770 (W07)

Grosser

Belonged to Salazar, having been one of several armoured models acquired for the State figure. The history of armoured vehicles acquired in the name of Oliveira Salazar, then President of the Council of Ministers, forms one of the most curious chapters in Portugal’s history.

After the failed bombing attempt on Sunday, July 4, 1937 on Avenida Barbosa du Bocage, when Salazar was on his way to morning Mass, the PVDE ordered two Type 770 Pullmansteel in October of that year. The order was made through the Mercedes-Benz agent in Lisbon, Sociedade Comercial Mattos Tavares, Lda. But given the specificity of the model, they transferred the order to the brand’s offices in Germany.

According to the factory files, both chassis’ were completed on 18 January 1938 and the Pullmansteel bodies on 9 March. Both cars were then shipped to Lisbon on 12 April. They were registered in June 1938, in the name of PVDE, and were immediately made available to the Presidents of the Republic and the Council, General Óscar Carmona and Prof. Oliveira Salazar.

Salazar, who had not been consulted on the purchase of the cars, soon expressed his discontent, refusing to use the Mercedes-Benz assigned to him. This was not only because it was an ostentatious car, but also because it was thought to have been a gift from Hitler to the President of the Council. The car was used only once—on the occasion of the official visit of Generalissimo Franco, in 1949. The car’s scant usage was by driver Raúl to transport visitors to and from Palacete de S. Bento. Because of this, the odometer read only 6,000 kilometres when seventeen years later, it was ordered the selling of the car at public auction by the Directorate-General for Finance.