Europe is home to a bunch of forbidden automotive offerings that haunt the minds of enthusiasts in America. Our laws force us to wait a quarter-century before importing these Old World oddities, or risk the car being seized or destroyed. One Swiss Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG wagon owner wasn’t keen on or aware of that long wait and brought their car to the Chicago area under less-than-ideal means. Thanks to the folks at Auto Parts City in Gurnee, Illinois, this improperly imported Mercedes will live to see another day, despite the EPA’s desire to see it crushed.
The car in question is a 2009 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG wagon. The longroof variant of the S204 never made its way across the pond, despite both the coupe and sedan models proving popular with enthusiasts. We did get the larger E-class wagons here in the States, but there’s something particularly interesting about a much smaller wagon with that same AMG powertrain. In the case of this car, that means a 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V-8 producing 451 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. With a combination like that, it’s no surprise this car’s European owner wasn’t ready to let it go when they moved to the Chicago area.
Jeremy B from Auto Parts City told Road & Track that though the owner went through the importation process to bring the car here, the importer made some less than kosher decisions along the way. Most notably, the car was listed as a C240 model, which initially allowed the car to skirt the authorities. That only worked until the car was due for its annual emissions inspection, however, upon which the European VIN was discovered. The local emissions office then reached out to the EPA to flag the car, which prompted the agency to respond with two choices: destroy the car or ship it back to Europe immediately. It’s unclear whether or not the Swiss owner was aware of the shenanigans from the start, but they did pay around $8000 to bring the AMG to the States. Unwilling to pay that sort of money to ship the car back to Europe, the owner opted to scrap the car with Auto Parts City.
The folks at Auto Parts City aren’t fans of destroying interesting cars, especially ones in perfect working order. You might already be familiar with their preservation work, as they were responsible for saving the 1987 Motorola-built electric Corvette, which is undergoing a restoration in London following their rescue attempt. When this AMG showed up at their door, nobody on site wanted to see the thing destroyed. Knowing their options to save the car were limited, the team applied for a junk title from the state of Illinois. This document disallows the vehicle from ever seeing road use in the United States again and satiated the EPA’s need for it to be removed from service. That document also allowed the team to export the car back overseas after finding a buyer.
The whole process took place a few months back, but we’re glad to hear that this AMG was spared from the big squeeze. Good on the crew at Auto Parts City for doing the work to spare machines that are worth saving. You can follow the shop’s TikTok account, where they document all sorts of crazy cars that come through the junkyard.
Born and raised in Metro Detroit, associate editor Lucas Bell has spent his entire life surrounded by the automotive industry. He may daily drive an aging Mustang, but his Porsche 944 and NB Miata both take up most of his free time.