The sale, organized by Super Car and Bike and to be conducted by Sotheby's Holdings in Moscow on Thursday night, includes about 50 vehicles ranging from a $33,600 1959 BMW Isetta mini to an $825,000 Koenigsegg CC 2002 sports car, based on guide prices published by the world's second-largest auctioneer.
The 1973 Nissan President, which was a gift to Brezhnev by Hirohida Isida, a former Japanese minister and KGB agent, is valued between $336,000 and $384,000, according to Sotheby's. U.S. President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were among the leaders that rode with Brezhnev in the car.
Brezhnev, who was the second-longest serving Soviet leader, after Josef Stalin, personally drove it from the Kremlin to his suburban residence. The custom-made car had a special Sony radio tuned to receive Soviet stations, Sotheby's said.
Brezhnev, who ruled the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1982, once lost control and scratched the car, the Sotheby's material said.
A buyer will still be able to smell Brezhnev's tobacco in the car, Boris Kakhmetkin, 58, the current owner, said in an interview.
Sotheby's will also auction the 1988-built armored Soviet ZIL limo used by Gorbachev and former President Boris Yeltsin. Called "one of the most secure cars in the world," the limo is valued at $450,000 to $500,000, according to Sotheby's. Soviet designers differed from their U.S. counterparts in building such autos, first creating an armored capsule and then building a car around it. It is impossible to turn the car over with explosives, the document said.
Lord Poltimore, chairman of Sotheby's U.K., conducted the auction. Sotheby's last year sold more than $100 million of Russian art.
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