This 1985 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC 5.4 AMG Widebody was built at the Kassel Branch in Germany before it was modified by then-independent tuner AMG Germany. The car spent time in Europe and Japan before being imported to New Zealand in 2006 and was acquired by the current seller in 2012. The car is finished in desirable Black Pearl Metallic (199) over Grey (278) leather and features an authentic Gen 1 AMG widebody kit including fenders, bumpers, skirts, body molding, and spoiler. Power comes from an AMG modified 5.4L M117 engine mated to a four-speed automatic transmission with LSD (Limited-Slip Differential). Equipment includes fog lights, a sunroof, an Alpine head unit, automatic climate control, power-adjustable heated front seats, and more. In preparation for the sale, recent service included an oil & filter change, fresh engine coolant, and a brake fluid flush. The odometer shows 91k kilometers (~56k miles). This AMG widebody is now offered with ownership records, service records since 2008, 2 keys, the original tool roll, and proof of ownership in New Zealand in the seller’s name.
The body is finished in Black Pearl Metallic (199) with color-matched lower cladding, bumpers, and painted chrome as part of the AMG treatment. This pillarless coupe also features fog lights, headlight washers, and a sunroof with tilt function. The car features original Euro headlights and full Euro Gen 1 AMG widebody kit. The full widebody conversion consists of stamped AMG lightweight fiberglass widebody fenders, extended side skirts, lower cladding, both bumpers, and a lip spoiler. A metal era-correct AMG and 5.4 badge are affixed to the trunk lid. The seller notes the sunroof opens partially and will require a new cable & clamp A1267801789. The car has had paintwork as a result of a minor accident in early 2012 to the rear of the car. The impact was centered on the number plate area which was pushed in about 100 mm and the rear of the car was professionally repaired. An original Hans Werner Aufrecht AMG security sticker is still affixed to the back window and all glass remains original.
Original 16” AMG Penta wheels measuring 9” wide in the front and 10” wide in the rear are installed with AMG center caps. The wheels are wrapped in Firestone 225/55 tires in the front and Bridgestone 255/50 tires in the rear. Standard equipment included four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes and rear self-leveling suspension.
The cabin features Grey (278) leather seating surfaces along with matching carpets, door panels, and original carpet floor mats pictured in the gallery. Amenities include heated power-adjustable front seats, dual-tone horn, automatic climate control, an Alpine head unit, and burl wood trim accenting the dashboard, center console, and doors. The wood veneer shows some cracks and a wood shift knob is installed along with a leather-wrapped AMG steering wheel.
The leather-wrapped AMG steering wheel frames a 300-kph speedometer, a 7k-rpm tachometer with an inset analog clock, and a combination gauge for coolant temperature, fuel level, oil pressure, and fuel economy. The six-digit odometer shows 91k kilometers (~56k miles) with approximately 7k kms added by the seller since 2012. The original AMG gauges feature light grey faces with black dials.
The 5.4 M117 offering from AMG was the largest engine available at the time and predated the later 6.0 version beginning in 1986. The AMG 5.4 engines were offered in various stages of performance depending on your budget, with AMG sale documentation at the time stating 310 bhp, 0–60 in 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph.
This 500SEC AMG features a bored SOHC 5.4-liter MIl7 with performance head work, camshafts, extractors, dual air inlet and tuning putting it on the higher end of the performance 5.4 offerings. An acceleration chart pictured in the gallery shows the car still matches the AMG pre merger performance figures. Additional photos provided show AMG engravings on the engine block and camshafts.
Driving footage of the car can be seen below along with an exterior and interior showing.
The MB Market is proud to offer the incredible opportunity to acquire this authentic C126 AMG Widebody. At the time the car was built, AMG was still an independent tuning company separate from Mercedes-Benz. This particular car was built by AMG Germany during an era when “The only limitation on what could be done to your Mercedes-Benz was the size of your bank account”. Cosmetically, there were endless available modifications from interior bits to exterior body kits and wheels. Additionally, AMG offered a wealth of performance upgrades and at the top of the food chain was the 5.4 M117. While many people have become aware of the provenance of the more common 6.0 versions, not many know that in 1984 and 1985 the premier offering from AMG was actually the 5.4. The 6.0 officially debuted in 1986 which makes any 5.4 car significantly more rare. According to sources who worked with AMG Germany and North America in the 80’s, an estimated 25 cars were built with the 5.4 engine and of those, nearly all of them were DOHC. While the DOHC did offer a few more horses, the trade off was reliability and longevity. From a standpoint of maintenance and reliability, the SOHC versions such as this were easily the winners. In fact, many of the DOHC cars were converted back throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s for this reason. In short, the SOHC 5.4 is the ideal AMG-worked engine of them all with an estimated 25 made in total and this one is the real deal. Only one other example has come to market publicly in recent years so uncovering another will be nearly impossible. Whether you’re looking for a genuine piece of AMG history for your collection or prefer to drive your investments, this C126 5.4 AMG Widebody is sure to give you one hell of a return on investment.
