History's Most Infamous Car

History's Most Infamous Car

Legends about cursed or haunted cars have been around almost as long as the automobile itself. As the weather turns cooler and the nights grow longer, it's only natural to want to retell a few of the old stories. We may not have a campfire, but here's one about one of the most infamous vehicles to have ever been on the road.

One of my favorite stories is about the 1910 Double Phaeton that once held Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In 1914 he and his wife were assassinated in a motorcade in Sarajevo. His death is the event famous for starting World War I. According to legend, though, it wasn't the last time the car was to witness tragedy. 

As the story goes, over the next 12 years the car changed owners 15 times. In that time it was involved in accidents that resulted in 13 deaths. The last deaths were purportedly a Romanian Baron and his friends on their way to a wedding. They swerved off the road and the whole carload of people perished.

OK, it's likely that none of that was true. As a matter of fact, you can view the car in the Museum of Military History in Vienna at your leisure. A short time after the assassinations, it was donated to the museum where it has sat since in an amazing state of preservation. An issue of Weekly World News from 1981 that essentially retold a tall tale from a 1959 short story is the likely culprit for the embellishment. It may not be the "killer car" the story has made it out to be, but it is an important piece of global history both myself and our partners at Quebedeaux Collision Center in Tucson, AZ would love to see!

Written By: Todd Hendrickson
Source: autobodynews.com