Given how huge the tuning scene is in 2025, it’s onerous to think about a time when ordering aftermarket components to your automobile wasn’t so simple as clicking a button.
This shift isn’t restricted to the aftermarket world. Almost each main auto producer now presents a degree of customisation past simply non-compulsory extras – suppose BMW’s M Efficiency, Mercedes-Benz’s AMG Line, or Toyota’s GR collection. In actual fact, at the moment you’ll be able to order an unpainted carbon fibre bonnet to your 2.5-tonne Vary Rover Sport instantly from Land Rover as an choice when you’re so inclined. Whether or not that’s a good suggestion, nonetheless, is fully up for debate.
Rewind a couple of years, and such behaviour from an OEM can be thought of lunacy. However with a lot demand on the market – and producers capable of present components with out voiding your guarantee – it was solely a matter of time earlier than they wished their slice of the tuning pie.
Now, let’s rewind even additional, to a time lengthy earlier than magazines like Max Energy and Tremendous Avenue introduced tuning tradition to the plenty. Relying on how deep your pockets had been, your choices concerned having a bash at house or asking the native storage to assist. However for these whose pockets had been lined with severe money – or higher but, oil wealth – there was one other choice.
How irritating life should’ve been when not even Rolls-Royce or Bentley might supply a {custom} degree of luxurious to your automobile. The answer? Dial-a-coachbuilder.
Coachbuilding has a wealthy historical past, with the primary examples relationship again to the early 1900s. Alvis Automobiles, for example, would supply a base chassis, which prospects might then have customised with a totally bespoke physique and inside. Consider it as an early type of flaunting wealth along with your automobile, a one-of-one particular version with a price ticket to match. However when everybody’s driving a one-of-one, the novelty wears off rapidly.
The demand for such coachbuilt automobiles step by step fizzled out over time, particularly through the two World Wars when many coachbuilders, like Alvis, switched to plane manufacturing amongst different issues. Mass manufacturing turned the norm through the Second Industrial Revolution and, as such, low-volume coachbuilding didn’t actually make a comeback till the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s with a brand new wave of extravagant builds that catered to the ultra-wealthy.
Manufacturers like ABC Unique, SGS Styling, Carat by Duchatelet, and Trasco had been all heavy hitters throughout this period, changing into well-known for taking requests that had been something however unusual. This resulted in among the most outlandish and wacky automobiles of the time – lots of which rivalled these within the Sultan of Brunei’s legendary assortment.
And it wasn’t nearly styling. In-car leisure was a serious focus, with firms like Trasco becoming CRT screens and multi-deck audio techniques into their bespoke builds. The concept was easy: Add extra bling – extra crystal, extra leather-based, extra opulence – than anybody else to make your construct essentially the most radical and costly potential. It would sound vulgar, however when your clientele consists of royal households, oil barons, and arms sellers, it begins to make sense.
Lately, this era has come to be generally known as the ‘1000 SEL’ period, a time period popularised by Bram Corts’ good web site, 1000sel.com, which meticulously covers the historical past of these key manufacturers and coachbuilders together with the assorted particular version automobiles.
Why 1000 SEL? Some of the standard premium automobiles of the time was the Mercedes-Benz W126 S-Class. Identified for its unparalleled engineering and luxurious, the top-spec 500 SEL (and later 560 SEL) boasted a 5.0-litre V8 engine and an prolonged wheelbase.
In accordance with Bram’s analysis, within the ’80s, a Center Japanese buyer reportedly ordered a closely modified 500 SEL from SGS Styling in Germany. When the automobile was delivered, the shopper instructed SGS boss Chris Hahn that his automobile was “twice pretty much as good as a daily 500 SEL,” and that he’d wish to have a badge on the again to signify that. What’s twice a 500 SEL? A 1000 SEL after all.
Although it was by no means an official mannequin designation, the 1000 SEL badge quickly turned a logo of maximum modifications and opulence, particularly within the Center East, through the peak of the oil increase. It was a type of pre-social media flex – a means for rich automobile homeowners to compete in creating essentially the most radical, and costly, variants of luxurious and sports activities automobiles.
The 1000 SEL period is much extra advanced than this very fast synopsis and I urge you to delve deep into Bram’s web site – it’s so attention-grabbing to see what was being performed between 1975 and 1995, and the extortionate value related to every automobile. Particularly now contemplating these explicit automobiles and types are coming again into vogue as soon as once more.
However what makes these automobiles actually fascinating is the wealth and secrecy surrounding their patrons. Was it owned by a authorities official? How did a businessman discover over US$250,000 to spec a 1000 SEL in 1985? With such restricted historical past on the market, making an attempt to unravel a automobile’s previous solely provides an additional layer of intrigue.
One factor’s for sure, discovering any of those automobiles in good situation isn’t any straightforward activity. Even interval components from manufacturers like Carat by Duchatelet now value 1000’s – assuming you’ll be able to even discover somebody prepared to promote them.
That is the place Speedhunters common Higuchi-san enters the image. He’s an avid traditional Benz fanatic, whose automobile historical past features a 2JZ-powered 450 SLC, a number of Tommykaira W124s, and even a {custom} S124 property transformed with 500 E components. His newest challenge, nonetheless, is the end result of many years of ardour approached with a contemporary Japanese twist.
