What cars were in Brezhnev’s private collection? (PHOTOS)

01

Leonid Brezhnev’s private car collection included the most expensive executive cars of the era. In the photo: A second-generation Nissan ‘President’ (1973).

Vladimir Pesnya/Pressphotos/Getty Images

02
Brezhnev learned to drive during the Great Patriotic War. Subsequently, he drove all the cars from his collection himself. In the photo: Brezhnev’s driver’s license was put up for auction in November 2019 and went for 1.55 million rubles (approx. $24,000). The identity of the buyer was not disclosed.

Leonid Brezhnev's driving license

Kirill Kalinnikov/Sputnik

03
Leonid Brezhnev in Poland in 1974 with his GAZ-13 ‘Chaika’ government limousine.

Eduard Pesov/Sputnik

04
The ZIL-111G was exclusively produced from 1962 to 1967, however only 38 were made in total. Brezhnev was in this car during the assassination attempt that took place on the Red Square in 1969.

Ruslan Krivobok/Sputnik

05
Richard Nixon presented Leonid Brezhnev with the keys to a dark blue Lincoln Continental with special black velour upholstery during his first business trip to the U.S. in 1973. “Special Good Wishes – Greetings” was engraved on the dashboard.

“He got behind the wheel and motioned me into the passenger seat,” President Nixon once recalled. “The head of my Secret Service detail went pale as I climbed in and we took off down one of the narrow roads that run around the perimeter of Camp David…. At one point, there is a very steep slope with a sign at the top reading: ‘Slow, dangerous curve.’ Brezhnev was driving more than 50 miles an hour as we approached the slope. I reached over and said, ‘Slow down, slow down,’ but he paid no attention. When we reached the bottom there was a squeal of rubber as he slammed on the breaks and made the turn… ‘You are an excellent driver,’ I replied. ‘I would never have been able to make that turn at the speed at which we were traveling.’

06
Citroen SM coupe, presented to Brezhnev in 1971 by French President Georges Pompidou. The car could reach speeds of up to 225 km/h. But Brezhnev noted that the Citroen felt “too cramped, and the lauded Italian engine is painfully noisy”.

07
In 1966, a sports sedan Maserati ‘Quattroporte’ was presented to Brezhnev by the Italian Communist Party. With a 4.1-liter V8 256 horsepower engine, the car could reach speeds of up to 230 km/h. However, Brezhnev did not like this car and almost never drove it – when it was purchased by a Finnish collector in 1994, it had only 9,000 km on the tachometer.

08
A 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SE ‘Pullman’ (W100) (left) presented to Brezhnev by Willy Brandt, the then Chancellor of Germany. There were only seven such cars ever made.

09
This 1960 Opel Kapitän was presented to Brezhnev by his daughter and son-in-law.

10
Leonid Brezhnev with his granddaughter Vika at the wheel of one of his Mercedes-Benz cars.

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