Coming out of a Florida estate sale is this nice looking Koenig Special. The car has a bit over 100,000 miles on the 3.8 liter V8. The seller doesn’t come off as an expert on Mercedes vehicles, but does provide what sounds like an honest and fair description of the car in a video overview posted within the ad.
The paint is showing some expected wear, but in general the widebody kit and the interior look very good for a car like this. Those of you who follow the big Benzs with the “Miami Vice” style kits of this era know that most that come to market these days have many cracks, dings, chips, and defects. This one looks fine as is; a new owner could make it exceptional with a strip and high quality respray. Other than this being based on the lower output 3.8 instead of the 5.0 or 5.6, this one appears to be a good candidate for preservation. The 3.8 does make this a bit more uncommon in terms of other Koenig models. The car is a Euro model and was imported through proper channels, it has the correct importer markings.
The seller makes a mention of this car having a twin timing chain setup, which is nothing special, but a common conversion on the 3.8 as a preventative maintenance measure. Outside of the paint problems, its missing part of the climate control system, the speedo doesn’t work, there is a modern radio (good or bad depending on your purist intentions a period correct Alpine unit would look great), and lastly for some unknown reason the gold trunk Mercedes emblem has been replaced upside done.
The ask is $8,500 with bidding up at a reserve not met $6,200. Lots of depreciation on a car that cost over $100k when new. Even with the flaws and the less exciting engine, I have a real soft spot for these cars and the presence they command out on the road.
~Evan
Nice to see there isn’t an 80’s car phone installed. 🙂 Interesting car from some angles, ugly from others. Is that a vacuum leak I hear under the hood?
Sold at $6,901. Compared to what AMG widebody 560SEC or 500SEC coupes of this era go for, this price seems well bought. Well cared for, as a genuine, original, Koenig Special the collector value of this car will rise. The same is not true for W126 cars with cheap body kits slapped on recently.