This story is soooo old hat, that it starts to be boring.
Fact: there has never been an “Eva Braun” car. Neither a gold 540K, nor any other type of Mercedes, nor any other brand for that matter.
Fact: the so-called “Eva Braun car” is a creation commissioned by the late Tom Barrett to get people’s attention at the time he started his car auction business. ( now Jackson-Barrett )
According to Frank Barrett (no relation) of Toad Hall Books, who published for years “The Star” in the USA for the MBUSA-Club-members, in all likelihood the car was made in a bodyshop in California, perhaps on a old 540K chassis, however, since Tom Barrett never let anyone get too close to the car, even that can not be ascertained for sure. Neither is it known if this car had an engine or not.
Frank Barrett told me that he had seen the car exhibited, and saw right away that it was a fake.
All claims regarding the so-called golden “Eva Braun car” are absolutely preposterous, and technical nonsense.
So, when people claim to have seen the “Eva Braun car”, they in fact saw a creation commissioned by Tom Barrett to promote his fledgling car auctioneer’s business.
Incidentally, the car has disappeared since quite a while. Either it is hidden, or it has been destroyed….
No matter what, it is absolutely clear beyond any doubt, that there has never been a real “Eva Braun” car, period!
I have a letter from the Mercedes-Benz archives which clearly states that point, and there is no reason why they would hide something…
The legend will however survive us both for a while I’m sure…oh, the nice cold shivers going down the back, when the talk is About Hitler and Eva Braun…
Attached, the only picture I could find of Tom Barrett’s creation,….. which by the way had been repainted from gold to red….you bet that if it had really been gold plated, the car would have been left as is…much more in-your-face appeal than a mere red, don’t you think ?
Scale models claiming to represent the “Eva Braun” car, also are to say the least mislabeled, again, because Adolf and Eva sell better than “just” a mere 540K description . That point is valid for the large tin models as well as for Brianza’s 1:43 model, and any model in between.
Tom Barrett’s, alleged fake E Braun Car
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In the mid 70’s I was living in Minneapolis and saw a Mercedes 540 purported to be the Eva Braun car. It could have been a fake or the real thing. I was not qualified to tell. The car was on an open trailer and in terrible shape. The paint was a faded gold to copper penny color, the trim scratched and a pitted, the top in tatters and the leather torn and stained. The owner wanted $25,000 for the car ( I had about $2,000 in liquid assets and passed on the deal). He did start the car for me and it ran roughly with smoke pouring out the tail pipe. I don’t recall his name and never heard of the car again.
I saw the “Eva Braun Mercedes” in the early to mid 1970’s when it stopped in Radcliff near Ft. Knox. The showman explained that the car had been re-painted from it’s original emerald/forest green to a “24k Gold” paint. There was a place where the original paint showed through. He pointed out the black layer followed by the green layer followed by the Gold layer. While in Radcliff, someone reached over the velvet rope and stole the NAZI radiator cap. It was reported in the local News Enterprise newspaper and in the Radcliff police blotter. The trailer used to transport the car had many extra wheels to support the heavy load. The showman mentioned the transmission gearing, the self-balancing tires, and the doors that could be arranged over the radiator to aid in fast warmup. I have been waiting to hear that the radiator cap might have surfaced at a yard sale but after almost 35 years, I am sure the cap has disappeared forever. It would be nice to have the original for study.
I am waiting for a formal response from Mercedes-Benz
This is the picture I have and so far suspected "Not Confirmed
Yet"
Eva Braun's 1938 Mercedes-Benz
I have seen this car a number of times over the years when it was owned by an individual in central Pennsylvania. Has anyone looked at the body style of this car? It suspiciously looks like a Jaguar XK-120 roadster style. I’m inclined the support the belief that this car was re osier after the war on a Mercedes chassis. If the car is still in existence then why hasn’t anybody been able to examine the chassis identification then check with Mercedes-Benz historical to see if there is a record of the manufacture and perhaps light can be shed on the body manufacturer and perhaps who the original purchaser was.
I saw it in the ’70s in Jackson,Mississippi. It was on display in a new mall. I remember them telling us the headlights were so huge that she could,t use them when there was traffic. Ther were separate lights for that. Too bad it was I fake; I always remembered the car.
I saw it in the ’70s in Jackson,Mississippi. It was on display in a new mall. I remember them telling us the headlights were so huge that she could,t use them when there was traffic. Ther were separate lights for that. Too bad it was I fake; I always remembered the car.
The car I saw was grey or green.
unbelievable. i could really complicate this story……….many people around my small town remember an old mercedes ssk…driven in parades. the stroy goes….it was her car. and its was no mystery how it got to Spearman , Texas….a pair of brothers brought ti home after the war. and dint find out until the 60’s what they had.
and id be glad to share the story – if anyone is interested.
Id seen the so called golden Braun car at a shopping center In El Cajon Calif yrs ago.
the top looked original,,, ratty looking and the paint looked kind of like flowed on with a brush.
of course it had a non fireing shmeiser MG in the trunk that was open for display.
