Beatrice is a rather special car in my collection, both for me and for her. I have already described the part about me in <Restoration: The 1/43 Beatrice>, there is not much content about her,self. What is her charm? At this moment it may not be a popular story to link Mercedes-Benz with the Kremlin, but that was in the past. At that time, the Russian Federation and Germany were in the honeymoon period of their entire history,
Mercedes in the Kremlin
Mercedes-Benz’s contacts with the Russian leadership go back a long way, first unofficially, then formally. In Soviet times, Mercedes was used in small quantities for public services, neither side of the Iron Curtain resisted the other on this issue. At that time, Mercedes rarely missed any opportunity to attend any of the USSR’s exhibitions, including many that were not even automotive-themed. Even after the invasion of Afghanistan, Mercedes-Benz sponsored the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Mercedes was also very active in technical cooperation with the USSR, for example by providing specially designed vehicles. However, the scale of cooperation was always limited, because the USSR did not have sufficient funds for large scale purschase. The focus of passanger vehicle cooperation was of course the S-Klasse, from traffic police to the Kremlin.
But the S-Klasse is not qualified to be the ride of the leader of the Red Empire. Perhaps among all Soviet leaders, only Leonid Brezhnev was a fan of Mercedes, because other Soviet leaders were not even enthusiastic about driving a car. They preferred to sit in the back seat of the larger ZIL, leaving all the problems to the driver and mechanic. On the other hand, the USSR was a superpower competing with the United States, and using too many West German cars was morally unacceptable to Russians. In terms of projected area, the ZIL surpassed the largest Cadillac, and the S-Klasse looked quite smart. In general, there were very few S-Klasse in the Kremlin during the Soviet era.
The 140 was launched at the Soviet-era AutoService-91 exhibition on April 10, 1991, when the USSR already had partial private ownership, very few 140s made it there during the last days of the USSR. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Russian Federation inherited every car from the Kremlin, and even though it was politically friendly with the West, Yeltsin did not immediately turn to foreign cars. In his first days, ZIL was still healthy and well-stocked. But things changed dramatically in the 90s Russia, the Russian automotive industry was visibly aging. Russian automotive products no more meet demand in terms of technology and quality. First, cars of lower-level officials began to fail to meet their requirements, and they began to buy German cars, some 300 SELs began to enter the Kremlin from late 1992. Then gradually upwards, senior officials also realized that their cars were in that crisis.
Yeltsin was never a fan of ZIL personally, but patriotic fervor delayed him to be the last person in the Kremlin to board a Mercedes. His final turn occurred after a meeting with Clinton in 1992. “In Arkansas, USA, we arrived at some farm, Boris Nikolayevich finished everything, it was time for us to board the plane. He was 20 meters away from us, at that moment my A/C broke, it was 30°C outside, and it was full of hot air inside. I immediately reported it to my superiors and mechanics. Then an American journalist saved me, she stopped Boris Nikolayevich and started asking some questions. During this time, we managed to replace the car, and his assistant got into the broken one. 30 mins later we were at the airport. As they left, Boris Nikolayevich turned and said: “Where’s the assistant?” I looked in the mirror, he was dragged out, unconscious. Then he said to me for a long time: “Now I know what our ZIL is!” In June 1993, while Yeltsin was visiting Greece, his ZIL 41052 overheated and had to stop.
The ZIL may be the largest and most luxurious sedan on the planet, but it has several chronic problems: difficulty starting in sub-zero temperatures, weak pneumatic brakes, engine is prone to overheating. Whatever its quality, the car had almost no technical parts that entered the 90s, and it could no longer meet the president’s basic needs. The authorities did not have enough funds to develop new models with ZIL, so foreign cars eventually became the only option. In 1993, GON (ГОН, Special Purpose Garage) ordered a pair of 500 SEL Sonderschutz, which was the first important order of 140 from the Kremlin. When Yeltsin visited Greece again in June 1994, a year later, he did not bother to think about the ZIL at all, but took one of the two 500 SEL Sonderschutz.
GON officials who selected the car modestly said that they also considered BMW, but in Russian culture this was almost a compliment to the latter. The Mercedes S-Klasse won the election without a doubt, and the question only remained as to which S-Klasse could replace the ZIL. After the 600 was discontinued in 1981, Mercedes ceased to exist in this market. The current largest Mercedes, the 140 S-Klasse, might be as chubby as Helmut Kohl to the picky German auto journalists, but was not even available in a stretched version. Therefore, although GON trusted Mercedes itself more, they had to turned to TRASCO, which had no business ties with Mercedes but famous for their streched limousine from 80s. First, two armored S 500s with a 20-inch stretch from TRASCO pricelist were ordered in 1993, but not roomy as ZIL did. Then TRASCO specially built a pair of armored S 500s with 42 inch stretch for GON in 1994. The four cars were delivered in 1994 and 1995.
