Eight infamous dictators and their car of choice

by Visitor

They say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That’s definitely the case for the following 8 dictators. They maintained absolute power through iron-fisted control and used virtually limited funds to fund extravagant lifestyles. Of course, no dictator’s image is complete without a really cool car. So here’s a look at eight infamous dictators and the cars they owned.

Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya from 1969 to 2011. During his 42 year reign, he special ordered a number of tricked out rides. In addition to owning a BMW 7 series and a Mercedes S-Class limo, he ordered a custom Fiat which cost $260,000. How does one spend over a quarter of a million dollars on a fiat you ask? He had the Fiat trimmed with real gold.

Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier

Jean-Claude Duvalier took over as dictator of Haiti at the age of 19 when his father died. While in power, he owned a number of old Ferraris as well as a Mercedes S-Class which doubled as his escape vehicle when the people finally rioted.

Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina

Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assignation in 1961. He considered himself a car enthusiast and was especially fond of the Ferrari brand. Fittingly, he met his end while in a vehicle, a Chevrolet Bell Air. Military officers ambushed his motorcade and shot him dead.

Kim Jong-II

Most people know North Korea as the “hermit nation.” Not much information gets out of the country but it was reported that Kim Jong-II had a thing for Mercedes. He reportedly bought 20 Mercedes costing 20 million dollars out of an 80 million dollar humanitarian budget.

Saddam Hussein (and sons)

The Hussein regime had no shortage of luxury cars. When American forces finally toppled the dictator they found a pink Ferrari Testarossa, a Ferrari F40, a couple of Porsche 911s and a Mercedes s600 Limo.

Adolf Hitler

Hitler is considered by many to be the most evil man that ever lived. As it turns out, he was a huge fan of Mercedes-Benz. He owned a Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet D convertible of which only 8 were made.

Mohammad Reza Shah “The Shah”

“The Shah” isn’t famous for any one car or even a car brand. He’s known just for having so many of them. In fact, there’s a whole museum in Iran housed with only his vehicles.

Benito Mussolini

Mussolini’s car of choice was Alfa Romeos. He owned a number of them during his 18 year regime. They still crop up occasionally. Last year, an Alfa Romeo that he had given to his mistress was auctioned off in Paris.

For affordable car insurance rates call (888) 290-4130. Auto news brought to you by aaaratedinsurance.com
Source: autoblog.com/2015/04/21/notorious-dictators-cars-list/