The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad is now etched into Middle Eastern history, but for car enthusiasts, it’s not just the man—it’s the machines he left behind.
Like other toppled strongmen before him (think Saddam Hussein’s Ferrari fleet or Muammar Gaddafi’s love for Mercedes), Assad’s legacy is wrapped up in his jaw-dropping car collection. And oh, what a collection it is—a garage filled with classic beauties, off-road beasts and supercar legends.
Let’s start with his off-road arsenal. Assad had a soft spot for rugged rides, from trusty Toyotas like the FJ Cruiser and 70 Series Land Cruiser to something that’d make any enthusiast’s heart race—a Lamborghini LM002. Yes, the “Rambo Lambo” itself, a military-grade SUV powered by a 12-cylinder engine borrowed from the iconic Countach. Word on the street also puts a few Cadillac Escalades in his stable, because why not?
But the real stars of the collection are the supercars. Among them? A Ferrari F50, one of the rarest and most expensive Ferraris ever made—a true “race car for the road.” Throw in a Lamborghini Diablo, a Mercedes SLR McLaren, and some Bentley Continentals and Rolls-Royce Silver Shadows, and you’ve got a lineup that reads like a supercar hall of fame.
Then there’s the crown jewel: a 1970s Mercedes Pullman limousine. This isn’t just any S-Class—it’s a handcrafted masterpiece made for the elite, complete with hydraulically-operated windows because Mercedes thought electric ones were too noisy for such high-end clientele. Assad’s Pullman shares a legacy with the rides of Coco Chanel, Ringo Starr, Mao Zedong, and even Kim Jong Un. Talk about riding in style.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
But now, the fate of this legendary collection hangs in the balance. Estimated at tens of millions of dollars, these cars could disappear into the chaos, just like the collections of Gaddafi and Saddam, whose prized rides vanished, with pieces occasionally popping up at auctions. Assad’s cars, tucked away hundreds of miles from Israel, may suffer the same fate—lost to time or scattered across the black market.