We got a tip this morning from one of our readers pointing us to a story our good friends over at Autoblog just ran.

It turns out, Grubine, a small village in one of Croatia's poorest regions, likely holds the world record for per capita Mercedes ownership. Among the city's 800 inhabitants, a total of 117 Mercedes are owned. The most notable is a 1952 Mercedes 170 SD owned by Vjeko Lasic, one of only eight in the world.

Mercedes, or "Mechka" (bear) as they're locally called, have long been regarded in the region as a status symbol. After thousands of Croatians left the area seeking work in Germany in the mid-1960's, those that returned felt they needed a visible display of their wealth.   Enter Mercedes, and the rest is history.

For more info, you can check out the full article (via Autoblog) by clicking here.