Mercedes-Benz 600 Belonging To Opera Singer Maria Callas Is Coming

Mercedes will present at Retromobile 2025 in Paris from February 5 to 9 a Mercedes 600 that once belonged to the famous opera singer Maria Callas.
 

The famous opera singer Maria Callas, who enchanted the world with her voice, chose a fascinating car to travel as comfortably as possible throughout Europe: a short-wheelbase Mercedes 600 (W100), produced in 1971. The opera singer, who was living in New York at the time, registered the car in France.
 
The car that once belonged to Maria Callas has been restored by the Mercedes-Benz Classic Centre and is being offered for sale at the Paris Retromobile Show, which runs from February 5 to 9 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.
 
The example is painted in a rare two-tone combination, with the body in silver-grey metallic (code DB180) and the roof in blue metallic (code DB387). The interior combining luxury and functionality is distinguished by a specially customised Becker Grand Prix audio system that can be operated from the rear seat. The individualized system testifies to the opera star’s love of music and sense of exclusivity.
 
The car’s original service book confirms that Maria Callas traveled in this car to San Remo, Milan, and Paris among other places where regular inspections were carried out.
 
Produced by Mercedes between 1963 and 1981, the Mercedes 600 was the most expensive car in the world in 1963. It was available in two wheelbase versions: short (3,200 mm) and long (3,900 mm). The long version was of the Pullman type, with four seats in the rear, mounted forward facing, and separated from the driver compartment by a power divider window. Only 2,677 examples were built of which 2,190 short wheelbase, 304 4-door Pullman, 124 6-door Pullman, and 59 Landaulet.
 
With adjustable air suspension, the Mercedes 600 offered regal comfort, this being the forerunner of the Mercedes S 600 and the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class.
 
Among the owners of the Mercedes 600 were tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Thailand’s King Bhumibol, Chinese President Deng Xiaoping, Morocco’s King Hassan II, Yugoslav President Yosef Broz Tito, Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, as well as actors Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Rowan Atkinson and singers Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Mireille Mathieu, David Bowie, and Udo Jurgens.