Help us solve a police mystery: the strange case of the Dutch Mercedes

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Before the Second World War, police cars must have been thin on the ground in the Netherlands because there are hardly any pictures of Dutch law enforcement vehicles to be found. Here’s one, though. If we believe the accompanying caption, it’s a ‘1924 Mercedes police car in Amsterdam, 1932’.

Isn’t it an unlikely choice for a police car, even at the time? Mercedes cars were big and expensive and aimed at the most discerning of society’s elite. With its tall and slightly cumbersome coupé chauffeur coachwork, this one is perhaps not quite the appropriate vehicle for chasing villains. Perhaps it was the car of the Commissioner or Chief of the Dutch police force? Could the officer guarding the car be the chauffeur? If you were confused by his bobby-esque outfit, wondering if it was from the Netherlands at all, just have a look at the bikes and the Politie sign, as well as the Dutch number plate.

Having said that, the number H-26100 makes things slightly more confusing. It’s a number issued in the province of South Holland, while Amsterdam is situated in North Holland, where the initial ‘G’ was used rather than ‘H’. We found that the Mercedes importer moved at around 1924 from The Hague, which is in South Holland, to Amsterdam, which again made us wonder whether this picture really was taken in Amsterdam? Furthermore, isn’t the car a bit older than 1924? We noted the double spare tyres, with a nice little dip in the running board to contain the rear one. It’s not something you see very often, is it? Who can identify the model or tell us more about the context of the picture?

Words: Jeroen Booij; picture: Rare Historical Photos

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