There is a theory, which is widespread among paranormal researchers, that the damned path that marks the history of some inanimate object can usually be traced back to some initial tragedy. According to such a hypothesis, negative thought images are capable of somehow still unclearly imprinting themselves in the material world, visible and felt by us. This idea has not yet been proven, but to confirm the existence of such forces, we will not have to go far - it is enough to peer into the damned path of the Mercedes-Benz limousine, into its death-carrying biography. The car first appeared on the stage of history in one of the most significant tragedies of the last century.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand with his wife in Sarajevo while they were traveling in this very car is considered the spark that sparked the First World War. And then a completely independent and absolutely amazing story of destruction associated with the machine itself begins.
As soon as the war in Europe began, the Mercedes passed into the hands of the renowned Austrian cavalry officer, General Patevek. While the Mercedes was used as a command vehicle, it managed to earn a reputation as a black messenger, and its owner was haunted by military failures. After the disastrous defeat at Valjevo, Patevek resigned and returned to his homeland, where he soon lost his mind. The car, meanwhile, passed to a junior officer of the same regiment, for whom this acquisition was equally unhappy.
Early 1915 - The captain, who received the car, crashed into the bumper of a truck and died along with the driver and two soldiers. When the peace treaty was signed, the Mercedes ended military service and went into the hands of civilians. Its first post-war owner was the Yugoslav commandant. And although the car was used quite rarely, it nevertheless turned out to be involved in several incidents, and the most serious of them happened in the fall of 1919, when the car rolled over at a turn, killing the driver and depriving the commandant of his hand.
In 1923, the car was auctioned off by the authorities and became the property of a successful doctor.
After two years of completely careless operation of the car, he met death at the wheel, crashing to death when the Mercedes rolled over again. Two peasants who were standing on the side of the road also died. But even after that, the bloody path of the car did not end. Of the last four civilian car owners, only one did not die in a fatal road accident. This man, who was the only exception, a wealthy jeweler, took his own life.
It was not only the owners of the damned car that suffered: a Serbian farmer was hit by the wheels, and the owner of the garage was killed in a collision while checking the ominous car after repairs made by him. The last owner of the car, Tibor Hirschfield, died in a head-on collision with a bus, returning from a wedding, and with him four of its passengers. The number of victims of accidents, on the damned path of a Mercedes, thus turned out to be just terrible: 22 deaths! Fortunately for motorists, the car was safely locked in a Vienna museum.
The story told is probably the most impressive though. This car is not an isolated case on the list of damned crews.
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The sporting Porsche that killed movie star James Dean in 1955 has earned the same reputation. Purchased by a garage owner named George Barris, the mangled car slid off a truck while being unloaded, breaking both of the mechanic's legs.
Considering the car hopeless in terms of repair, Barris decided to take it apart for parts, but, unfortunately, this did not diminish the power of the curse. The engine was sold to a doctor who, in addition to his profession, was very fond of sports racing, and the very first incident in which he found himself after installing the damned engine on his car turned out to be fatal for him. In the same accident, the driver of another car, which also carried spare parts from the Porsche man-eater James Dean, also perishes.
Meanwhile, in the garage, someone came up with a brilliant idea to restore the car body and present it as the "death crew" of a movie star. This creepy undertaking was crowned with success, and the car was dragged in tow in a trailer through the southern states of America, where, as it turned out, he aroused great public interest. But unlike its previous owner, the "black carriage" did not lose its vitality at all, and even the truck that participated in this strange show was involved in several strange incidents.
In Sacramento, a car broke off its leash and broke a teen's thigh; on the way to the next attraction, he fell out of the body and killed a pedestrian; in Oregon, the same truck driving the car crashed into a store wall; in New Orleans, the Porsche fell from its supporting structures and immediately fell apart into several pieces. Finally, in 1960, the car disappeared from sight for a long time, and then fell off a train while traveling to an exhibition in Los Angeles.
Nikolai Nepomniachtchi