We have seen all kinds of tribute cars over the years here on BangShift but this is probably the first one that has ever been built out of a near 40 year old Mercedes. If you are a big time fan and historian of the Paris to Dakar rally, you likely remember the W123 Mercedes raced with the Carlsson sponsorship in the early 1980s. This car not only raced in the Dakar but also in the famed Acropolis Rally, the 24 hours of the Nurburgring, and other races in that time period. This car has been built as a tribute to that machine and as best we can tell it has been done in a pretty accurate spirit. We do not know if this qualifies it for vintage rally or anything like that but a hardcore Mercedes enthusiast would likely want this thing in their collection just to have it, right?
The car weighs about 3,100lbs, it has 185hp from its modified inline six cylinder engine, it has a cool set of wheels and tires on it, a rally bumper with a bunch of lights, full interior with racing belts, a rally time computer, and a CB as well. Like we said, you’d really have to be into Mercedes to want this thing badly, right? The seller is asking less than $15,000 so it is not going to break anyone’s wallet.
This seems like one of those cars where the guy who put it together is likely the most passionate member of the human race regarding its history and lineage. We’re not mocking the guy because he did a good job and he put his heart and soul into doing this car the right but man is this a niche on a niche.
We dig the car and it would be fun to pile it over some sand dunes, but in terms of “historical relevance”, that’s going to be a hard sell.
eBay: Do you want this 1979 Mercedes 280CE W123 rally car clone?
I’d love to see a new class of classic rallying – Mercedes, Jaguars, Audis, BMWs and even Bentleys all squirming around in the mud as they compete for the Luxury Car Cup!
I’d watch that!
I’d rather have a clone of the Red Pig.