Article: The 600 Pullman

Peter Kunz

When people think about the 600 series in the abstract, the model which they conjure up most frequently is the 600 Pullman Limousine.

When I was young, most model cars of a 600 depicted this variant, being longer and grander than the 600 Sedan.

 

Mercedes-Benz publicity photo: a 4 door Pullman owner toasts a companion.

Stylistically, I think the shorter 600 Sedan is slightly more pure and resolved, while the 600 Pullman has a touch of the stretched Dachshund look to it. On the other hand, next to the Sedan, the Limousine, with its extra length, looks even more imperious.

While the Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman Limousine is known to collectors and classic car fans, few will remember that there are different variants of them.

 

Gravitas and elegance: The Pullman in a German square.

The “standard” Pullman Limousine had an inserted section from the B-pillar back. This extended the wheelbase and made it longer than the Sedan. With seats in the rear which faced each other it could seat 4 VIP’s.

There was also the option of building that inserted section as an extra door.  This became the 6 door Pullman. In the 6 door version there were two occasional jump seats facing forwards. These seats were for a security detail or other staff of the VIP. The 6 door Pullman Limousine was ideally meant for just two VIP passengers who sat in seats facing forwards behind the jump sets. Some 6 door Pullman Limousines did not have exterior door handles and could only be opened from the inside. The six-door versions were far rarer than the standard stretched limousines.

 

4 door Pullman interior with seats facing in rear.

The Pullman could contain seven/eight passengers. It took 54 working days to build the Pullman, four more than the shorter Sedan.

 

Baby you can drive my car – John Lennon’s 600 Pullman 4 door.

The Pullman Limousine is 6.24 metres long. The Pullman Limousine weighs 2.8 tons. Only three Pullman Limousines were constructed without partitions. Owners may have driven the short wheel base sedan, but a Pullman Limousine was designed to be driven by a chauffeur.  Both versions are powered by the famous 6.3 litre V-8 engine, the first V-8 used in a Mercedes car, named M-100. 

The Pullman was 9.5 inches longer than a Rolls-Royce Phantom V.

18 Pullman Limousines were armoured. Only one was a six door model.

 

4 door Pullman Limousine of the Belgian Royal Family.

The brochure for the 600 series sets the benchmark for the type of client Mercedes-Benz was seeking for the Sedan and Pullman product;

“Future discussions on cars in the most sophisticated circles will inevitably include ‘The Grand Mercedes’. Its appearance, equipment and performance clearly express the high position the Mercedes-Benz 600 has been destined to occupy. In the first place, it meets the exacting demands involved in meeting the requirements of men in leading positions. At political, commercial, scientific and cultural events in all parts of the world, ‘The Grand Mercedes’ will bear witness to the progressive thinking of Daimler-Benz and the high standard achieved in modern automobile engineering.”

 

Pullman 4 door Limousine in profile. Longer, with more space than the 600 sedan, due to the fillet between doors.

Such elegant publicity posits in the mind of the reader that there is almost an emotional synthesis and mental synchronicity between the great leaders in a particular field (as we now live in a post-feminist age one would not think to regard such individuals as male only!) and a great product of the automotive world. Each is outstanding and commanding enough to share the same exalted position. The exceptional individual honours the car with their imprimatur and presence, while the car honours the individual with its own presence and manifold abilities.

The brochure concludes with a flourish of heroic splendour befitting the company which invented the motor car;

“With this brief description we have tried to give you an idea of the general conception and the many special features of this car. They are the result of continuous development which has culminated in the Mercedes-Benz 600.

Out of the greatness of the past ‘The Grand Mercedes’ points towards the even greater future of the automobile.”

The total of 428 Pullman Limousines compares to 2,190 examples of the Sedan.  Only 124 Pullman 6 door models were produced. 20 of these were Right Hand Drive.

Out of a total production run of 2,677 of the 600 series only 15% were Pullman Limousines.

 

The Mercedes 600 Pullman stinted on nothing in behalf of its occupants’ well-being, towing a two-wheeled trailer, or Krankenanhänger, complete with an onboard surgeon, blood-transfusion equipment, a heart monitor, an X-ray machine and – typically thoughtful flourish – a Mercedes-quality cremation urn. A replacement Mercedes 600 Pullman, following 100 meters behind, in turn pulls its own Krankenanhänger, which carries a pretty nurse.

Bruce McCall from Car and Driver wrote some entertaining spoofs about first aid kits in cars. His spoof for the 600 Pullman proves that when it comes to VIP’s you cannot be too careful.

 

Barn find extroardinaire. This 1969 6 door Pullman Limousine was exported to Africa from Belgium, to an African government’s garage. It has special dust sealing, a heat resistant windscreen and a tropical battery. It sold at auction for 29,000 Euros in 2011. Source: Supercars.net

Sources: Car and Driver, Unique Cars and Parts, Supercars.net, Wikipedia, various Mercedes-Benz publications