[ad_1]
Koenig Specials 500 SEC, a German tuner car legend, stashed away in the basement. The basement! Why is this thing in the basement? Someone kick the Chevrolet Malibu off of one of the main floors and get this white-painted, widebodied dose of nosetalgia up front ASAP. Now, we at The Autopian usually don’t like running simple “look at this car” posts, but this is a freakin’ Koenig Special. Forget the Pagani in the lobby, this thing matters.
Koenig Specials isn’t the craziest company to ever have its way with Merc’s big ’80s coupe (SGS Gullwing, anyone?), but its craziness has been spread over everything from Porsches to Ferraris. We’re talking about 1,000-horsepower Testarossas, and a road-legal variant of the Porsche 962. Needless to say, Willy König had wild visions, and a strong ’80s economy from stockbroking to the, um, import/export industry left people flush with cash and craving bonkers tuner specials.
For those seeking full-size Mercedes comfort, Koenig indulged in the insanity of putting Testarossa strakes on a C126. Imagine if someone grafted Ford GT-style flying buttresses onto a BMW 8 Series. Actually, I don’t want to see that, but the strakes on this Sonderklasse coupe just work. This whole car’s just the right kind of mad, an artifact from an era vilified, glamorized, idolized, and above all else, powdered.
The crazy part? You can still buy most of the stuff to make your own C126 Koenig Special today. The company still exists, and if you have €8,950 burning a hole in your pocket, you can order a brand new body kit. Oh, and although there’s no absurd twin-turbo setup, you can totally get a supercharger kit that boosts output to 400 horsepower.
Sadly, these wicked five-spoke multipiece wheels with blingtacular gold hardware aren’t available anymore, and that’s a damn shame. Gold hardware and tasteful step lips always go hard, and tasteful five-spoke faces are absolute classics. Plus, just look at the dish these things have. Who doesn’t like a bit of dish on an ’80s car?
Affirmation that these wild big body Benzes are out here warms my heart because custom big coupes are money, have always been money, and should always be money. I don’t care what SUV you’re driving, be it a Cullinan or a Purosangue or what have you, it just doesn’t hit like a Brooklands Coupe, or an 812 Superfast, or a Koenig Specials 500 SEC. This one doesn’t look to be for sale, but by all means, build your own. The world will be a better place once you do.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
[ad_2]
Source link