Later in his career he was in charge of the metallurgical college. I doubt he would be put in such position without proper background and education.

He later became political commissar. As a general rule, those guys were extremely smart. Just so you know, to be in such position one needed to have deep knowledge of works by political writers (Lenin, Marx, Stalin, etc). I doubt that a damn person would be able to be successful in such position without background and constant updating of his skills (through reading of course).

After the war Brezhnev ran important re-building projects, which a dummy - as you try to portray him - would not be fit to undertake.

William

[Andwwils]

It's a real irony that an auction is being conducted to sell an automobile that once belonged to a Soviet Premier.

Edited January 18, 2008 by Andwwils

[Christian Zulus]

With all due respect, where did you get this nonsense from?

Dear William,

all that "nonsense" is out of Siegfried Kogelfranz's story about Brezhnev in the current SPIEGEL SPEZIAL 4/2007 "Experiment Kommunismus - Die russische Revolution und ihre Erben", pages 115 - 116.

Kogelfranz had been head of the SPIEGEL's office in Moscow from 1978 to 1981, during the very late Brezhnev era and is the author of the book "Diktatoren im Ruhestand - Die einstigen Ostblockchefs im Gespr?ch" http://www.amazon.de/Diktatoren-Ruhestand-...7237&sr=8-2 .

Well, I posted, that Brezhnev had been "rather uneducated", what doesn't mean, that he was a dummy or idiot. But in comparison, to a Lenin, Stalin or Andropov, he was uneducated.

Of course, he had to read the technical books for finishing his academic degree, but on the other side, he was proud (and told that to anyone), that he never read Marx' "Kapital" or the writings of Lenin properly. Brezhnev never published something and never wrote his speeches himself.

Best regards

Christian

[Christian Zulus]

Dear Vic,

many thanks for the link .

The official owner of the Merc 600 had not been Brezhnev himself, but the KGB, as the car documents show ...

Best regards

Christian

Hi Christian,

Here is the acctual video which shows Merc and other vehicls that belongned to him:

http://www.russiatoday.ru/features/news/19775/video

It also shows the price but I was unable to catch it

Order of Victory

[Andwwils]

"Das Kapital" is a very dense work. Unless someone has a good 3 to 4 weeks to spare, I'd suggest just reading the abstract. The works of Lenin are much more manageable.

[new world]

...

all that "nonsense" is out of Siegfried Kogelfranz's story about Brezhnev in the current SPIEGEL SPEZIAL 4/2007 "Experiment Kommunismus - Die russische Revolution und ihre Erben", pages 115 - 116.

...

Christian,

why would you believe just anything written in the tabloid magazines?

Were his sttements verified by a reliable source? Anyone can publish memoirs these days, but unfortunately most of them are full of anekdotes and made up stories.

...

he was proud (and told that to anyone), that he never read Marx' "Kapital" or the writings of Lenin properly. Brezhnev never published something and never wrote his speeches himself.

...

Given realities of life in the Soviet Union I find that statement impossible to believe. Especially given Brezhnev's educational background and line of work his was in.

William

[Ed_Haynes]

This is in danger of straying off topic, gentlemen. Please.

[Alex K]

But Brezhnev's infatuation with high-end cars was only a top secret for Soviet people.

Taken from Russia Today

I agree with Ed, it seems to be straying off-topic, my original comments as to it being a summation of a totalitarian state remains confirmed in the above statement,?which?to?my?mind?says? "Do as I say, not as I do",

The fact that he was either a Brain box or a numbskull, seems to me to be spurrious. He lived a life completely deviod of anything the people he had immense control over lived.

just my ramblings

regards

Alex k

[new world]

All I am saying - let's have some respect for past historical figures.

We are not amateurs on this forum, we know more about Soviet history than average person - so let's act like that!

As historians - let's stick to the facts, not to the trashy sensations from the media.

William

[JimZ]

I wonder when the item of Khruschov's passion will go under the hammer..... and by that I mean his shoe

Jim

[Christian Zulus]

As historians - let's stick to the facts, not to the trashy sensations from the media.

Dear William,

I started my studies in Soviet history in 1980 with the late Mikhail Voslensky, renowed Soviet historian, adviser of the central commitee, who left the CCCP in 1977 and settled in Austria and Germany. He wrote the famous book "Nomenklatura" http://www.amazon.com/Nomenklatura-Soviet-...y/dp/0385176570 a brilliant analysis (by marxist tools!) of the ruling class in the CCCP during the Brezhnev era. I also spent a lot of private time with Professor Voslensky and he told us the same stories, as Mr. Kogelfranz from SPIEGEL wrote recently.

Have a look at the publications of a Valentin Falin or numerous other key players of the Soviet past: Brezhnev is always presented (with facts!) as a nice & charming fellow, but as somehow a "zombie" of the Soviet military and the KGB.

The historic fact is, that the Politburo elected the weakest and least harmful member as the General Secretary of the party.

Brezhnev had been never THE "leader" of the Soviet Empire - just a cute looking fellow, who spoke, what the Soviet military and the KGB told to him.

Sorry, I just quoted the most recent publications about comrade Brezhnev (Kogelfranz in SPIEGEL) .

Best regards

Christian

[Ulsterman]

Christian, perchance do you have a listing or Brezhnev's awards? Not long ago, his enormous ribbon bar was the subject of much discussion when it was on a JOMSA cover.

[Christian Zulus]

Christian, perchance do you have a listing or Brezhnev's awards? Not long ago, his enormous ribbon bar was the subject of much discussion when it was on a JOMSA cover.

Dear Ulsterman,

sorry .... , I only know the usual photographs: 4x HSU, 1x HSL, 2x October, several Lenins, etc., etc., + 7 Lenin-Prizes.

Kogelfranz in SPIEGEL mentiones in addition to Brezhnev's CCCP-awards 15 foreign awards.

If that is true, Marshal Tito had been the No. 1 among the communist "Medal Collectors" - due to the fact, that Tito had an incredible collection of foreign awards. I guess, that Brezhnev got more foreign awards, than Tito.

That's a photograph, before he got his HSU No. 4 and his 2 Octobers:

Best regards

Christian

[Ferdinand]

Warheroes.ru has an interesting artice about Brezhnev's awards:

http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1614

According to this article, Brezhnev received 4 HSU's, 1 HSL, 16 Soviet orders (among them the Order of Victory, which was revoked in 1989), 18 Soviet medals, 42 foreign orders and 29 foreign medals.

Auke

[Ferdinand]

By the way, Tito received 16 Yugoslavian orders, an onknown number of Yugoslavian medals and 98 foreign orders and medals, according to Titoville.com.

http://www.titoville.com/odlikovanja.html

[Christian Zulus]

Gentlemen,

coming back to the topic, here are some nice photographs of the Merc 600 from Brezhnev/KGB, which found it's way back to Germany in the early 1990s:

http://www.motor-klassik.de/medien/foto-sh...03456_14700.hbs

The car was built in 1966, has 90.000 km, is in a condition of 2+ and has an estimate price of EUR 105.000,-:

http://www.motor-klassik.de/aktuell/techni...09362_14702.hbs

Some informations about the world's best limousine in the mid 1960s:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_600

Best regards

Christian