1965 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Grosser’ – Classified of the Week

There’s nothing quite like a car that makes you feel special. You open the door, you slide into the driver’s seat and you wrap your fingers around the steering wheel. You look out over the dash, out into a world that is about to be stirred by your presence. Yes, it’s quite the feeling. Or at least, it is if you slide into the right car. That aforementioned sense of ‘special’ might not come if you find yourself behind the wheel of a Nissan Micra. No, it’s got to be the right car. Something big, imposing and of course, luxurious. Something like this 1965 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Grosser’ then. Will that do?

It should. The 600 was built with one objective; to be the most luxurious car in the world. Mercedes-Benz engineers weren’t told to mind the budget, nor were they told to cut corners. Instead, this car, which would become known as the ‘Grosser’ was ordered to be built as a money no object, limitless project. It had to be the best, that was where the buck stopped. A big ask, but Mercedes-Benz did it, and even today, decades on, the 600 is regarded as one of the finest automobiles ever built. It boasted the company’s first V8 engine – fuel injected naturally. It floated down the road on revolutionary air suspension, a large portion of the car’s equipment was powered by an aircraft-derived hydraulic system, it was full of wood, leather and deep pile carpet and you could even specify it with a drinks cabinet and privacy partition. It was, and make no mistake, still is, a palace on wheels.

The Grosser we have here, namely chassis number 164, is an interesting example. The 600 was a car in which to be driven in most cases. However, 164 is one of the short wheelbase versions, which in turn makes it more of a car for the owner driver, rather than just the rear seat passengers. It’s still a big car, but this one is perhaps that bit less Brobdingnagian than its longer siblings. It’s no city car, but it is useable. And you’ll want to use it given the excellent condition it’s in. This car isn’t a delicate show pony. It’s a triumph of engineering, and age hasn’t quashed that fact. In fact, the last owner put over 12,000 miles on the clock. Good. These things should be used.

This 1965 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Grosser’ might have been used – it has 84k on the clock – but don’t for one second think that said use has come at the expense of the car’s overall condition. It’s had a cherished life, even being repainted in its original shade of Moss Green metallic in 2017. The bare-metal paint job revealed a car as solid as a rock, with no hidden damage or other signs of neglect. The rich, deep, stately carpets were replaced too, and a large portion of the woodwork was restored to a high standard. It’s been recently serviced, it has a current MOT and it has even had refurbished brake callipers fitted. It is, as a result, every bit the stunning stately home on wheels that it was when it was built in July of 1965.

This isn’t a car for the shy and retiring types. In fact, it’s a car synonymous with the outlandish and outspoken. Coco Channel, Idi Amin and even Jeremey Clarkson. This very 600 was owned by Gordon Mills, a famed manager and songwriter who looked after Tom Jones, Gilbert O’Sullivan and Engelbert Humperdinck to name a few. We’re not saying you need to lead a lifestyle as exciting or, ahem, as dictatorial as other noted owners, of course. Just be prepared to be the talk of the town if this handsome beast finds a home on your driveway.

At £129,995 this isn’t what we’d call a cheap car. However, it is worth every single penny. The saying ‘they don’t make them like they used to’ was invented for this car. This is one of the automotive world’s greatest hits. An example of just how incredible, how impressive and how downright luxurious a car could be. This isn’t a car, it’s an experience.