2 Unique Mercedes 77 450SEL Estate, 91 Koenig 300CE

1977 Mercedes 450SEL Crayford Estate Wagon on eBay

With a clientele that included Sophia Loren, Crayford conversions on 1970s Mercedes are an exclusive beast. These costly vehicles came warrantied by Mercedes and were the way customers who wanted an estate wagon for their fancy sedan could have the best of both worlds. This particular car interestingly shows the ugly U.S. market safety bumpers, but has avoided the recognizable, though inferior U.S. market quad circle sealed beam headlights in favor of Euro spec H4 beams. The seller, presumably using the register of Crayford Mercedes found here: http://www.crayford-benz.org, claims this to be one of only two or three in existence.

91 Mercedes 300CE Koenig Special on eBay.

I may be mistaken, but I believe that this is not the only Koenig Special Benz once owned by baseball legend Ken Griffey Jr. in existence. Koenig epitomized the Miami Vice over the top bad ass look when it came to mid 80s Mercedes. This later 1991, has the same flavor with the in your face widebody kit, but I think the look is actually better pulled off by slightly larger W126 bodied Benz coupes like the 560SEC. Occasionally you will see the widebody kits in metal, but more often they are fiberglass and after nearly 20 years it may show some spiderweb cracking up close. It is hard to say what the premium here is for the owner provenance, but it safe to say this asking price is a significant discount from new. A new owner of this Koenig Special vehicle will need to remember that, though most mechanical parts won’t be any harder to find than standard 3 liter Mercedes fare, replacing the massive 315 size tires on the rears will be a cost. Fortunately with a 6 cylinder engine, instead of the torque of a 5 or 5.6 liter from a 126 bodied car, burnouts should be easier to avoid. The big V8 Koenig Specials sometimes came with even more outrageous 345 meats on the rear.

~Evan