Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles >> Narrator: WHEREVER ADOLF HITLER DROVE IN HIS MOTORCADE, THE CROWDS TURNED OUT TO CHEER. A CAR RIDE IN A TRIUMPHANT PARADE WAS HIS FAVORITE FORM OF PUBLIC RELATIONS. BUT HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT ASSASSINS, SO HE HAD AN ARMORED LIMOUSINE BUILT FOR HIMSELF. THIS LIMOUSINE CARRIED HITLER THROUGH MOST OF WORLD WAR II, AND THEN, IN A BIZARRE TWIST OF FATE, THE CAR SWITCHED SIDES. IT WOULD TAKE ALMOST 40 YEARS AND A MOUNTAIN OF RESEARCH TO LINK IT BACK TO THE FUEHRER. HITLER LOVED CARS. HE RARELY MISSED A CHANCE TO GO TO AN AUTO SHOW, OR A CAR RACE. HE ALSO NEVER MISSED A CHANCE TO BE SEEN, ADMIRED, AND PHOTOGRAPHED WHILE CRUISING ALONG IN ONE OF HIS MANY GIANT DAIMLER-BENZ LIMOUSINES. HITLER UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE CARS DID FOR HIS IMAGE. >> I THINK THE MYSTIQUE OF THE NAZI REGIME, THE SPECIAL EMPHASIS THEY PUT ON THEIR PUBLIC RELATIONS, AND THEIR HUGE RALLIES, AND THINGS LIKE THAT WHICH THESE CARS WERE PART OF, AND HITLER'S POSITION CERTAINLY GAVE THE CARS A GREAT PROMINENCE AND A CENTRAL PART IN SORT OF THE NAZI PROPAGANDA MACHINERY. >> Narrator: BUT HITLER HAD PLENTY OF ENEMIES. SO IN EARLY NOVEMBER, 1939, HITLER'S PERSONAL CHAUFFEUR ORDERED A NEW, ARMORED PARADE CAR. IT WAS A GROSSER MERCEDES 770, BUILT TO ACCOMMODATE A STANDING PASSENGER. THE FRONT, RIGHT-HAND SEAT FOLDED UP TO REVEAL A PLATFORM ABOUT FIVE INCHES HIGH. THERE WAS A GRIP AT THE TOP OF THE WINDSHIELD TO ALLOW THE STANDING RIDER TO STEADY HIMSELF. WHAT WAS NEW ABOUT THIS LIMO WAS THE EXTENSIVE SECURITY FEATURES. HALF-INCH-THICK STEEL ARMOR PLATING LINED THE FLOORBOARDS, AND WITH THE ALREADY HEAVY EXTERIOR, THE TOTAL WEIGHT WAS MORE THAN 9,000 POUNDS. A LEATHER-COVERED METAL SHIELD COULD BE CRANKED UP BEHIND THE REAR SEAT, AND THE BULLETPROOF WINDOW GLASS WAS ONE AND A QUARTER INCHES THICK. IRONICALLY, EVEN THOUGH HITLER WAS AFRAID OF ASSASSINS, IT WAS STILL A PARADE CAR, SO IT WAS A CONVERTIBLE. EIGHT MONTHS AFTER THE ORDER, ON JULY 8, 1940, THE NEW MERCEDES WAS DELIVERED TO HITLER'S PERSONAL CARPOOL IN BERLIN; AND JUST TEN DAYS AFTER DELIVERY, THE FUEHRER WAS SEEN RIDING IN IT. ITS SERVICE TO THE THIRD REICH HAD BEGUN. >> IT WOULD SEEM TO HAVE BEEN ONE OF HIS MORE POPULAR MERCEDES VEHICLES. AND SO THIS WAS PROBABLY THE THING HE WOULD BRING OUT FOR THE REALLY SPECIAL OCCASION, OR THE BIG EVENTS WHERE HE REALLY WANTED TO MAKE AN IMPACT. >> Narrator: SEPTEMBER 10, 1941, MARIENBURG, EAST PRUSSIA; NOVEMBER, 1941, AT A STATE FUNERAL; MARCH 15, 1942, AT THE ZEUGHAUS TO GIVE AN ADDRESS ON GERMANY'S