It was interesting looking ,but kinda gaudy,
I saw this car at the Imperial Palace Auto Collection in Las Vegas years ago. I believe it was there
for many years on display for the public to see.
NONE of the vehicles described in this “rebuttal” reference the real Eva Braun Mercedes! It was black ..dual transmissions, bulletproof glass etc.. Germany claims the car is “German Property” and the original is dismantled and moved about Europe from secret location to secret location..every once in a while the car is assembled and shown… The “history” of this particular automobile can be found in Hitler’s archives and research into the development of Daimler-Benz .. sorry, but the “car” is real.. I can’t help but believe the “rebuttal” is a “smoke screen” ..which makes me think the author may actually know the true story ..even to the point of being involved in obscuring it’s existence and location. Much like the USA does with Area 51.
I also saw the car in that shopping center in El Cajon, Ca. I was amazed buy the car. I haven’t researched it yet, but it is supposed to be the Simthonian.
You are dead wrong. The car does exist (In fact, I know where it is). The car was owned by my late grandfather (Lou Singer) and was displayed at shopping malls in the late 70s. The Frank Barrett car is a different one. I own parts of the car myself as well as original artwork (by the famed artist Donal Jolley) of the car.
I too saw the car in the early 70’s at a Mall on the north side of Pittsburgh next to Buhl Planetarium. My memory is hazy but I could swear on a stack of bibles that it was silver color, like a Delorian???? The sign in the eazel had quite a writeup as I remember, things like the vehicle having 4 transmissions – automatically balancing wheels etc., etc. I was 19-20 at the time and don’t remember much else except that I was awe struck.
I saw the car as well. Gold as Goldfinger’s mistress. I saw it in the early 70s at Winter Haven Mall, Winter Haven, Florida. It was a beautiful Mercedes Coup. It does exist and sits in someone’s garage.
The auto had a unique quality in that once the coup hit 125 MPH on the Autobahn, the auto disconnected from the chassis for a floating ride.
A lovely auto reflecting the best in German engineering.
As for the anonymous, put your name out there or be quiet
I remember as a kid in the early ’70s going to an,area shopping mall here in San Antonio and seeing the gold car of Eva Braun. Kinda disappointing to learn it was a fake.
I saw the Gold Mercedes in Lexington KY while at college between 1971 and 1975. It was not pristine by any means. The interior was aged and cracked. The person displaying the car selected a few people to be able to sit behind the wheel to look inside. I was one of those chosen. There were old Nazi emblems on the steering wheel and other places all of which looked old and worn. The man displaying it said this was “believed ” to be Ava Braun’s Mercedes. Looked like it could have been.
I have seen the black Mercedes with gold swastika wheels in the Westland Mall in Westland Michigan around the 1970’s. from what I remember…it looked pretty real to me. A sign next to the car said that Hitler had the car built for Eva in the early 1940’s.
Is this “fraud” story an attempt to hide the true facts about original ownership?
When I was a kid in the 50’s-60’s, a traveling carnival stopped in my hometown of Beeville, Texas. One of the attractions was Eva Braun’s mercedes. It had a gold paint job. The placard stated the body had been hand formed from a single sheet of aluminum. The bodywork wasn’t great. It did have a solid gold swastika radiator cap and solid gold hubcaps with swastikas. The sign said it could run on gasoline or diesel. I doubt anyone would have created it as a fake-it looked legit to me. I wish I could see it again.
I viewed the fake gold car in Crossroad Mall in Roanoke Va, in fall 1971. After looking and looking online I believe it to have been a fake. In one city the radiator cap was stolen, in Roanoke one of the “solid gold” letters(AH+EB) was stolen….isnt THAT convenient to get free press!! I was 17 and gullible at the (pre-internet) time and I talked with the lady owner for about 30 min. She had a story of the car being concealed for many years in a barn in Germany and she was in the import export business and got wind of it. She managed to ship it to US under the disguise as farm equipment for $10,000. According to her it had 2 engines, could run on either gas or diesel/kerosene, could go 60mph with all 4 tires shot out, bullet proof…on and on and on. She said she only drove it at night cause it causes a ruckus when others see it. She was taking donations to supposedly raise money for a “club foot” association ….her son was supposedly born with a club foot. It was quite a large car and impressive even as a fake.
I saw the car in Roanoke, VA at Cross Roads Mall, in the early 1970’s. I was there in college, graduating in 1973. The car I saw was a very dark red, almost brown color and it definitely looked authentic to me. The swastikas were everywhere you would normally see the MB star, and in gold. The patina of the paint and bright work were convincing and screamed original. The driver’s door was open and you could see that the glass in the door was almost an inch thick, which enforced the claim of the bulletproof glass. It was enormous too, as if it was in 1.5 scale. I remember the headlights were like a foot in diameter. It would be like Hitler, a megalomaniac, to have such a huge ride! Maybe Goering would have a car like this too as he was a big spender.
This may have not been Fraulein Eva’s car but it was definitely an important Nazi’s car, as all of the equipment I saw was convincingly antiqued looking. I am a History buff, and majored in it in college. I’ve frequented museums in this and other countries, with a concentration on WWII, including the Imperial War Museum, London. I think the car was real.