The Blue Goose - Hermann Göring's Mercedes

[Music] on the 20th of February 1937 the Nazis staged the 50th anniversary the Berlin automobile exhibition a huge new Memorial Hall had been built with Hitler performing the dedication ceremonies accompanying Hitler was Hermann Goering commander the air force during the exhibition Goering took a liking to the mercedes-benz 500 K roadster he already owned one but he asked Mercedes if they could custom build a special roadster for him with a bigger 5.4 liter engine and bulletproof and bomb-proof glass and door armor when Goering tried to sit in the driver's seat of the display model his girth meant the steering wheel was jammed into his huge stomach Mercedes agreed to change the driver's compartment finally Goering ordered that his new car be painted an aviation blue a metallic sky-blue color that was his favorite the car was ready for Goering by July in 1937 he was thrilled and ruined the test run got the car up to 160 kilometers an hour he was a gift from Hitler and had a commemorative plate affixed to the glovebox declaring this in the winter of 1942 41 Goering returned the car to mercedes-benz as the paint had faded this was a problem with early metallic paints he was resprayed in a less metallic darker blue scheme another problem was goings increase weight even with the enlarged driving compartment his expanding waistline caused the steering wheel to rub against his belly the sadie's solved this by reducing the drivers rear cushion thickness by four inches from 1941 onwards the Mercedes was kept at Gehrig's house on the Obersalzberg close to Hitler's private home the Berghof with the war clearly lost Goering arrived in the Obersalzberg for the last time in late April 1945 Goering was later arrested on Hitler's orders and placed into the custody of the SS at Mountain Dorf castle in Austria but his car remained behind on the Obersalzberg shortly before Gehrig's removal from the Obersalzberg the tsch Royal Air Force bombed the private nazi sanctuary severely damaging hitler's house and many other top nazis houses Daring's house was half demolished by a direct hit but the car was safe parked with a large black mercedes-benz 770 parade limousine in the underground garage at the nearby platta HOF Hotel the two cars were discovered by men of the 326 Engineer Company one hundred and first Airborne Division on the 4th of May 1945 the u.s. paratroopers fanned out to check the damaged buildings of the Obersalzberg which had already been briefly visited by French troops of the 2nd Armored Division the two cars were dirty with mud but apparently intact worried about booby traps Staff Sergeant Robert smiley took aim at the driver side window on Goering special roadster and fired his m1 carbine twice the car was left with a ugly star of cracks on the driver's side window and a bullet through the bumper looking inside smiley saw that the keys were in the ignition after several attempts smiley got the car running the 7th of May Germany surrendered US troops celebrated with large quantities of wine and cognac from the cellars of the Nazi leader's houses the two captured Mercedes were taken on joy rides around the area until orders came from above major general Maxwell D Taylor took an instant liking to the Blue Goose as the men of the 326 Engineer Company had christened Gehrig's car he ordered his two-star generals identification plate mounted on the front and Taylor used it briefly as a staff car soon afterwards it was decided to use both captured German cars to help sell war bonds in America second leftenant James Cox volunteered for the assignment with ten men of the 101st airborne in August 1945 the cars departed for America two short tours of the US were made just after the war had ended in August 1946 the Blue Goose was at the Indianapolis 500 Speedway making laps at our one hundred and first Airborne Division Ryu in 1956 the Blue Goose was deemed surplus government property and auctioned off at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland sold for two thousand one hundred and sixty-seven dollars to JK tonic of Greenwich Connecticut in 1958 veterinary surgeon dr. George bit coot jr. bought the Blue Goose from tonic he purchased the Blue Goose the $10,000 bit good had the Blue Goose repainted black and re-chromed he painted outgoings coat of arms which were on each of the doors he left the bullet damage glass in the driver's-side window and the bullet hole in the bumper the car was publicly displayed only once in 1973 in 1993 dr. bit gute died at the age of 88 after a legal dispute a decision was made to restore the Blue Goose back to how it looked when it was owned by Herman Goering as much original wear and tear as possible had been left untouched on the car including the bullet damage but once again it is sky-blue just as it looked when the men of the 101st Airborne Division captured it in May 1945 and if you're wondering how much it's worth its estimated value is between five and seven million dollars thanks for watching please subscribe and share and also support my channel at PayPal and patreon details in the description box below [Music]

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 1,132,964

Rating: 4.9293127 out of 5

Keywords: The Blue Goose, Hermann Göring's Mercedes Car, Mark Felton Productions, Mercedes Benz, 101st Airborne Division, Obersalzberg, Berchtesgaden

Id: sAf1fYawXNo

Length: 6min 9sec (369 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 25 2019