Emperor Haile Selassie deposed in a coup by the Derg, departs the palace in a Volkswagen Beetle
THE CONQUERING LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH FORCED BY COUP PLOTTERS TO LEAVE THE PALACE IN A LOWLY TYPE 1 VW BEETLE
When the Emperor of Ethopia, Haile Selassie (full title: His Imperial Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God) was deposed in a coup d'etat by Marxist officers in the Ethiopian military in 1974, he was removed from his palace in a nondescript Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle. This would have been humiliating for any king, but Haile Selassie was known as something of a car guy and the choice of a wretched Beetle by the coup plotters must have been especially galling to him.
This Roller was more Selassie's style.
The symbolism of making a man who had just purchased a new Citroën SM leave office in a clattery little people's car was not lost on the players in the many Ethiopian political factions at the time, and we have to wonder if there could have been a harsher vehicular choice. Perhaps a Bulgarrenault 8?
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