GON’s contact with TRASCO is not an isolated case. After GON realized that the president’s car should have movable armored glass, three ZILs were sent to TRASCO in 1994 for armored modification as required. After receiving the ZIL 41047 TB and TRASCO’s 42 inch plus S 500, GON soon complained that the suspension system had poor durability. TRASCO once had an armored S-Klasse that surpassed the Mercedes factory version in the 1980s, but that was on the lighter 126. Now, whether it is the huge 140 that is 1 meter longer or the naked ZIL that is already close to 4,000 kg, simply increasing the weight is devastating to the suspension. Only strengthening the bushings and tires with a larger weight rating does not work. Once, after the TRASCO drove over a hill, Yeltsin’s guards were unable to open the door.
Although TRASCO monopolized the President’s car orders, the cooperation between Mercedes and the Kremlin intensified as never before between 1993 and 1995. First, in 1994, five additional S 500 Sonderschutz were ordered for senior officials, then four S 280s for the President’s family. Then came the 18 S 280s purchased for the anniversary of St. Petersburg to transport the leaders of 55 countries. In the past, Kremlin would order factory cars from Mercedes to be equipped with special communication equipment in Russia. Starting with these orders, GON sent parts of the Russian-made special communication equipment “Kavkaz” to Mercedes, who will design the circuit diagram and do the delicate installation. These were devices that involved the secrets of the top leaders in Soviet times, and Western agents had to have a lot of difficulty to obtain them. Now the Russians took the initiative to send them to Germany to be installed on the vehicles they ordered. Without any official announcement, the S-Klasse became the official car of the new Russia.
Sindelfingen produces only 100 Sonderschutz per year on average, and it takes one month to produce each one. Each one is worth two Ferrari F50s, and one person for every 7.5 million people on earth could use one. So their birth needs more reasons, and there are countless events and decisions behind them. At this point, the story of Beatrice has not yet begun, but no sentence is redundant, every word above is related to Beatrice, and every little thing leads to the birth of Beatrice.
Built for the first Pullman
Fortunately, Yeltsin was not alone on demanding armored Mercedes limousine. North Korea, the ally of the USSR, also made the same request to Mercedes at almost the same time. The difference was that North Korea’s request was answered, because they injected enough funds into the project. Since 1994, Duchatelet was invited by Mercedes to jointly develop a new armored train Pullman. The premise for the project to be completed was that North Korea must order a sufficient number of products. After more than a year of development, the new model was named S 600 Pullman, as kind of revival of the past W 100. As planned it will be transfromed into a potential business project and present at the IAA 1995 in September. GON was not informed during the development, but they were definitely the target customer of this car.
Yeltsin was to run the election again in 1996 and he used the patriotic ZIL on his campaign trail and the TRASCO S-Klasse between the Kremlin and the official residence. These movements required more reliable cars, more reliable than TRASCO. Once GON learned of the new Pullman after is premiere, they became the first customer after North Korea. However, the delivery time is a year. GON asked to take the IAA show car with them for immediately use, Mercedes agreed in exchange for transferring the car in the package that the North Koreans had ordered. This car was built on the basis of a March 1994 Sonderschutz and was no longer technologically advanced. North Koreans agreed to give it up, they were going through a difficult time, they never ordered any more 140s after the Pullman sets. After the agreement was reached, Mercedes began to modify the first Pullman to GON’s requirements.
In the era of the Russian Federation, Moscow’s traffic was busier, which also brought more challenges to the presidential motorcade. After a period of time, the structure of the motorcade was formed and stabilized. The first is a police car. According to the laws of the Russian Federation, only police cars could lead other cars to break through traffic lights. The second car between the police and presidential limosine called the leader. The role of the leader was to continue to lead the presidential limousine forward in places where the police car shall not enter. It was also a shield for the presidential, always driving in front of the right side of the limousine between the president and potential dangers. In the era of TRASCO, the leader was a ZIL 41047. In front of the Mercedes, ZIL is larger. Plus the escorted Chevy Suburbans and Volkswagen Transporter, the motorcade was neither unified nor harmonious. At this time GON already had 7 Sonderschutz, but all V8 and none of them served the president. So while placing the order for the Pullman, GON also requested an S 600 Sonderschutz that looked like a match, which is Beatrice.