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46 Comments
Thanks everyone for your bids and comments Wilsonn1974 has a great carWell bought, congrats$260,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$250,500 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$250,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$240,500 bid placed by @JohnVlas
wow wilson with the heavies$240,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$230,500 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$230,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$220,500 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$220,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$213,333 bid placed by @JohnVlas
I'm so glad I got to tune in live to witness thiswhatever it takes to own this (an extra 10k, 20k, heck even 50k over ones allotted budget) is going to pale in significance over the course of time and history.. what an amazing build. A stonking v8 in a widebody, the best of the best.$210,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$201,000 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$200,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$195,500 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$195,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$190,500 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$190,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$188,000 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$187,500 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$186,333 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$185,000 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$184,333 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$183,833 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$183,333 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$182,833 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$182,333 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$181,833 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$181,333 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$180,833 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$180,333 bid placed by @JohnVlas
$177,000 bid placed by @PaytonMB
$175,000 bid placed by @WonderMB
$173,000 bid placed by @VeryDown1
$170,500 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$170,000 bid placed by @WonderMB
$165,500 bid placed by @Wilson1974
$165,000 bid placed by @PaytonMB
$163,000 bid placed by @Focused
$160,500 bid placed by @VeryDown1
$160,000 bid placed by @WonderMB
$155,500 bid placed by @JohnVlas
Thanks guys for your bibs. When I saw those hand engraved cam's it was like seeing a signature on a famous artwork. Very exclusive AMG Artwork1$155,000 bid placed by @VeryDown1
I wanted to take this opportunity when all eyes are on my very special 5.4 WB to thank Blakley and crew. If you have a merc or AMG, the MBmarket crew will look after you like no other. They live and breathe these cars and will represent your car very well. Just read and enjoy the backstories on Blakley and his AMG collection in mags and youtube videos. Keep in touch with the Merc/AMG market pulse by plugging into the MBmarket via their enews, facebook or insta You may find your dream car, or one day decide to sell. Best regards S$150,500 bid placed by @JohnVlas
Hi Guys Just a note for newbie bidders on theMBMarket Any new bidder just be aware to double check the following (A summary of the MBmarket FAQ on bidding): -All bidders must add a valid credit card on file (account) in order to be able to bid -bidders are encouraged not to wait until the final minutes to make sure bids can go through This ensures your account works for bidding. Possible problems could be the credit card issuer thinks it might be fraud or something on their profile doesn’t match with the card issuer info. all the best with bidding.$149,999 bid placed by @VeryDown1
Wishing you the best! I’d say this auction has plenty of movement left before it’s finished!$145,000 bid placed by @Focused
$140,000 bid placed by @CURATED
$105,500 bid placed by @Wilson1974
I too remember when this was for sale in NZ years ago. I think what makes this example special are some of the details that it has maintained all of these years; the illusive 5.4 badge, modified dual snorkel, the painted outside edge of the wheels, slightly-aged center caps, and the amazing color-matching Italvolanti wheel. As much as I like period Recaro's I think the stock seats are refreshing. @48hp and @AMG5pt4, its nice to have a surviving example to reference :)$105,000 bid placed by @Focused
$99,999 bid placed by @Fatboi
Big thanks to @Focused @Fatboi @Mrbenz @NYCdriver Certainly a very limited slice of AMG pre merger excellence to bib on, that will give enjoyment and be an investment.$95,000 bid placed by @Focused
@benzgarden Thanks benzgarden Interesting discussion especially the “AMG” “400” badges car. Cubic inch for the USA market? Seems you may have one of the first 560 block 6 ltr produced in your SEL, well done. Have they stamped the engine with 6.0? The value covers a giveaway for the DOHC. Since getting the AMG bug 10 years ago I've been following the widebody SEC market in the public domain auctions. Numbers of SEC WB sold by year: 1984 1x 5.4 ltr 1985 1x 5 ltr, 1x 5.4 this car 1986 3x 6 ltr 1987 1x 6 ltr 1988 1x 6 ltr 1989 7x 6 ltr 1990 4x 6 ltr 1991 1x 6 ltr 19 cars auctioned in 10 years. (tracked by vin number) A similar number to classic.com tracking. But a long way off the 25 x 5.4’s and 60 x 6ltrs built. How many still exist? Observations: WDB1260451A436448 a Japan example was sold twice over that period. 2016 RM's @ Arizona and then again Jan 2021 RM's @ Arizona. 5ltr & 5.4's are the 500 engine blocks, 6ltr the later 560 block. 6ltrs a mix of Germany, USA and Japan built. The 5 & 5.4 ltr auctions didn't say if they were steel or the light weight glass widebody. (or 6ltrs) The 84 5.4 at some stage changed the period AMG pentas to the later 3 pieces wheels (tire availability at the time or looks?) One of the 6ltr cars, after auction was challenge if authentic. Then there is the private market where AMG's never see the auction hammer and trade between collectors, agents or AMG experts servicing them. Anyone to own a WB, Hammer, AMG upgrade or EVO (post merger) are very lucky. To have 1 of 500 is marketed as “rare” or a “unicorn” these days. One of 12 Hammers, 1 of 25 5.4 WB’s, 1 of 60 6ltr WB’s, