A rare 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL customized by AMG will cross the auction block on Thursday, August 17. It has around 50,000 km (31,000 miles) under its belt and is estimated at $100,000–150,000.
Back in the early 1980s, AMG was still a standalone company and not a part of Mercedes-Benz. Nonetheless, their tuned saloon was iconic enough to be considered the precursor to the current Mercedes-AMG S63. Its original owner paid more for it than the price of a new Lamborghini Countach or Porsche 911 Turbo in the United States at the time.
With a 5.4-liter V8 under the hood, the car sends 306 PS (302 hp /225 kW) to the rear axle via an automatic gearbox. Further modifications include body-matching alloy wheels, a Gen. I body kit and Bilstein suspension components.
For the cabin, the customer ordered a leather makeover of most plastic parts and put blinds on the rear windows. However, the biggest addition was a Clarion audio system with a 240W amp and a custom control panel. AMG went through the effort of integrating four custom units into the center console and decorating them with gilded frames.
The condition of the car is near-mint, per the listing. The winning bidder will be receiving all the maintenance papers the owner had accumulated since buying the car.