The new leader had better be armored too. As the first V12 Sonderzhutz for GON, the first Sonderschutz to serve the president, and the first Sonderschutz as a leader, Beatrice was able to get an exclusive design like the first Pullman by relying on the credit accumulated from previous cooperation. First of all, for the consistency of the fleet, she received the 009 Sapphire Black paint, which is exclusive to Pullman. In terms of function, first relevant parts of the Kavkaz communication system had to be installed. Since the system was still classified, GON did not send the core components, only the front telephone armrest, handset, frequency selector, antenna, etc. The antenna wireness was routed around the roof after drilling an 18 mm hole in the front of the roof. The frequency selector and handset were installed in a large rectangular armrest box provided by GON. Mercedes also designed a bracket above the trunk floor to accommodate the large Kavkaz core.
In addition to the Kavkaz, multiple potential communication terminals are included. In the center of the roof behind the Kavkaz is a 100 mm D-NET antenna from EUROLINE works between 790-960 MHz, for Ericsson Orion radio. And a taxi antenna is installed on the right rear of the fender, which is shorten to 753 MM to reach 205 MHz, for Kenwood compact radio. There is a corresponding center console to accommodate more equipment. The console design is inspired by BKA (Bundeskriminalamt) ‘s S 500 Sonderschutz order not long ago. Below the Becker BE1691 radio, the ashtray is gone, replaced by the Kenwood radio panel. The switches of ADS, ASR and fresh air that were originally placed vertically on both sides of the center console are now placed horizontally at the bottom. The layout requires a special wood panel and back bracket, which is both practical and luxurious.
Although the Pullman also serves the president, the more traditional and less functional center console is retained. However, Beatrice’s ashtrays are not moved to the doors like regular Sonderschutz because they are usually used as a power supply for the flasher on the roof. According to GON’s requirements, the flasher wiring is connected to the B-pillar port, so that the flasher wire runs from the roof through the door gap to the port on the B-pillar. Special signals representing privileges are another topic. In previous cars supplied to the Kremlin, Mercedes only provided the wiring, and the equipment was installed by the customer, usually with a BOSCH flasher on the top and mini flashers on the front bumper. Now, Pullman will use Kranefeld’s newest Sputnik, hidden behind the air intakes on both sides of the front bumper. For Beatrice, it has not factory flasher. In addition, GON required that the sound and light could be controlled separately, so two independent buttons were set in the storage box in the center of the dashboard. When the special signal light is turned on, the fog light will also flash together, and the generator is hidden under the right rear passenger: this is a 4-seater car. The sound effect is from German police.
Although its main role is that of a leader, GON expects Beatrice to have the opportunity to be used as a VIP transportation, so there are independent rear seats, multi-contour seats, and flagpoles on both sides of the fenders. After careful discussion and design, construction of Beatrice and modification of the Pullman began in early October 1995. During this period, in November, GON also ordered a new Pullman, which was expected to be delivered a year later. Beatrice was completed on December 18, 1995. She has to wait, delivered to GON on December 26, 1995, together with the modified Pullman. GON sent a number of drivers to Mercedes for training to adapt to these cars, they found these cars much easier to handle and received the best results in the assessment.
Service history
Beatrice was registered in the Russian Federation in April 1996, after the creation of the FSO (Federal Protective Service) in 1995, all vehicles were renumbered, all armored Mercedes started with property number 600. Beatrice numbered #607, Pullman numbered #608. Beatrice’s registration plate number was В368НВ77, but GON never used the actual number and regularly changed the disguised number, the first number used was K102AX77. She first appeared with Pullman with Yeltsin in early 1996 as the leader of the presidential limousine. Now Pullman was Yeltsin’s only means of transportation for daily activities in Moscow, and the TRASCO, which was used for less than a year, returned to the storage. Beatrice had the opportunity to go everywhere with Pullman. Yeltsin continued to ride the ZIL in various cities of Russia during the election in exchange for patriotic vibes.
Beatrice missed a milestone on the flashing lights on the front. Mercedes has offered Kranefeld’s new Typ 40 as an option for sonderschtuz since early 1996, few months after the production of Beatrice. At the same time as the Pullman set was ordered, GON also placed an order for the construction of stretched Gelandewagens at Carl Friederichs in order to build an all-Mercedes fleet. When those cars were completed they also had the opportunity to install the latest Typ 40, which are brighter flashing lights. So Beatrice soon got her first retrofit in Moscow: the flashing lights on the grille were removed and the Kranefeld Typ 40 were installed on the front bumper. The GON workshop is a Mercedes-certified service facility so they installed it themselves, choosing a location closer to the middle than the factory location. When Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton walked in the Kremlin on April 21, 1996, Beatrice in the back had already received the new front bumper flashing lights.
