Mercedes-Benz 600SWB

Mercedes-Benz 600 at a glance

The 600 sits in the Mercedes-Benz catalogue between the post-war 300 and today's S-Class. Its place in the company's story is explained in our history of Mercedes-Benz.

Development and production history

Daimler-Benz planned the 600 as a car above everything else it built. Chief engineer Fritz Nallinger first wanted a 7.5-litre V12 (M101), developed under Adolf Wente, but it was never built; the company enlarged its new V8 to 6.3 litres instead. Fifteen patents were filed during development.

The car was shown to about ten journalists two weeks before the Frankfurt IAA of September 1963. Only three cars were finished in 1963 and 107 in 1964; assembly moved to a line in 1965. The company's target of 3,000 cars a year was never reached, not even ten per cent of it. Production continued in small numbers until 1981.

Design and engineering

The body was a steel monocoque designed by Friedrich Geiger and Paul Bracq. The SWB saloon is 5,540 mm long on a 3,200 mm wheelbase; the Pullman adds 700 mm between the axles and is 6,240 mm long. Both are 1,950 mm wide.

Three systems made the 600 different from any other car of its time:

• Comfort hydraulics. Developed with Bosch, an engine-driven pump fed a circuit at about 150 bar, with a nitrogen accumulator to keep pressure for a while after the engine stopped. It operated the windows, the front seats and rear bench, the sunroof, the boot lid and the ventilation flap almost silently.
• Air suspension. Front double wishbones and a low-pivot rear swing axle were carried on air springs with automatic levelling. A switch offered normal height, a setting 50 mm higher for rough roads, and a service position. Citroën held the patents on hydropneumatic suspension, so Mercedes used air.
• Brakes. A dual-circuit power-assisted system with discs on all wheels: 291 mm at the front and 294.5 mm at the rear, with two calipers per rear disc.

Steering was a power-assisted recirculating-ball system, and the car ran on 9.00H15 tyres.

Engine and drivetrain

The M100 was a 6,332 cc V8 with one overhead camshaft per bank, bore and stroke of 103 × 95 mm and a 9.0:1 compression ratio. Bosch eight-point mechanical injection fed it. Output was 184 kW (250 PS) at 4,000 rpm, with 500 Nm at 2,800 rpm. The engine alone weighed more than 400 kg. Power went through a four-speed automatic gearbox and a 3.231:1 final drive.

The same engine later powered the 300 SEL 6.3, the top model of the W109 range. Enlarged to 6.9 litres with Bosch K-Jetronic injection, it became the engine of the Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL 6.9.

Mercedes-Benz 600 specifications

Wikipedia DE describes the 600 as a car that was once called the "greatest sports car of all time", a nod to how fast such a heavy limousine was.

Saloon, Pullman, landaulet: the variants

The landaulet figures do not add up neatly in either source: Wikipedia DE lists 32 four-door and 26 six-door Pullman landaulets plus one short landaulet, while Wikipedia EN gives 59 in total. The most famous is the papal landaulet built for Pope Paul VI, with a single rear seat and a roof raised by 70 mm. It served in the Vatican for about twenty years and has been in the Mercedes-Benz Museum since 1985.

In service: owners, state visits and legacy

The 600 became the car of state. German television news regularly showed foreign guests of the federal government in open 600 landaulets, and Daimler-Benz supplied cars to the Federal President and the government. Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Jordan, Yugoslavia, Cambodia, Cuba, Austria and Turkey were among the countries with a 600 in their fleets.

Wikipedia EN lists many private and official owners. Josip Broz Tito had four six-door Pullmans from 1965, one of them armoured, plus two landaulets. The Shah of Iran owned several cars, including three landaulets. Elvis Presley, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Hugh Hefner and Jack Nicholson also owned 600s. Mercedes-Benz USA has filmed a 1972 600 SWB at Amelia Island, and Jay Leno's Garage has featured a 1972 car.

The price showed the car's position. In August 1964 the saloon cost DM 56,500. By the price list of 1 February 1979 the saloon cost DM 144,032, the four-door Pullman DM 165,424 and the six-door DM 175,392; Wikipedia EN gives slightly different 1979 figures. For comparison, a 450 SEL 6.9 cost DM 78,960 in 1979.

After 1981 Mercedes-Benz offered no direct successor. Wikipedia EN names the Maybach 57 and 62 of 2002, which revived the idea of a hand-finished chauffeur car; the story of that brand is told in our Maybach history. The long-wheelbase S-Class took over the official role, as described in our S-Class generations guide.

Collecting a 600 today

The 600 is a complex car. The comfort hydraulics lose pressure quickly once the engine is off, and the hydraulic circuit, the air suspension and the injected V8 are best inspected by a specialist before purchase. Running costs are high too: Wikipedia EN quotes 24–26 l/100 km.

Values depend on body style and history. A six-door long-roof landaulet that had belonged to Tito sold in England in 2017 for £2.5 million. Cars with a documented history of famous owners are the most valuable; ordinary saloons sell for much less. For rivals of the same era, compare it with the Rolls-Royce Phantom family.

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