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Intrige uit het oosten: het mysterieuze leven van een Sovjet-Rolls-Royce
Niet alles wat over het wereldwijde web wordt rondgebazuind is waar, maar bij het zien van deze foto moesten we toch even op ons hoofd krabben en ons afvragen. Het is een Rolls-Royce Wraith - een zeldzaamheid op zich - maar wat echt onze aandacht trok was de informatie die erbij zat: deze auto zou in 1939 zijn geschonken door nazi-minister Joachim von Ribbentrop aan Sovjet-premier Vyacheslav Molotov. Dat klopt, de ondertekenaars van het Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, dat Hitler groen licht gaf voor de invasie van Polen datzelfde jaar. Laat dat even bezinken voordat je je commentaar hieronder plaatst.
De vraag die we ons moeten stellen is of het echt waar kan zijn, en wij denken waarschijnlijk niet. Laten we beginnen met de Rolls-Royce zelf. Hij draagt een gestroomlijnde coupécarrosserie van Erdmann & Rossi. De Berlijnse carrosseriebouwer bouwde er naar verluidt twee, waarvan er één op de Berlijnse Autosalon van 1939 stond.
Rolls-Royce historici haastten zich om toe te voegen dat er geen mogelijke Von Ribbentrop of Molotov connectie is, omdat de twee Erdmann & Rossi Wraiths respectievelijk gingen naar een edelman genaamd Michael von Althan van Silezië, een Europese regio verspreid over Polen, Bohemen en Duitsland, en ene Herr Doberg van een bedrijf genaamd Lindemann KG in Duitsland. Verdere informatie zou zeer op prijs worden gesteld.
Kijk nu eens naar die nummerplaat. Is het Russisch? Wij dachten van wel. De meest plausibele bewering die we konden vinden is dat de auto na de oorlog als oorlogstrofee is meegenomen door de USSR. Sommigen zeggen dat Molotov de auto heeft gebruikt toen de oorlog voorbij was, maar er worden ook andere Russische eigenaren genoemd met een discutabele waarheidsgetrouwheid: de geestelijke Alexy I van Moskou en Nikalai Baranov, hoofdarchitect van Leningrad. Zijn dit slechts geruchten of is er meer aan de hand?
Hoewel de foto er historisch uitziet, is hij misschien niet zo oud als je zou denken. Na Rusland zou de Rolls-Royce in de jaren 1950 zijn weg hebben gevonden naar Estland en vervolgens naar Letland. We kwamen nog meer foto's tegen van de Rolls-Royce, genomen in het begin van de jaren 1970 in wat waarschijnlijk zijn Estse periode is - let op dezelfde nummerplaat en die profielbanden! De gebouwen op de achtergrond op de eerste zwart-wit foto dateren misschien ook uit die periode... Wat denk jij?
Woorden: Jeroen Booij; foto's: archief, eag.vanatehnika.ee
Gepubliceerd:
woensdag mei 1st, 2024
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Reacties
Maxim Kartashev
17 December 2025, 11:39
This car is the model 25/30HP Wraith (chassis no. WXA106, engine no. B5 WF) with the body of the German coachbuilder Erdmann und Rossi - Jos. Neuss. The car was painted in very prestigious Fisch-Silber color. In February 1939 this Rolls-Royce became the star of the last pre-war Berlin Motor Show. The car was built by order of Reichsgraf Michael von Althann, governor of the Mittenwalde community in Silesia. The body design was created by the outstanding automotive architect Johannes Beeskow.
There is an unconfirmed legend that it was taken out of Germany as a trophy and given to the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, and he, in turn, handed it over to Patriarch of All Russia Alexy I. It is known for certain that, in 1976, founder of the Riga’s Antique Car Club and director of the Riga’s Motor Museum Viktor Kulbergs found a unique car on a farm near the Estonian town of Pärnu. At that time the owner of car was, a mechanic of milking equipment. For two years, Victor Kulbergs persuaded the owner to sell him a car. In the end, he succeeded. The car was on display at the Motor Museum in Riga for, and later it ended up in the collection of Saulius Karosas, the richest citizen of Lithuania. The car was restored to perfect condition. It managed to take part in several elegance competitions. In March 2018 collection of Saulius Karosas, including this car, was on display at the Retro Classics Exhibition in Stuttgart.