Soon after, Yeltsin won the election, and then soon developed serious health problems. In September, Yeltsin stated he would undergo heart surgery, and Beatrice and Yeltsin rarely appeared during that time. On November 5, Yeltsin went to the Moscow Cardiology Research Center for surgery. According to his memoirs, “To avoid reporters that morning, I did not take the streched limousine, but the short black car that usually preceded the limousine to go to the hospital.” As the only leader, Beatrice took him to the surgery that day. During Yeltsin’s stay in the hospital, the second Pullman he ordered a year ago was ready, with the same specifications as the first one. The second Pullman was also delivered with a “servant”, another 1996 S 600 Sonderschuz, but it was not a leader, but was prepared for Yeltsin’s vacation in Sochi. Beatrice was still the only leader of Yeltsin’s team. Now the Pullman could take turns to get some rest, but Beatrice still had to run day and night. Late November, Beatrice and Yeltsin were discharged together.
As one of the GON’s most capable cars, Beatrice could also break down. By October 1998, the front door windshield first broke down after 33,286 km. Then, from October to December 1998, Beatrice’s transmission repeatedly slipped and lost power, which could not be resolved after multiple repairs. In three months, it traveled less than 40 km and was finally diagnosed as a damaged transmission control module. During Beatrice’s failure, GON lost its only leader, which directly led them to realize that they needed a reserve, immediately. Mercedes took out a 1995 S 600 Sonderschtz from the fleet and sold it to GON. This was a low-mileage used car in the color of two-tone 199 black metallic, and this car quickly replaced Beatrice’s position. When Beatrice returned, the 1995 S 600 turned to serve other officials, and Beatrice remained the only leader of GON. By the last day of 1999, when Yeltsin resigned, Beatrice had traveled less than 47,000 km.
The new president, Vladimir Putin, had his own plans for his fleet. Beatrice and Pullman did not immediately continue to serve the new president. During his tenure as acting president he already had his own fleet of 1995 S 600 sonderschtuz and 1997 TRASCO TSF 140-20, a lineup that Putin continued to maintain until the inauguration. Retired Yeltsin no longer needed much cars, but Beatrice did service him a little longer, when Yeltsin enjoy driving armored S-Klasse with his grandchild. Eventually they could be maintained while they rested. Beatrice backed to GON together with the Pullman in May 2000 for repairs, including replacing the brake booster and replacing the corroded front fenders.
Naturally, they missed Putin’s inauguration in May, as Putin wanted a pair of blue ones. The blue TRASCO ignored for 4 years was pulled out from storage again, along with the blue 1995 S 500 Sonderschutz that had previously been used by lower-level officials. Color matching was still important during this period, but not absolute. The position of leader was assigned to the metallic black 1995 S 600 and the azurite blue 1995 S 500, which escorted the newly purchased obsidian black Pullman and azurite blue TRASCO, respectively. Repeated breakdowns always gave Beatrice a chance to rest, and new leaders gradually replaced her. In April 2001 at 62068 km, Beatrice’s transmission burned out and returned to repair facility for diagnosis and repair.
When she returned to service again in 2002, due to her insignificance, she had the honor of participating in the photo series of Mercedes in December 2002, published in the first issue of the Russian Mercedes magazine, titled “No right to stop”. In this album, the fleet consisted of Beatrice, a 2000 Pullman Guard and three V 230s. This team was very characteristic of the times, Beatrice had just returned with new Federal Signal VAMA flashing lights. The Pullman Guard was freshly delivered and not yet in service, the V 230s were transitional replacement for the Gelandwagen, since 2 of 5 streched Gelandwagens had already crashed in roll over accident. The three different models were actually in different colors, but this is not obvious in the photo. Such a team would remain for a short time, only in 2003 to be precise.
Although still the only leader of the GON designed specifically for its purpose, Beatrice could not continue to serve the president due to her color and history of failures, so she accompanied Putin only for a short time. At the inauguration ceremony in 2004, Putin wanted a black motorcade, but it consisted of the 2000 Pullman Guard and the 1995 S 600 Sonderschtz. At this point, Beatrice no longer served as a leader and became the Kremlin’s car for lower level officials. The red flashing lights on the top were removed, and now there is only a blue one. Beatrice officially retired from the presidential fleet.
After serving as an escort for some Russian dignitaries, Beatrice’s mission level was further downgraded and she became a spare car in the convoy for foreign guests. According to the structure of the Russian official escort convoy, there should be a spare armored car after the luxury car, so after 2008 Beatrice often followed some more fashionable new S-Klasse armored luxury cars. In the last days, her front bumper flashing lights were updated again. Beatrice continued to serve in the GON until 2012. Last seen in motorcade when escorting the Danish Princess in September 2011.
Beatrice was withdrawn from GON service in June 2012 and sold at auction to a dealer in Moscow. It was then quickly resold to Dagestan, where I met her in 2017, and the rest is a very long story…