BERLIN - An unnamed Russian billionaire has bought a Mercedes used by Adolf Hitler for several million euros, a German newspaper report said.

Classic car dealer Michael Froehlich told the Cologne-based Express daily that he had been contacted by a representative of the billionaire asking him to find out what had happened to the dark blue open-top Mercedes 770K.

After weeks of research, he discovered it was sold in Austria after World War II, then went to a classic car museum in Las Vegas before belonging to a Bavarian beer magnate, whose widow sold it after his death in 2008.

The Russian buyer later came to Germany via private jet to seal the deal. The paper said Hitler's car set him back between €4 million ($8.2 million) and €10 million.

"The pride of the collection, Hitler's car, is going to Moscow," Froehlich said.

-AFP