Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Crazy tuner mods didn’t stop in the 1980s….no, not by a long shot. Alive and well, they’ve continued on through today with deep pockets attempting to make expensive cars more expensive, unique, and…well, you can be the judge. I spotted this unusual widebody duo several months ago and have been waiting for them to disappear. Strangely, they haven’t sold. Is it the price? The looks? The…price? Or, is it the looks? Let’s dive in…
As a young man, I spent countless hours dreaming of blasting down the Mulsanne in a Rothman’s 962 Group C car chasing Hans Stuck. But I was not alone; the dream of driving the legendary and most successful Group C car was that of many across the world. Some of those who dreamed had the means to make it happen, too – and in one of the strangest prototype twists I think ever, multiple road going versions of the 962 saw the light of day from different tuner companies. There was the DP Motorsports version – effectively, just a race-going 962 with some tread on the tires. There was the “Derek Bell Signature Edition 962, too – which looked the part but built on chassis numbers alone with a GT2 motor. Then there was the ex-Porsche racer Vern Schuppan’s version called the 962CR. The most radical, it looked like a 962 had spent a drunken night with a 959. There was also the very interesting tale of the Dauer 962 – ironically, turned into a road car so that it could exploit a loophole in the rule book to be turned back into a race-winning car at Le Mans. Indeed, for several years during the supercar boom in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it seemed that a new version of a road going 962 came out every few months. But the first of all of these was from reviled tuner Koenig Specials, who in a departure from their typical formula of “just add Testarossa slats everywhere” introduced a thinny veiled race car for the road:
I was watching a very interesting piece about mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders last night; a trend which started in the 1980s, some people have been thrown into jail quite literally for the rest of their lives for being involved – even in a minor role – in the war on drugs. In drew into sharp contrast the dichotomous nature of the 1980s, where as a society we declared that drugs were a horrible thing while simultaneously celebrating a community of music, art and even Wall Street that was built around them. In some aspects, one can see that dichotomy in some of the tuner cars from the 1980s, and I think that the mega Mercedes-Benz products are a great example. Starchy, upright and conservative, Mercedes-Benz used to be the standard by which engineering was measured; the automotive bar for luxury automobiles. Yet, at the same time, various tuners took them and turned them into monsters; lowering the suspension, fitting giant wheels and motors, they transformed the conservative Republican into a Punk Rock idol. Some of these creations are more celebrated than others; AMG, for example, has a near faultless reputation which is backed even by Mercedes-Benz themselves, who decided to buy them later in life. Others are…well, not so highly regarded, such as the numerous Koenig specials that were created from otherwise unassuming ’80s Benzs:
You want crazy? In the 1980s, the name Koenig could be considered synonymous with crazy. From wild, widebodied Mercedes-Benz and Porsches to throwing Testarossa-inspired intake slats on just about every car imaginable, Koenig produced some crazy cars in its day. Today, if you’re inspired, you can relive some of what was both wonderful and horrible about the 1980s in this Koenig 928 widebody kit:
Need something to keep you busy in the continuing grey days of winter? How about a pair of 500SECs projects to keep you out of trouble? (Well actually this may get you into trouble, financially or with your significant other) Carter also noticed this ride and linked it off our Facebook page.
Here we have what appears to be yet another case of picking up the pieces where a previous enthusiast ran out of time, money, or interest, but the seller instead states that they are selling due to illness. This may mean that the projects aren’t as bad as the ones being sold because someone got in over their head. Eitherway though that picture above shows a once great car looking sad. Not horrible though, we’ve seen a lot worse, but look at it just sitting there in a pile of leaves all cold and alone.
What we actually have is a rare, but non-running rare Koenig widebody 500SEC and a not as rare, but running parts car.
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