The Mercedes in The Hangover is a 1965 220SE Cabriolet. It is not a 600 Pullman. Todd Phillips’ 2009 Warner Bros. film puts a two-door W111 convertible, top down, through a weekend in Las Vegas. The 600 Pullman is a different car: a long-wheelbase W100 limousine, the one Blofeld and Kamal Khan use in the Bond films. If the photograph has twin round lamps, a short door and a folded soft top, it is the 220SE. If it has six doors, it is the Pullman, and it was never in this film.
Mercedes-Benz built 2,729 of the 220 SE Cabriolets, from September 1961 to October 1965. The engine is a 2,195 cc inline-six, 120 PS. The production borrowed five cars: three real cabriolets and two coupes cut down to look like convertibles. The plan was to wreck the cut coupes. A real convertible was hurt anyway.
220SE Cabriolet, and the Pullman It Is Not
Two cars, two chassis codes. The first column is the screen car. The second is the limousine people name by mistake.
| Specification | Hangover picture car | 600 Pullman |
|---|---|---|
| Model | 220SE Cabriolet | 600 Pullman |
| Chassis | W111.023 | W100, long wheelbase |
| Body | Two-door cabriolet, Paul Bracq coupe line | Four-door or six-door limousine |
| Built | September 1961 – October 1965 | August 1963 – 1981 |
| Production | 2,729 cabriolets | 2,677 W100s in total. See the split below |
| Engine | M127.984 2,195 cc inline-six, Bosch injection | M100 6,332 cc SOHC V8 |
| Power | 120 PS (88 kW; 118 hp) | 250 PS (184 kW; 247 hp) at 4,000 rpm |
| Gearbox | 4-speed manual; automatic was an option | Automatic |
| In The Hangover | Yes. Five picture cars | No |
| On a Bond set | No | Yes. Blofeld, and Kamal Khan’s Pullman in Octopussy |
Five Cars, and a Tiger in One of Them
Autoblog’s account of the fleet, written when one survivor was listed, is the one worth keeping. The company had three genuine cabriolets and two coupes that were chopped so they would read as convertibles in a wreck. One convertible and one chopped coupe took most of the visible damage. Three cars came out the other side. The two real drop-tops that survived were later sent to charity auctions.
A silver-grey metallic cabriolet, dark blue leather, offered afterwards with the claim that it had done most of the interior scenes, is the car people can actually point at. The cabin had been ruined and then restored. An eBay listing of that period asked $95,000, with a minimum bid at $85,000. That is an asking price from the years just after the film. It is not a price today, and it is not a price for every 220SE.
The tiger is Mike Tyson’s animal in the plot. It got into an interior. Reports also say a genuine convertible was destroyed when the crew had meant to sacrifice a chopped coupe. Treat that as a reported production mistake, not as a VIN you can buy a certificate for. Some write-ups add a 1969 280SE to the fleet. That may be true of a support car. It is not a reason to rename the hero. The car in the wide shots is a 220SE Cabriolet.
Paint is the other trap. Night photography and the stunt cars make a lot of viewers say the car was black. The documented interior survivor was silver grey. The photographs on this page are a studio concept of the model, in black, so the shape is clear. They are not a claim that one picture car left Stuttgart in that paint.
120 PS, and 2,729 Cabriolets
Paul Bracq drew the W111 coupe and cabriolet. The 220SE Cabriolet uses the M127.984 six: 2,195 cc, Bosch mechanical injection, 120 PS (88 kW; 118 hp), four-speed manual as the standard box. It is a comfortable touring car. It is not a limousine and it is not quick by the standard of the film’s driving. The comedy is that a father’s irreplaceable cabriolet is the thing the weekend destroys.
The cabriolet total, 2,729, is the published Mercedes figure for September 1961 through October 1965. The coupe of the same years is a separate, larger series. Do not add the two and then call the sum a convertible. A 220SE with an automatic and air conditioning, which some of the picture cars had, is an optioned car inside that 2,729, not a different model.
The 600 Pullman Belongs to Bond
The W100, the Grosser Mercedes, ran from August 1963 to 1981. The arithmetic that adds up is 2,677 cars: 2,190 short-wheelbase saloons, 304 four-door Pullmans, 124 six-door Pullmans and 59 Landaulets. The 304 and the 124 are the long-wheelbase cars people mean by Pullman. The engine is the M100, 6,332 cc, single overhead cam, 250 PS (184 kW; 247 hp) at 4,000 rpm. When it went on sale it was the most expensive production car in the world.
That is the car in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever, under Blofeld, and the Pullman Kamal Khan arrives in during Octopussy. It also appears in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? None of those films is The Hangover. The full Bond list, including the 600 where it actually sits, is in every James Bond car.
Batman Garage Verdict
Search the film and you will find a 1965 220SE Cabriolet: two doors, a soft top, 120 PS, one of 2,729. Search “600 Pullman” and you will find a limousine from another genre. A listing that says “the Hangover Mercedes” still has to say which of the five picture cars it is, whether the roof was always a cabriolet, and whether the silver-grey interior car is the one on the trailer. The studio shots here show the model. They do not show a surviving VIN. Next to it in this set are KITT’s 1982 Trans Am and the 1972 Gran Torino Sport.
Sources
- Autoblog — 1965 220SE, three cabriolets and two chopped coupes, later eBay ask of $95,000
- HotCars — 1965 220SE Cabriolet, five picture cars, three cabriolets and two chopped coupes
- Mercedes-Benz W111, Wikipedia — 220 SE Cabriolet, September 1961 – October 1965, 2,729 built
- Mercedes-Benz 600, Wikipedia — W100 totals, M100 V8, Pullman and Landaulet split
- Every James Bond car — where a 600 actually appears on screen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Mercedes in The Hangover a 600 Pullman?
No. The 2009 film uses a 1965 Mercedes-Benz 220SE Cabriolet, chassis family W111. A 600 Pullman is a W100 long-wheelbase limousine built from 1963 to 1981. The Pullman is the car Blofeld and Kamal Khan ride in the Bond films. It is not the convertible in The Hangover.
What Mercedes was used in The Hangover?
A 1965 220SE Cabriolet, model code W111.023, designed in the Paul Bracq coupe and cabriolet line. The engine is the M127.984 2,195 cc inline-six with Bosch injection, rated at 120 PS (88 kW; 118 hp), with a four-speed manual. The production used five picture cars: three genuine cabriolets and two coupes cut to look like convertibles.
How many 220SE Cabriolets were built?
2,729. Mercedes-Benz built the 220 SE Cabriolet from September 1961 to October 1965. That total is the cabriolet only. The coupe is a separate body and a much larger run. A later eBay listing asked $95,000 for one interior car from the film. That is a historical asking price, not a price today.
What is a Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman?
The W100 Grosser Mercedes, built from August 1963 to 1981. The published total is 2,677 cars: 2,190 short-wheelbase saloons, 304 four-door Pullmans, 124 six-door Pullmans and 59 Landaulets. The engine is the M100 6,332 cc V8, 250 PS (184 kW; 247 hp) at 4,000 rpm. At launch it was the most expensive production car on sale. On screen it belongs to Bond, not to The Hangover.
Was a real 220SE convertible destroyed in The Hangover?
The plan was to wreck the two coupes that had been cut into fake convertibles, and to keep the real cabriolets. Reports say a genuine convertible was damaged or destroyed anyway, and that a tiger used in the plot chewed an interior. One survivor later offered for sale, a silver-grey car, was described as the interior car and had been restored after filming. Do not treat every Hangover Mercedes listing as that one VIN.
