The cars used by the worlds most notorious dictators #blogpost

Erver Hoxha (Albania 1941-1985): W100 Mercedes-Benz 600 Grosser SWB

Erver Hoxha was a Maoist dictator, who got away with repressing and isolating Albania from the outside world for 44 years. Instead of feeding his people, he spent his money on the Mercedes 600 Grosser, the most expensive car in the world at the time.

Fidel Castro (Cuba, 1959-2011): Gaz Chaika M14

Thanks to Cuba’s close links with the Soviet Union, there are plenty of Russian cars in Cuba. But while the average Cuban had to make do with a Lada, Castro got massive limousines, including Gaz Chaika’s, and ZiL 4101’s. Many of these are used as taxi’s today.

Mao Zedong (China, 1943-1976): Hongi CA772

Responsible for 40-70 million deaths, Mao Zedong wasn’t exactly popular, and therefore needed a heavily armoured vehicle. But as he was trying to make China independent from other countries, he couldn’t be seen in a Mercedes-Benz 600 Grosser. The Solution? The Hongqi CA770, basically a re-bodied Chrysler Imperial. The CA772 is the armoured version, designed to withstand machine gun fire. The standard 5.6 litre engine was bored out to 8 litres, making around 300hp.

There are little information available about the armoured CA772, but the non-armoured CA770 took 16.9 seconds to reach 60mph, and none of them have power steering.

Kim Jong-Un (North Korea, 2011-?): Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard

His predecessors used the Mercedes-Benz 600 Grosser and Mercedes-Benz 600SEL W140, and the current leader of North Korea continues the Benz-buying tradition. They are heavily armoured, and can withstand driving over anti-tank mines. These cars were most likely obtained via the black market, as the United Nations have placed luxury sanctions on North Korea, banning the sale of luxury items in the country, including luxury cars, . And Mercedes don’t sell armoured vehicles to anyone who doesn’t pass a background check anyway.

Joseph Stalin (USSR, 1922-1953): ZiS-115

Joseph Stalin once owned a Packard Super Eight. He was so impressed with it, that he decided he should build a copy in the USSR, called the ZiS-110. The ZiS-115 was the armoured version, which weighed 4200kg, and is powered by a 162hp straight-8 engine.

Adolf Hitler (Germany, 1933-1945): W150 Mercedes-Benz 770K

With a supercharged 7.7 litre straight-8 engine making 230hp and a 5-speed manual gearbox, the 770K was incredibly fast for the late 1930’s, and with fully-independent front suspension and de Dion rear axle, it handled very well for it’s time too. Its a shame that its only known for being Hitler’s car.

Pol Pot (Cambodia, 1975-1981): W114 Mercedes-Benz 230 LWB

Not quite as high-end as the 600 Grosser, but unlike that car, Pol Pots car was listed on eBay a few years ago, for £35,000, before the listing was taken down. After Pol Pot’s government collapsed, the car was used for years by a farmer to transport watermelons to market, before being restored.