1972 Mercedes-Benz 600 Kompressor - Jay Leno's Garage

Oh yeah, I'm a third world dictator, how glad to see you? Welcome to the Jay Leno Garage episode, you know I always say this is my favorite car, this is my favorite car, this is a car I've wanted since I was a kid this is a Mercedes-Benz 600

1972

is the model year I worked At a Mercedes-Benz dealership when I was in college the biggest thrill of my life was that we had to pick up one of these and deliver it to a customer or deliver it two or three states away to someone else. It is the most incredible road machine, without a doubt, of the '60s and '70s, and certainly of all time, it is the only Mercedes Benz built without regard to cost.

You know, most cars figure out how much it costs. the cost, how much you put in, what you get out when this car was built, cost was not an issue, this was the most expensive car when it came out in 1963, it cost between 22 and 25,000 Rolls Royces, it wasn't even that many, it's incredible . road car is the largest car ever produced in Europe up to that time, certainly the largest tires on any road car ever produced, certainly post-war, from the 540k in the mid 770s 30, the custom built cars have

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built something like this it has a 6.3 v8 it has 300 horsepower but it had a top speed of a little over 130 miles per hour the car has no power the windows the seats the sunroof the trunk everything is hydraulic what that means is that you have a pump that pumps hydraulic fluid at 300 pounds per square inch it is the most complicated car to restore in the world uh, I did not restore this car this first car was restored by a gentleman named carl mittelhoff he's one of those older-than-you German geniuses I know there's a whole generation of kids who grew up in the '30s and '40s, whether they're American or German, the same way you have these kids now who have this innate sense of how to make computers work, they were like that with mechanical things and carl was one of those guys, he is the recognized expert on 600, certainly in America if not the world, he has a little place in Wisconsin where he restores these cars and did beautiful beautiful job when Carl dismantles the 600 he doesn't throw anything away every piece of the wood is saved and beautifully restored all parts are cad plated even keeps the original hose clamps rubber gaskets gasket hoses rubber the engine gaskets in fact it's not above the rest of the modifications he even did a couple of 600 style the road everything in this car is custom made for the most part each window switch costs eleven thousand five hundred dollars because it has hydraulic lines with seals look how big it is it's basically like a

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c class times two uh it's the most comfortable and easy to drive car the car weighs a little over five thousand pounds fifty four hundred pounds maybe it's usually three tons when you have passengers and luggage and everything else in it, the biggest sunroof I've ever seen, beautiful hand-laid, I mean the wood, which is all real wood, which is not any kind.

The veneer is solid wood throughout, the car has a refrigerator in the center console, you lift it up, it is a refrigerated compartment and it comes with a thermos with small shot glasses, the back seat also reclines and also moves hydraulically and because everything It's hydraulic, you'll see, the windows just open, it's just an amazing car, disc brakes all the way around, you've got a big bladder up here that you have to empty every once or twice a year to get water. Outside of the system it's a combination of air and hydraulic, plus this car has a secret that doesn't come from factory fuel injection and just a big honking supercharger here, yes this car makes about 525 horsepower of strength, the only thing I did to him.

The California gas was pinging a little bit, so we put in a methanol water injection system that's hooked up to the trunk, but other than that, this is all Carl's genius. He did a wonderful job on the car. This engine was Germany's answer to the 426. Hemi engine here in America, if you know anything about Mercedes-Benz, you know that most of their cars, even the luxury ones, are all six cylinders and, uh, dr . Nylander, I hope I'm getting his name right, developed this 6.3 liter overhead cam engine just a huge thing and when this was put into the 6.3 sedan, the smaller version of it, it was the fastest four door sedan. of the world, the internal thing is that the company didn't really want to build it, so they went and built it secretly and put the engine in the small sedan and then had the Mercedes-Benz bosses test it and the cars, you know, The Germans love that power, well that thing just took off and they said yeah, I think it's one of the best Mercedes ever.

For now, this is certainly one of their best engines, along with the gullwing, just a huge v8 and it was developed for this car and then put into the smaller 6.3 and I have one of those two and we'll do a video. We'll talk about one of those later, but let's stick with this one right now, it was more than enough to move this thing down the road. Incredibly complex engine and not particularly efficient gasoline consumption. Wow, well, gas mileage is, if you can get it into double digits. Hey, you're doing pretty well, let's just say the attention to detail alone makes for a fascinating and fascinating car to drive, but let's show you some of the highlights, certainly one of the most beautiful interiors of any car.