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There is an unconfirmed legend that it was taken out of Germany as a trophy and given to the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, and he, in turn, handed it over to Patriarch of All Russia Alexy I. It is known for certain that, in 1976, founder of the Riga’s Antique Car Club and director of the Riga’s Motor Museum Viktor Kulbergs found a unique car on a farm near the Estonian town of Pärnu. At that time the owner of car was, a mechanic of milking equipment. For two years, Victor Kulbergs persuaded the owner to sell him a car. In the end, he succeeded. The car was on display at the Motor Museum in Riga for, and later it ended up in the collection of Saulius Karosas, the richest citizen of Lithuania. The car was restored to perfect condition. It managed to take part in several elegance competitions. In March 2018 collection of Saulius Karosas, including this car, was on display at the Retro Classics Exhibition in Stuttgart.
Hergen Deuter
08 Mei 2024, 01:29
The car in the photo above is obviously WXA106 shown at the Berlin Motor Show, subsequently owned by the Austro-Prussian nobleman Michael Karl Graf von Althann and perhaps ordered as a wedding gift for his English wife Vera Alys Levinge. The picture below must show WHC45, which was acquired by the successful margarine manufacturer Wilhelm Lindemann from Doberg, near Bünde, Westphalia, and apparently later disappeared.
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Joschka Röben
29 September 2024, 11:08
The car shown in the picture below is not WHC45. It's a 25/30hp, chassis GZR33. WHC45 was never bodied due to outbreak of the Second World War, as records from 1947 prove. While the last Phantom III chassis delivered to Germany/Erdmann & Rossi survived and is now in the Nethercut Collection, the last Wraith chassis, WHC45, disappeared.
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Jan van der Gaag
11 Mei 2024, 16:30
Ik was in 1971 in het Lenin museum in Moskou en daar hing een foto van de auto van Lenin en dat was een Rolls-Royce. Heeft niets met deze auto te maken, maar ik vind het leuk om dit even te melden.
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I was in the Lenin Museum in Moscow in 1971 and there was a picture of Lenin's car and it was a Rolls Royce. It has nothing to do with this car, but I wanted to mention it.
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I was in the Lenin Museum in Moscow in 1971 and there was a picture of Lenin's car and it was a Rolls Royce. It has nothing to do with this car, but I wanted to mention it.
Alexander Koehnlechner
07 Mei 2024, 10:01
I think that Ribbentrop would rather have given away a top German product like a Mercedes-Benz or a Maybach.
I remember around 30 years ago when the Iron Curtain became full of holes and the first pre-war exiles from the Eastern Bloc came to Germany. Every Mercedes on offer was Adolf Hitler's and every Horch was Eva Braun's...
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I remember around 30 years ago when the Iron Curtain became full of holes and the first pre-war exiles from the Eastern Bloc came to Germany. Every Mercedes on offer was Adolf Hitler's and every Horch was Eva Braun's...
William Lee Kohler
06 Mei 2024, 11:08
Just a personal comment: perhaps a German official might not want to touch a British car, but if it was something that Molotov wanted very much said German official might do it to seal the deal. It happens all the time in politics.
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Marco Makaus
05 Mei 2024, 19:39
I find it very unlikely that a top ranking Nazi would touch a British product, let alone use it for an official deal with Russia. In addition, it is interesting to note that on the second picture we can see something that could be a sort of rally plaque in front of the radiator. I think that Mr. Thomsen's comment about Karosas is the strongest lead we have here.
I remember seeing WXA106 at the Uniques Concours in Florence in September, 2012, where it was indeed entered by Mr. Karosas together with a Maybach SW38 cabriolet from 1947. With a bit of luck you may be able to see the catalogue entry below.
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I remember seeing WXA106 at the Uniques Concours in Florence in September, 2012, where it was indeed entered by Mr. Karosas together with a Maybach SW38 cabriolet from 1947. With a bit of luck you may be able to see the catalogue entry below.
Henning Thomsen
05 Mei 2024, 11:28
Several things brings me to think that this car was owned by the late Lithuanian oligarch Saulius Karosas, who mainly collected Erdmann & Rossi bodied cars. His SK collection manager, Emmanuel, may confirm this.
It’s not the prettiest body on a Rolls Royce, but no doubt an interesting story with its eastern European connection.
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It’s not the prettiest body on a Rolls Royce, but no doubt an interesting story with its eastern European connection.
Sue Jones
01 Mei 2024, 12:20
This would be WXA106, which was a war trophy. Ordered by Michael Reichsgraf von Althan, it has been restored as you can see from these photos found on the internet.
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There was a National Socialist model enterprise: Wilhelm Lindemann KG Westphalian Margarine Factory Doberg near Bünde/Westphalia
Source: German Historical Museum, Berlin