(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

In 1938, Mercedes-Benz began production of the largest, most luxurious limousine in the world. Twenty feet long, upholstered in glove leather, and bullet-proof, the Grosser 770K was a sumptuous monster with a monstrous patron: Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party.
Most of the 770Ks didn’t make it out of WWII. But several of them did, two finding their way to the United States.
In The Devil’s Mercedes, author Robert Klara uncovers the story of how Americans responded to these relics of fascism on their soil. The limousines made headlines, drew crowds, made fortunes and ruined lives. They also entangled the country in a game of intrigue and mistaken identity.
Nobody knew that the limousine touted as Hitler’s had in fact never belonged to him, while the Mercedes shrugged off as a staff car—one later sold off—turned out to be none other than Hitler’s personal limo.
It would take 40 years, a cast of carnies and millionaires, the US Army, and the research of a librarian to bring the truth to light.

This is a very specific topic. This is a very specific investigation.

But it was strangely great fun!

The details of the story are in the blurb so I just want to say why I really liked this: with a story like this, it would have been really easy for the author to get lost in details. The reader can get lost in these kinds of books with page upon page of historical details, times and places, the cast of characters...but what the author does so well is keep the details on a need-to-know basis. Instead, this reads more like a historical mystery - there was plenty in this story that drew me in and kept me riveted as each piece of the puzzle was carefully extracted and placed on display for the reader to understand.

The other thing that interested me was the attraction these cars had to the general public. People flocked to see these cars with a morbid fascination, I guess. The more Hitler's name was thrown around as the owner, the more interest it generated. Fascinating and bizarre at the same time...

Definitely worth reading, definitely recommended!


Paul
ARH

Interesting book about multiple Mercedes cars associated with Hitler and the Nazis. A well balanced portrayal of these unique cars.

It's hard to put into words why I liked The Devil's Mercedes so much. I don't have a particular fascination with WWII and have no interest in hearing Mercedes owners talk about their beloved automobiles. But I do love when an author can take an item that I am unfamiliar with and tell a complete story of it's origins and cultural significance through time. That is what Robert Klara has done here, and I was fascinated from cover to cover.

I inherited from my father and older brother an appreciation for classic cars. I believe that cars are significant possessions that most people spend a great deal of time in, and like it or not, people will always judge us to some extent by what kind of car we drive. The Grosser 770K armored limousine created for the Third Reich was, and by all accounts still is, a spectacle to behold. Klara's research is exhaustive. The endnotes consist of over 1/3 of the book and they should not be ignored by any reader interested in getting as much information as possible out of the book. They cite not only publucations but phone calls, letters, and include some additional asides that add additional context to the chapters.

It's fascinating to read about these vehicles and how many times they changed hands after leaving post-war Germany. At times its disturbing to read about the carnival-like morbid fascination that drew people to purchase or view these vehicles in exhibition. The more claims of ties to Hitler, the more interest that was stoked. There were no photos in the ARC that I read, but just reading about the vehicles still had a haunting effect. The cars examined in the book are a symbol of a disturbing part of history that remains impossible to comprehend. The story of these Grosser 770K limousines tell the story of not only the vehicle, but the cultural response that surrounded their existence since WWII.