You know this is a place where the old cars really beat the modern cars because the quality of the leather and the wood is that really thick German leather that you don't get anymore, like I mentioned the doors and the windows in the door are hydraulic Because in the early 1960s, electric motors, especially for automotive applications, were huge, they were too big to handle a window of this size. If you put a big engine in here then the armrest would have to be just a restricted space, they wanted as much space as possible for the passengers so I ran these extremely complex hydraulic lines and one of those leaks oh my god I'm amazing oh my god , it's amazing that one of these things leaks, how much trouble it is and how expensive it is to fix, so that's the downside of the cigarette lighter for every person because people smoked like chimneys back then, even the back seat, this too moves, the only noise you hear is the stretching of the leather, it has a central locking, when you close this door they all close, which was a big problem in the 60s.

Now that's pretty much it, so you do a beep and all, but they didn't have that back there, you have curtains here for privacy and then of course my favorite part, the trunk opens hydraulically and you have a huge trunk here with California gasoline with the horrible ethanol in it just doesn't It has the octane for a vehicle like this, so we give it a water injection with methanol and it cools the cylinder, cools the charge and increases performance, and it runs incredibly well. Now you can't close this with your hand if you close it. this by hand, well, it's twelve thousand dollars on the hood latch, just press this button here, good morning, Mr.

Bond, one owner really had his finger broken or cut off or something, I don't know about those old wives' tales , but that's what happened, there is the 600 Emblem on the Mercedes star. Everything is oversized on this car and as you can see, it says compressor, which means supercharger, of course, in German. I think this is the only 600 that has this, so it makes this car much faster than it already is. there is a pretty fast car before now, it's a really fast car, every evil dictator in the world has one of these chichesco ebr means uh style aryl and onassis had one, john lennon had one which I thought was impressive, in fact the car of john lennon was bought by a European Gentleman, not sure, maybe Dutch and he sent it back to the factory and to this day I think it was the most expensive European car ever restored in history because it took so long.

You know how fun this car is. He said that all dictators had this and one time I was driving this car down the street and I saw a white haired man about 75-80 years old. I think he was Iranian, in fact, I know he was Iranian and when they took him out next. to me it was, he says, fuck me, i shot with the shah, i thought you were a savak agent following me and then he started laughing and thought it was very funny, he thought i was a savak agent for the shaw driving. As soon as he saw this car, it scared him to death, so this thing struck fear into people wherever it went.

You know, I had to deliver one of these from Boston to Texas and I drove non-stop for about 22 hours. hours to Texas, I mean, I drove off the side of the road, it broke down for an hour or two and then I got back in and gave it to the guy and I'd do it again tomorrow. It is simply the best car ever driven cross country. because with air suspension it literally just floats, but it's firm and handles. I mean, it's a wonderful car to drive. I think it drives as well as even a 600 or a modern Mybach or any of those cars, I'm sure.

It doesn't have bluetooth and all those tricks and you know, the air conditioned seats and all that, but as a driving instrument, just fantastic, come on, let's take it for a spin, the grace with which this car drives is just incredible. I am the best horn for a boat home, a horn for a big boat. I mean, the fact that you can take a car like this out on a 104 degree day is a testament to the build quality. My temperature is exactly 180 degrees. It's just amazing. I know I'm glad we had to fix some little things on this car because it gave me a chance to appreciate the craftsmanship and workmanship of the car.

We put a new master cylinder in it. I did it the other day, which wasn't bad. I thought it would be very expensive, but it wasn't that bad, it's a 6.3 podcast engine, it's expensive by normal auto parts standards, but not expensive by Mercedes 600 standards. You know, when these cars were built you could get any option. I wanted a phone, of course, the phone was huge, the size of a giant suitcase, and they had a television screen, you could have a bar, you could have whatever you wanted, any type of upholstery, this is the short wheelbase version, I know this car.

It looks enormously huge, but this is a short wheel, but since they did a stretch and made a six-door module and a lander, the Pope had one of those, you know, you can still find them relatively cheaply because rebuilding them costs a fortune. You want to try to get the best one you can, that's what I did when I bought this one. It looked like a lot of 600's and then I think you know you better go for the extra range and get one that Carl had made because, uh, I said it's the recognized expert and you can see it looks and rides and handles oh my goodness. , like a new car.

