Men who want everything their own way have often become national leaders who’ve made sure they got exactly what car they wanted as well. Here’s our list of dictators and their cars!
Leonid Brezhnev – Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
The hard-line Soviet leader was given an armoured Shadow as a present by US president Richard Nixon, but he crashed it into a truck during an official parade in Mscow in 1980.
General Francisco Franco – Rolls-Royce Phantom IV
Spain’s military dictator ordered two colossal Phantom limousines in 1952, both meekly provided by Rolls and coachbuilder H.J. Mulliner.
Adolf Hitler – Mercedes-Benz 770K
The Führer’s car was the biggest Merc available, at 19 feet (5.8m) long and over 7 feet (2.13m) wide, and was also bullet-proofed.
President Josep Broz Tito – Cadillac Eldorado
The man who held together the six republics somprising Yugoslavia treated himself to a stretched 1960 Cadillac convertible for public appearances; ominously, the number plate sported the red star of Serbia.
Rafael Trujillo – Chrysler Crown Imperial
The ‘father figure’ of the Dominican Republic ordered this Imperial stretch from Italy’s Ghia in the late 1950s. After he fled to exile in France with a large fortune, his son Leonidas Trujillo bought that Italian coachbuilding company in 1963 for $3 million, selling it again in 1967.
The Aga Khan – Maserati 5000 GT
Only 32 examples of the 5000 GT were made, and the one built in 1962 for the Aga Khan was significant because its styling was later adopted for the first Quattroporte saloon. The Shah of Iran was among other purchasers of the car.
King Farouk of Egypt – Daimler DB18
Modest alongside most of the motoring leviathans commissioned by African Royalty, this late 1940s four-seater cabriolet was intended for personal use by the last king of Egypt.
Benito Mussolini
The Italian Fascist leader competed in the 1936 Mile Miglia endurance road race in his Alfa Romeo 6C 2300, ‘co-driving’ with his chauffeur to finish 13th overall and third in class. On a normal day, his chauffeur would parade him around in his 1938 6C 2300B; the very car that carried Hitler during the 1938 official trip to Italy.
His 1939 6C Sport Berlinetta – which he bought for his mistress, Clara Petacci – went through a series of owners and has since been restored and was auctioned in 2015. In 1940 il Duce also bought a Fiat 2800 for his mistress. It had black touring coachwork with read leather upholstery. Mussolini and Petacci were both shot dead in 1945 after fleeing the allies in it.
The Shah of Iran
The Iranian Monarch was a keen Rolls collector throughout his 38-year reign, topping of a star-spangled collection in 1976 with the first left-hand-drive Camargue. In 1939 the French government gave the Shah a Bugatti Type 57 as a wedding present. He also owned a Lamborghini Miura SV which is now owned by none other than Nicolas Cage.
Donald J. Trump
A modern day leader with a dictator’s ‘my way or the highway’ mentality, Trump has never been a stranger to the finer things in life. A businessman by nature and long-time Rolls-Royce man, he owns both a 50s Silver Cloud and a more modern Phantom. Trump also owns an electric blue 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT and a 2003 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
Infernal Combustion 
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