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Topic starter
02/11/2024 5:33 pm
I post today in the ‘Lounge’ because although I am showing two 1/43 models and giving a history, that history pertains more to a situation and people - one person in particular - rather than a history of the cars. The situation and person, King Gazzi I of Iraq (as well as Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler) add to the car’s history as though the cars themselves are witness to the unfolding story……….
On their stand at the February 1935 Automobile and Motorcycle Exhibition, Berlin, Erdmann und Rossi exhibited two distinct roadsters with fully retractable convertible tops, based upon the same design concept: a 2 Litre Opel, Chassis Nº 11417 and a 2.9 Litre Mercedes-Benz. Erdmann und Rossi records show that the Opel was commissioned by ‘Adam Opel AG’ and it is noted that it was for exhibition use. Whilst the Mercedes-Benz was commissioned by Erdmann und Rossi themselves, doubtless intended for exhibition alongside the Opel.
Below: original 2.9 Litre Mercedes-Benz and 2 Litre Opel Chassis Nº 11417
1/43 Resin 2 Litre Opel Chassis Nº 11417 by Brausi at autopioneer.de
1/43 Resin Mercedes-Benz 540K order Nº2698 5 December 1935, engine Nº123705 by EMC
As ever, comments and or corrections would be most welcome.
A visitor to that exhibition was the young Hashemite ruler of Iraq, King Gazzi I who, taken by the Mercedes-Benz, tried to buy it, but was advised that he could not as it was considered insufficiently powered for such a prestigious owner. Instead, according head of design at Erdmann und Rossi, Johannes Beeskow the same body was rebuilt to accommodate the larger, Mercedes-Benz 540K chassis. At the end of 1935 and in this form - with compressor supercharger - the car was personally gifted to King Gazzi, bearing the king's coat of arms on the doors, by Adolf Hitler on behalf the German State.
King Gazzi’s father Faisal I, had led his Hashemite forces (alongside Lawrence of Arabia) against Ottoman imperial control, yet after World War I they found themselves under British domination instead. Faisal I was an early proponent of the nascent Arab nationalist movement, wanting to unite the now broken Hashemite kingdom: a general aim continued by Gazzi on his accession in 1933. King Gazzi viewed control of Iraq’s oil resources as central to national security; he supported a military coup to wrest control from the pro-British civil government, headed by prime-minister Nuri Pasha al-Said and later still, proposed that Kuwait be annexed to Iraq as having been part of Mesopatamia prior to allied division at the Versailles conference.
British secret services had already tried to undermine Gazzi’s position by informing his wife that he was homosexual - a dubious claim given blackmail was among Britain’s favoured methods of securing compliance and disclosing such details, if true, would not further their ends. Ultimately he was murdered, and with his three year old son being too young to rule, the British were able to establish a regency under Fasal II’s uncle 'Abd al-Ilah.
King Gazzi’s murder has variously been attributed to British 'security personnel’. As having been ordered by the Prime Minister Nuri al-Said - who was unpopular amongst the military and broader, Iraqi society for his pro-western conservatism, anti-communism, and anti pan-Arabism; and more bizarrely, on the orders of his wife, Queen Aliya, second daughter of 'Ali bin Hussein, King of the Hijaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca. Perhaps relating to Britain’s security service’s earlier imputions?
British newsreels at the time claimed King Gazzi drove into a lamp post in his palace grounds, whereas a cursory look at the scene reveals his rather sturdy 1939 Buick had apparently struck what appears to be barely a sapling in the middle of open space - which had clearly not toppled; crushing the windscreen and the young king, as British authorities claimed.
In April 1941 a further military coup was attempted with the help of Germany’s Abwehr, aimed at aligning Iraq with the Axis powers and finally gaining true independence. But this was countered by a combined Allied force composed of the Jordanian Arab Legion, the Royal Air Force and other British units. The civil government was restored, however the young king Faisal II did not return to Iraq until after the war, and was ultimately executed in 1958, along with the royal family, in the military coup that would eventually see Saddam Hussein come to power.
At some point the car reportedly came into the hands of King Hussein of Jordan, a keen collector, and a cousin, once removed from King Gazzi, who in 1986 had it stripped of paint then shipped to Germany for a full restoration. It then found its way back to Bagdad and in March 2003 King Gazzi’s Mercedes-Benz 540K was rediscovered by U.S. forces in Saddam Hussein’s underground garage, protected by a dusty tarpaulin and in full working order. Thus, just as history comes full circle, so too, does the car!
03/11/2024 2:23 am
great story Charles thank you. Stories behind so many cars are as interesting as the cars themselves.
Topic starter
03/11/2024 5:04 am
@geoff-jowett Thanks Geoff, as I said in the piece, this particular history has less to do with the car itself. But I wonder, had Erdmann & Rossi not designed this fabulous style - which appears to pre-date Figoni & Falaschi's Paris Salon car - would any of us have heard of King Gazzi today?
03/11/2024 6:17 am
Quite a cast of characters. A great story and outstanding cars. Charles, thanks for sharing this with us.
John Bono
North Jersey
03/11/2024 7:09 am
Excellent research and account. Nice cast of characters - car-wise! 
Topic starter
03/11/2024 7:21 am
@sizedoesmatter & @perrone1 It is quite a cast isn't it? If a script writer took it to the studio boss, he'd be laughed out of the office for it being too far-fetched.
03/11/2024 7:23 am
Yes sir my friend - Truth IS stranger than fiction!@sizedoesmatter & @perrone1 It is quite a cast isn't it? If a script writer took it to the studio boss, he'd be laughed out of the office for it being too far-fetched.
03/11/2024 9:48 am
Charles, I fully agree with you that a studio would find this to be too far fetched for a movie. The reality is that the geographical area where all of this takes place is still in turmoil today. I wonder what cars might be involved and if they are of any significance?
Topic starter
03/11/2024 9:54 am
@bob-jackman I think it might be the case that dictators and autocrats ( 😀 ) tend not to play golf when not at the office - they drive flashy cars!
03/11/2024 10:34 am
Amazing story...plus ça change...
Topic starter
03/11/2024 10:45 am
@paul-rouffa Indeed, as one draws away one sees the same pattern in repeat.