This was, I think, the best car in the world in the '60s and '70s. The only place they could have beaten it was. Maybe in air conditioning and that kind of thing, General Motors Cadillac had the best air conditioning systems in the world. I think air conditioning still wasn't a big priority in Germany for obvious reasons, so this unit is a little dated, but everything else. Break out four-wheel disc brakes when American cars are just drums and this big, wide seat, you know, with its hydraulic controls is fantastic, but the place to really appreciate this car is from the inside, get in, we'll take you to take a walk.

To me, the interior of this car is as beautiful as the exterior. Start with a beautiful wood rim steering wheel here, all solid wood, just one beautiful piece and this adjusts back and forth and this is also all wood up here, I mean, just beautiful. I can't imagine how long it takes to shape that and I'm sure it was done by hand. It can only be done by hand. Here are the air conditioning controls. These are two air conditioning fans. Outdoor temperature clock. Speedometer. Tachometer. Usual meters. Water temperature. fuel uh oil oil pressure hazard lights radio front and rear uh you have a switch here to control the ride a little firmer if you want my favorite part is this here you have a refrigerator right here you see you can have the glass if I want to entertain the women you have the glass right here don't let the police see that down here you have this is for your electric antenna and you see this green light here or when I put my foot on the accelerator uh when you reach the revolutions that will inject water, combination of water, water and methanol in the cylinder, look, here we go, there's your turbo boost and your light comes on and shoots a jet of water to cool the combustion chamber and prevent detonation. and you have all kinds of fact that look, I can't even punch the cameraman in the face, he's so far away from me, look, you can't, that stops you from fighting in thecar, I can't, I can.

Even I can't hit any other car. I could punch him in the face. I can not now. This thing is made just for cross incontinence. Oh, just get on the highway, put your foot in and that's it, I'm going to have the. The cameraman jumps in the backseat now, we're really going to show you how big this thing is when you're sitting that far away. Probably one of the best radios at that time. The Becker Grand Prix. The way this car really excels is on the open road. It's different from the transmission, the regular 6.3, it's reinforced and of course the largest sunroof ever, it's a sunroof.

In fact, you can get all the sun on that roof, you know, the guys at the 600 club say if you don't you'll be surprised every time. you drive this car, there is something wrong with it or maybe there is something wrong with you and I have to agree that Bouncy Lengua had 25 of these as much for communism as I said before, this was a built car, the money was not one problem, the engineers are given the uh they were ordered to build the best car possible regardless of the cost and that's what they didhere there's no logical reason why you would run a hydraulic system, all the comfort elements like the roof sliding and everything, there are many large cars of this era that simply do not have space inside, they have managed to compact everything. in a big car so you have a lot of space this is like a suv here you know this Mercedes w series the 100 the 109 all that this is my favorite era now I don't know if it's because I worked for Mercedes-Benz when I was a kid and I really liked it I joined the brand because I was able to drive them, work on them and understand them, and they look so exotic that I never thought I could afford one of these cars that I like.

There are many new ones, of course, and of course, they are better, safer, faster cars, but there is something about this era: the quality of this car is incredibly complex, but in some ways it is also incredibly simple. When you see one that's well made it's the best thing in the world and when you see one of these it's poorly made or poorly restored oh it just looks horrible you know they sit on the suspension and usually have a cheap reupholstery job because it's expensive do this to find this type. leather many times the refrigerator does not work and believe me, you do not want a car where the refrigerator does not work.

This car had the longest life of all the Mercedes that ran from 1963 to 1981. They have been. built uh 200 uh there are 2677 of these cars 2677 of these cars in 1932

1972

instead they built 138 that came to the United States so it took them a long time to build them they didn't build that many of them these were the last of The hand-crafted, coach-built Mercedes Benz, just like the way cars from the 1930s were built, this represents the same level of dedication and craftsmanship. As you can see, this car is as different as possible from the McLaren P1. but like I said before, it doesn't make it any less fun to drive.

You know, this website is about unique driving experiences and for me, this is one of the best. You know, it's a mix of nostalgia that I remember when I was a kid. It's so technically amazing for its time, it's just a wonderful honor to be okay, we have the opportunity to ride in one of these, take it, so we'll see you next week, huh.