Car once owned by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler doesn’t sell in Scottsdale

PHOENIX — A car once owned by infamous former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did not meet the seller’s minimum price and was reportedly not sold at a Scottsdale auction.

The 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen was hit the block on Jan. 17 at the annual Worldwide Auctioneers annual classic car auction. The highest bid it received was $7 million, according to the Arizona Republic.

Because the car’s minimum purchase price was not met, the company can now negotiate its sale to a private buyer.

The car’s listing created quite a stir online.

“This motorcar continues to stand, and especially serve, as a singular piece of irreplaceable and priceless living history,” the listing read.

The listing also stated that the car was being sold as a historical artifact and was not intended to honor Hitler, who ordered the slaughter of millions of Jewish people and launched World War II in which millions more perished.

Ten percent of the sale would have been donated to Holocaust education groups.

Worldwide Auctioneers claimed it had done exhaustive research to prove the car was owned and used by Hitler between 1939 and his death in 1945.

The car was made the meet the specifications of both Hitler and his longtime chauffeur, Erich Kempka. It had a bullet-resistant windshield, armor plating in the doors and undercarriage and the ability to add jump seats, if necessary.

The vehicle — nicknamed the “fourth Führer-Car” — was delivered to Berlin on July 29, 1939 and its first documented use came a couple of months later during a large motorcade.

Hitler also used the car during several parades to celebrate the defeats of France, Yugoslavia and Greece.

History lost track of the vehicle during the final two years of the war. It was captured by Allied troops after hostilities ended and identified by its serial number.

It was kept in a motor pool in Le Havre, France for a short time before it was purchased by a A.H. Vander Elst, Jr., who sold it after taking it to the United States.

The car was purchased by Tom Austin and donated to Veterans of Foreign Wars branch 1990 in Greeneville, North Carolina, where it was used in parades until it fell into disrepair.

The car was eventually restored and changed hands several times. It was last purchased by a European buyer in 2004.

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