I’m not sure what’s keeping you up during these hot, sleepless summer nights, but now I’ll definitely be adding this 1979 Mercedes-Benz 500TE AMG wagon to that list.
This unofficial, forgotten and spookily attractive Merc was recently unearthed by an enthusiast that suspected a mislabelled for-sale ad was something more. He arrived to find out the owner apparently never knew what he really had in his garage.
After some digging with Mercedes-Benz HQ, it was discovered this wagon was one of the earliest examples of a W123 chassis being paired with a 5.0-litre V8, back when ‘AMG’ were a bunch of unsanctioned aftermarket outfitters and nowhere near the household name they are today. Such a modification would have cost 65,000 Deutsche Marks back in the day.
The 276bhp from the 5.0-litre engine might not seem like a lot of juice, but that was a hell of an amount for the late 70’s. The whip had also been modified with a full AMG body kit, OE skid plate, cast aluminium rear suspension and date-stamped 1979 Recaro seats.
The wagon is actually for sale, if you were interested in never sleeping again.
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