Mercedes by no means made a wagon variant of the W126, however Higuchi-san’s 500 TE is much from the primary conversion. You may thank the 1000 SEL period for that, specifically, Zender who was an early pioneer of the ‘TE’ W126. Zender famously constructed a number of examples, together with one with an SEC entrance finish, very similar to Higuchi-san’s creation.
There’s no eBay search or AliExpress hyperlink to order W126 property conversions, however thankfully for Higuchi-san, he didn’t have to begin from scratch. Not that it made the extent of labor required any much less.
“This explicit automobile was owned by a well-known Japanese comic in 1990,” Higuchi-san explains. “He beloved American automobiles and thought of a Caprice wagon and in addition the S124 property earlier than deciding to make the S-Class wagon. In his eyes, a wagon that anybody might purchase can be boring, so he wished one thing bespoke.”
Styling Storage Japan, the now defunct coachbuilder behind the unique challenge, was identified for constructing some wild {custom} creations, together with limousines and even a Z32 wagon.
Their work was extremely regarded, and when Higuchi-san noticed this explicit W126 turn out to be accessible in 2020, he jumped on the probability to personal it.
Nonetheless, the wagon had seen higher days. Deserted for years, the paint was cracked, the body was rusted, and the bodywork was broken. Worst of all, the {custom} inside was fully pulled aside. With no substitute components accessible, the one answer was to painstakingly recreate and restore. Two phrases that haemorrhage money and time like no others.
Situation apart, the five hundred TE had all of the components required to revive it to its former glory. The majority of the {custom} exterior trim was all intact; it was just a bit tired-looking. When Styling Storage Japan constructed the wagon, they used the rear finish of an S124. That makes it sound comparatively simple till you study {that a} W126 chassis is sort of 100mm wider than a W124. Each panel needed to be reduce, prolonged, reshaped, and welded again into place – a whole bunch of hours of labour. You may see why it helped to have oil wealth again within the day to fund such a behavior.
What actually makes this type of conversion so difficult is getting the entire swage strains and trim from the W124 panels lined up with the W126. Smoothing every thing out would have been faster, however Higuchi-san was decided to maintain the automobile trying as near OEM as potential earlier than including his private touches.
“When it was owned by the comic, the unique Anthracite Gray was repainted to Mercedes Blue Black Metallic, earlier than then additional being modified to a lighter blue,” added Higuchi-san. “As a result of the paint was so broken, we stripped all of it off and resprayed the whole shell Palladium Silver to offer it a contemporary look whereas staying true to the unique color.”
Seeing as all of the chrome trim and plastics across the home windows had been custom-made by Styling Storage Japan (not a single piece from the W124 lined up in opposition to the unique saloon gadgets), Higuchi-san had no alternative however to powder coat the worn-out mouldings and polish the remaining trim.
From the rear, you’d be forgiven for considering it was simply a widened S124 because of that angular boot and smaller taillights. Nonetheless, Higuchi-san wished to retain the complete performance of the trunk, which meant constructing a wholly new {custom} ground panel and restoring the entire plastic trims used inside. Up entrance, very similar to Zender’s ’80s idea, a full SEC conversion was undertaken utilizing all manufacturing unit components. Though much less advanced compared to the boot fabrication, to do it correctly nonetheless requires each entrance wings, the bumper, headlights, grille, bonnet and slam panel.
Higuchi-san’s builds all observe an identical fashion when it comes to the aftermarket components he matches, the tell-tale signal being his personal HWA Asteroid wheels. Measuring in at 17×8.5-inch ET18 and 17×9.5-inch ET17, the Asteroids are virtually equivalent to the unique Penta/AMG design bar one key truth: Higuchi-san makes his wheels in 17-inch measurement, whereas the unique designs solely ever existed in as much as 16-inch.
Behind these wheels, you’ll discover 6-piston ‘Brabus by Alcon’ brakes, which had been first provided as a tuning improve for the W124 within the ‘90s. Other than massively bettering the inventory brake system, they supply a delicate nod to the 1000 SEL period with out overshadowing the remainder of the automobile. The stance is enhanced by Dkubus coilovers, and real AMG W126 components are scattered all through, together with the exhaust, steering wheel, and gauges.
All of it gels collectively brilliantly. Higuchi-san has an annoying behavior of constructing automobiles which appear to tick all the fitting bins, and earlier than you recognize it, you’re doom-scrolling via eBay getting ready to embark by yourself Benz construct. However that’s a testomony to his deep information and keenness for each his automobiles and the period they signify. In a world of rapidly assembled builds which can be promoted and phased out with dizzying velocity, it’s all the time refreshing to see what Higuchi-san has up his sleeve.
“All in all, the challenge took three years to revive and full,” he provides. “There’s nonetheless some extra work to do, however such an attention-grabbing and distinctive automobile deserves to be restored correctly. I don’t construct my automobiles for promotion or to promote, they’re to drive and luxuriate in. I like the look of the property, and many individuals can’t imagine it was not a manufacturing unit conversion.”
There are only a few automobiles on the market which don’t look higher in wagon kind, and I don’t ever keep in mind driving a automobile and complaining that it had an excessive amount of area. It’s why I’ll all the time be an enormous advocate for any property automobile; you get all the advantages of a superb saloon with sufficient area within the again to bundle the entire household in. And Higuchi-san’s W126 500 TE is all of the proof you’ll ever want that wagons make every thing higher.
Mark Riccioni
Instagram: mark_scenemedia
Twitter: markriccioni
[email protected]