HEROES' MEMORIAL DAY. IN 1943, ACCORDING TO DAIMLER- BENZ RECORDS, THE CAR CAME IN FOR REPAIRS AND WAS RETURNED TO HITLER'S CARPOOL ON SEPTEMBER 15 OF THAT YEAR. >> AND THAT IS THE LAST DOCUMENT, OR A PHOTOGRAPHIC REFERENCE, OR WHATEVER, TO THE CAR AT ALL, UNTIL MAY, 1945, WHEN IT WAS CAPTURED BY THE AMERICANS. >> Narrator: JUST DAYS BEFORE THE GERMAN SURRENDER IN MAY 1945, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT JOE AZARA OF THE 20th ARMORED DIVISION SPOTTED A GLITZY LIMO STRAPPED TO A RAILCAR PARKED SOUTH OF SALZBURG, AUSTRIA. AS AZARA LATER EXPLAINED, HE AND SOME BUDDIES HAD TO FIGHT OFF GERMAN SNIPERS, AND THEN THEY APPROACHED THE CAR. >> I'M SURE IT WOULD NOT BE A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR THEM TO GET THIS THING OFF THE RAILWAY FLATBED. THEY WERE AN ARMORED DIVISION. THEY WERE USED TO MOVING HEAVY VEHICLES. >> Narrator: ONCE HE GOT IT DOWN AND RUNNING, SERGEANT AZARA ASKED THE LOCALS ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE CAR. AS THE STORY GOES, A LAL MECHANIC SAID THAT IT HAD BEEN SHIPPED THERE "BECAUSE IT WAS OUT OF GAS, AND EVEN GOERING COULD GET NO MORE." FROM THAT DAY FORWARD, THE CAR WAS MISIDENTIFIED AS BELONGING TO THE REICHSMARSCHALL HERMANN GOERING. BUT DESPITE THE INACCURACY, GOERING WAS OF HIGH-ENOUGH RANK TO MAKE THE CAR A HIGHLY PRIZED TROPHY OF WAR. A DAY OR SO AFTER THE CAR WAS LIBERATED, THE WAR IN EUROPE CAME TO AN END. BUT EVEN THOUGH AZARA HAD RISKED HIS NECK TO GET THE CAR, IT WASN'T HIS TO KEEP. THE VEHICLE THAT HAD ONCE CARRIED AMERICA'S GREATEST ENEMY WAS NOW DRAFTED FOR DUTY BY THE OTHER SIDE. WITH A BRIGHT ALLIES' STAR PAINTED ON ITS SIDE, THE LIMO WENT INTO CARPOOL SERVICE FOR TWO AMERICAN GENERALS. WHEN THE 20th ARMORED DIVISION LEFT EUROPE, THE CAR CAME HOME WITH IT. THE BOSTON DAILY GLOBE HERALDED ITS ARRIVAL WITH THE HEADLINE "GOERING'S AUTO BULLETPROOF TO PROTECT FAT MARSHAL'S HIDE." THE FOUR-WHEELED P.O.W. WAS OVERHAULED AND PUT RIGHT TO WORK. THE CAR WENT ON TOUR FOR THE EIGHTH VICTORY BOND DRIVE.AUTOMY HAD BEEN SO MUCH A PART OF THE NAZI MYSTIQUE THAT, YES, THAT THIS WAS SORT OF PARADED AROUND. >> Narrator: EVENTUALLY, THE CAR WAS PUT INTO STORAGE AT THE ARMY'S ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND IN MARYLAND, WHERE IT LANGUISHED FOR TEN YEARS. THEN, IN 1956, THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO CLEAN HOUSE AND AUCTIONED THE LIMO OFF FOR $2,700 TO A CANADIAN COLLECTOR. IN 1969, THE CAR CHANGED HANDS AGAIN. THE NEWEST OWNER OFFERED IT TO THE CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM IN EXCHANGE FOR A TAX DEDUCTION. THE MUSEUM TOOK THE