Troops uncovered Saddam Hussein’s car collection after invading Baghdad. It consisted of 60 American and European luxury vehicles, including an Al Capone-style prohibition-era black Packard cabriolet.
Troops uncovered Saddam Hussein’s car collection after invading Baghdad. It consisted of 60 American and European luxury vehicles, including an Al Capone-style prohibition-era black Packard cabriolet.
The reported that many of the vehicles, however, were destroyed during the war and others were stolen.
The collection included a 1917 Mercedes, a black 1930s black Packard convertible, a pink 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, a black armoured 1970s Cadillac Fleetwood, a 1960s Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and 1980s Zimmer (Lincoln Town Car chassis, body based on 1930s Duesenberg). There was also an authentic London taxi, Packard “woody” station wagon and petrol-powered buggies.
American forces said 45 of the reported 60 cars in the collection were destroyed or stolen. Some of the vehicles had been used to blockade entrances to the palace and American tanks rolled over them.
One sergeant said that looters rushed straight to the presidential garages. “They knew exactly where they were,” he said. He said many of the cars had fewer than 1 600 km on the clock and had the keys in the ignition. However, almost all the cars had empty fuel tanks.
The newspaper reported that Saddam’s son Uday also had a big car collection, but Saddam destroyed the vehicles in 1993 after a feud with his son.