Saddam Hussein's Mercedes

[cawimmer430]

Got this from the Germancarfans.com forums.

Link: http://forums.germancarfans.com/zeropost?cmd=tshow&id=16287



I've got Saddam's Benz - G.I.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

1st Sgt. Willian Von Zehle came home from Iraq with an expensive souvenir - an armored Mercedes Benz he suspects belonged to Saddam Hussein.
The Mercedes Benz 560 has armor plating, bulletproof glass, microphones and a "crowd-control device" that consists of a series of pipes that shoot out flames from the side of the car.

"I guess it was to make sure nobody got too close," said von Zehle, who lives in Ridgefield and is a firefighter in Wilton, Conn. "One of the neat things, aside from the fact it's armored, is it has microphones that allow you to hear people talking outside the car and loudspeakers so you can talk back to them."

Von Zehle bought the car last year in Bahgdad while serving with the Danbury-based 411th Civil Affairs Battalion. After doing some research, von Zehle determined Mercedes sold three armored 560s to the Iraqi government in 1988. In 1988, the Iraqi government could only mean one person.

"Saddam," von Zehle said. "I am pretty sure but I can't prove it, but, yeah, this was Saddam Hussein's car."

He also came across three photos of the former Iraqi dictator driving in a white armored Mercedes.

The reservist spotted the car in a driveway in an upscale neighborhood soon after he arrived in Baghdad in April 2003.

The Iraqi man who owned the car produced a sales receipt showing he bought it from "the Iraqi government," and the haggling began.

The two finally settled on a price of 7million Iraqi dinars - about $5,000.

The car sits in von Zehle's garage.

"One day I'll get it registered," he said.

[giant_mtb]

That's sweet!  I want crowd control on my car. ^_^

He could sell that for probably hundreds of thousands here in the States if he got some proof that it really is Hussein's car.  :o  B)  

[Car Zeus]

That is sweet.

Don't see that very often.

[R33 GT-R]

that's sweet

[BMWDave]

The soldier definitely deserved it

5000 dollars is a fortune to any Iraqi now...and I doubt he would have gotten any more from other Iraqis, so he just sold it to a passing soldier.  What a great buy!  If he did have proof it could go for millions on ebay, I am convinced.

[Colonel Cadillac]

Hey, he lives relatively close to me.  

[Tom]

I don't know if I would want to sit in the same seat as Saddam.  

[Colonel Cadillac]

I don't know if I would want to sit in the same seat as Saddam.

Come on, he has a pipe that has FLAMES come out the side. That is pretty cool.  

[oilfilter]

That flamethrower 'crowd control' device was slated for use in personal cars in South Africa too, at one time in the 90s, because of the extremely high rate of carjackings (after the fall of the Apartheid regime).

I dont know if that was ever allowed to be installed.

[R33 GT-R]

Car Jacking Deturrent


If you want to see it in action click the link and then the video of it in action.

[oilfilter]

^ Yes, thats what i was talking about..

[JYODER240]

Car Jacking Deturrent


If you want to see it in action click the link and then the video of it in action.

looks like that would strip the wax from your car.

[BMWDave]

Car Jacking Deturrent


If you want to see it in action click the link and then the video of it in action.

looks like that would strip the wax from your car.

It would strip more than waz...looks like your whole body panels and undercarriage would get melted pretty quickly.

[Colonel Cadillac]

Ouch, I wouldn't want to be a car jacker during that time.