Dictators And Their Cars

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We'll start our list with the most recognized and widely known dictators of all times, Adolf Hitler. The Fuhrer was a Mercedes Benz patron. His very first car was a Merc and in his lifetime he owned 9 Mercedes Benz cars.

Seen here is the 1939 Grosser Mercedes 770K, which was commonly used by Hitler as a parade car. Hitler was also a key person behind the early success of Volkswagen and the iconic Beetle.

Hitler's Italian counterpart and the leader of the National Fascist Party was an ardent admirer of the Italian Alfa Romeo brand. One of his favorite Alfa Romeo vehicle, a 1937 2300 MM, has even gone on sale on eBay for $1,200,000.

Seen in the image is the 1939 Lancia Austra Parade car.

The first leader of the Soviet Union was a Rolls Royce man and owned nearly a dozen of them in his lifetime. One well known vehicle he owned was a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. This special vehicle had several modifications made to it to enable it to cope with the harsh Soviet climate. The car was capable of running on alcohol, a fuel better suited than petrol in cold climates, and had caterpillar tracks instead of regular wheels to cope with the winter snow.

Stalin had a much larger collection compared to his predecessor which included some American brands such as Packard and Cadillac. Stalin even received a 1937 Packard V12 as a gift from US President Franklin. D. Roosevelt. So great was his love for Packard that he got the ZIS-110 built. A Soviet built car, the ZIS-110 (seen in the image) was based entirely on the 1942 Packard Super Eight.

Idi Amin was the 3rd President of Uganda who seized power on January 1971 and remained the head of the state till April 1979. The Ugandan dictator had thousands of vehicles to call his own, all of which had once belonged to people of Indian descent, who were forced to flee the country in 1972. Like most dictators, Mercedes Benz is said to have been Amin's favourite. Seen here is the famous Mercedes Benz Pullman.

The Jeep was a common sight in Uganda in Amin's days and was used by the Ugandan military.

Of all the dictators till date the Iraqi dictator perhaps had the most extensive collection of luxury cars, which is said to have exceeded 60 in number. However, most of them are now lost due to the war.

Saddam Hussein's collection is said to have included cars from every era imaginable. Sports cars, vintage vehicles, luxury sedans, luxury SUVs and even an authentic London taxi were reported to have been found in underground parking spaces.

The Libyan dictator had the poorest taste when it came to cars and mostly resorted to building poorly designed replicas of luxury cars. However, one car that received a lot of limelight was the "Libyan Rocket". This funny looking sedan, said to be shaped like a rocket, was built by the Libyan Arab Domestic Investment. Funnier still was the idea behind the car, which the makers said, was to "preserve human life all over the world".

Not all dictators have been featured here. You are welcome to name those we have not mentioned and their cars.