The open Mercedes was one of the Nazi regime's most effective props. Hitler understood the theatre of power, and few images served it better than the Führer standing rigid in a great open car, arm outstretched, rolling at walking pace through streets packed with roaring crowds — the leader offered up to his people, and his people to him. This six-wheeled Mercedes-Benz G4, the factory's W31, was built for exactly that: a huge, powerful touring car that could carry Hitler and his entourage over rough ground to review troops and parade before the party faithful. Only fifty-seven were ever made for the Nazi elite, and just three survive today — part of why a model of one is so prized by collectors of the period.

K&C's revised model seats a whole slice of the Nazi hierarchy in the silver-grey six-wheeler: Hitler standing and saluting in the brown Party shirt, an SS man at the wheel, and behind them two of the SS's most senior figures — Sepp Dietrich, commander of Hitler's Leibstandarte bodyguard, and Karl Wolff in a steel helmet — with two more SS bodyguards watchful in the back. It pairs with the collection's standing Hitler and its portraits of Sepp Dietrich and the SS-Brigadeführer. As the centrepiece of a parade or motorcade diorama, the big open Mercedes is exactly the stage the regime built it to be.

Model: LAH259 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / car with six figures