Behind the wheel: Daimler-Benz was the most active Western auto brand in the USSR

In 1973, a large company exhibition was held in Moscow Sokolniki, and soon the concern opened its official representative office in the capital. In addition to truck tractors, the USSR also used the legendary all-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz Unimog – a hybrid of a car and a tractor.

In 1978, the USSR received three comfortable Mercedes-Benz O302 intercity buses, and before the 1980 Olympics, Moscow received 16 ambulances based on the Mercedes-Benz L409. But the greatest surprise in the 1970s was caused by foreign police cars among Soviet citizens. There were cars of different brands – for some time one Porsche even served in the Moscow police. However, Mercedes-Benz and BMW were the most popular. At first, they mainly accompanied government motorcades, but over time the number of foreign cars with police livery grew.

Mercedes-Benz W108 and W109 series, produced from 1965 to 1972, were the first to be used in the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs system. In the 1970s, the company annually supplied several dozen passenger cars to the Soviet Union. Later, sedans of the W116 family entered service, and before the Olympics, the Mercedes-Benz W123. They also bought BMWs: starting with the E3 sedan (produced since 1968, the predecessor of the 7 Series), and then the BMW E12 sedans appeared in the police.

The Bavarian car also went down in history through cinema: in the film “Bouquet at the Reception” (1978, series “The Investigation is Conducted by Experts”), a police BMW in the finale caught up with a Volga taxi captured by bandits in Sokolniki.

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