D R I V E N

The 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300 limousine—a very rare 50-year old classic car collector’s dream, and probably the only one in Asia restored to its original grandeur.  The MB 300, the predecessor of the famous ‘600’ series, was a favored choice of the royalty, heads of states and the rich and famous during that era.  The flagship of the Daimler-Benz line-up, the 300 was produced between 1951 and 1962.  The name “Adenauer” derives from Dr. Konrad Adenauer, then the contemporaneous Chancellor of West Germany, who often appeared in one of six 200 custom-fitted limousines produced for the government.  Eventually, his name became associated with the car itself.

The design of the 300 bespeaks an aristocratic nature.  The old values of artisan craftsmanship were molded with German engineering to produce a car that took one thousand-twenty man hours to complete.  Each vehicle was ordered with a variety of custom packages pertaining to desired color schemes, carpeting, seats, wood, and other options available at that time (e.g. air conditioning, radio, auxiliary heaters, divider windows and so forth).

This model was first introduced at the International Automobile Exposition held in Frankfurt.  Weighing almost 1.8 tons dry, the 300 is powered by a straight-six cylinder motor with a low compression of 6:4:1 producing 115 bhp at 4,600 rpm.  It can reach 100 km/h in 18 seconds and attain a top speed of 160 km/h.

Among the famous owners of the 300 Adenauer were Queen Elizabeth II of England, Pope John XIII, Emperor Hirohito of Japan, King Baudoin of Belgium, federal President Heinrich Leubke, King Pavlos I of Greece, Shah of Iran, Sultan Mohammed V of Morroco, President Charles de Gaulle of France, Premier Pandit Nehru of India, President Ho Chi Minn of Vietnam, our very own President Ferdinand Marcos, President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Mohammad Ali, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Judy Garland and Yul Brynner.

NEXT PAGE >>>