 |
| Image courtesy ArtCurial |
Two Mercedes Benz 600 limousines once belonging to the opera singer Maria Callas are to lead the sale of a vehicle collection at the French auction house Artcurial on Monday.
Estimated to fetch between US$67,000 and US$112,000, the limousines were purchased by the singer in 1966 and 1971, and were used to shuttle her around during her European tours. One is even outfitted with a radio that can be controlled from the back seat.
The two Mercedes are part of a collection of 11 “Classic and Racing Cars from the Estate of a Friend of Maria Callas,” taking place at the Hôtel Hermitage in Monte-Carlo, Monaco.
Both cars come with the original user manuals, an insurance certificate in Callas’s name and an original service book, which specifies Callas as the first owner.
Callas appears to have been an admirer of Mercedes and various references to the luxury cars can be found in her biographies. Her boyfriend, Aristotle Onassis, once bought her a different model by the German automaker, according to an account in Maria Callas Remembered. Other anecdotes talk of Callas’s car blocking traffic in European cities, as she was hounded by press and autograph seekers. Callas died in 1977, at which point the cars were transferred to the current owner.
 |
| Maria Callas in her 1971 Mercedes-Benz 600 limousine. Image courtesy ArtCurial |
First published at Operavore, July 19, 2015, part of WQXR New York Public Radio