If you’ve kept up with our summer event coverage, you’ll have seen our stories from Club de Ultrace 2024. Since, Vladimir, Alen and I were all on the ground in Wrocław, Poland for this year’s show, we thought we’d do something we’ve never done before and select one car for a special Speedhunters’ Choice award.
After some planning with the Ultrace crew and a last-minute custom trophy-sourcing exercise, we made our selection in Martin Szombierski’s 1969 Mercedes-Benz W108.
Today, I’m here to show you why. Because there’s a lot more going on than first meets the eye with Martin’s Mercedes build.
Mercedes-Benz fans may have already drawn a resemblance to the 1971 300 SEL 6.8 AMG race car, better known as Rote Sau – or Red Pig in English.
Called the Red Pig as an insult, not a compliment, the original AMG-fettled 300 SEL took a shock class win at the 1971 Spa 24 Hours endurance race and finished second overall. Its reputation has remained legendary in the years since, so much so that Mercedes-Benz built a replica in the mid-2000s after the original was sold to an aeronautical company, converted to a six-door rolling test vehicle, and lost to history.
The Rote Sau holds a special place in my heart as a testament to big cars disrupting the status quo, so when I saw Martin’s W108 parked near the stage at Ultrace, I was stopped dead in my tracks.
I can say the same for Alen and Vladimir, who both were taken in by one of the most remarkable OEM+ builds we’ve ever seen.
The bodywork alone is phenomenal, with the wide arches adding 200mm to the car’s width. The paintwork is stunning too; glassy with a real depth to it. It’s an OEM+ touch being Mercedes-Benz ‘China Blue,’ a colour you’d more likely see on an S63 or G-Class these days.
Beneath the arches sit custom three-piece, BBS-made Mercedes-Benz Designo wheels, another OEM+ touch. These were originally two-piece 17-inch wheels, but are now stepped up to 19-inch and wrapped in Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2 tyres.
What stood out to me the most about the exterior, however, was the brightwork. Every piece of chrome is either brand new from Mercedes or was re-plated to a perfect mirror finish – which made taking some photos an absolute nightmare, may I add.
Yet the exterior is still a toned-down affair, having had the chrome side trims removed and smoothed out. The bumpers were also deleted, just like the original Rote Sau.
Unlike the race car, the rear bumper mounting points have been completely smoothed out. Furthermore, instead of a brace of Marchal lights, Martin has opted for Hella driving lamps on the front of the car.
The W108’s interior takes a very similar approach to its changes, combining the original design and layout with a minimalist, modern treatment.
There are swathes of black leather and suede inside the car, but no walnut trim as you might expect to find in a vehicle of this vintage.
“I bought the W108 because my dad and I really like Mercedes’, this model in particular,” says Martin. “And it was the first ‘proper’ AMG created.”
Clearly aware of the significance of the Red Pig in AMG’s history, Martin wanted to turn his W108 into his version of an oversized cruise missile.
The low-back bucket seats belong in an F-body Porsche 911, as does the Momo Prototipo steering wheel. Both ends of the dashboard are flanked by the vents from a facelift W2123 E-Class coupé.
Peer through that steering wheel and you’ll find smoked glass over the instrument cluster, which lights up to reveal modern gauges and a digital display…
…while the beefed-up transmission tunnel is another clue that something is amiss with Martin’s W108, despite the gear level being oh-so-retro.
This car’s secret is so well integrated, that even with the doors open you wouldn’t be able to tell what it is. Open the bonnet, however, and it becomes clear. Martin’s Mercedes may look like a 1969 SE, but under the skin it’s a W211 E500 from 2003.
Behind the enormous grille lies a 5.0-litre M113 V8 engine, pushing 306hp (and 460Nm of torque) to the rear wheels; roughly 200hp more than how a typical W108 left the production line in 1969.
All OEM driving comforts remain with functional ABS and power steering modernising the driving experience. There’s even a functional OBD-II diagnostics system.
A look at the suspension turrets and ride height gives Martin’s car away as sitting on air suspension. This aspect of the build is another part of why we chose this Mercedes for the award.
“The car was completely built by me and my dad in our garage, so it’s our handiwork. From the bodywork to the custom interior elements, custom air suspension, body swap and more,” Martin shares proudly.
That’s right, even the air ride was custom-built by Martin and his father. The setup features D2 shock absorbers with a bespoke airbag setup, and a manual 3-switch controller setup hooked up to pressure gauges mounted on the transmission tunnel.
The system is admittedly old-school, but impressive nonetheless.
“We built the Mercedes because we like working on cars – old ones especially – and we wanted to do something out of the ordinary,” explains Martin. “What I love about it is that I did all the work with my dad. When we started working on it four years ago, we didn’t know if it would work. But we created what you can see here using the Red Pig as our inspiration.”
Vlad, Alen and I did lap after lap of Tarczyński Arena Wrocław looking for cars for the Speedhunters award. The funniest part of it all? Alen and I did a few laps together at the end of the first day, and Martin’s car was the very first one we chose to take a closer look at. All it took was the build story to confirm our gut feeling.
Special thanks to Mica Dori, Barry Sweeney, Coen de Korte, Till Dönnebrink, and Patrik and Wiktor at PG Performance for their help in creating the Speedhunters Choice trophy.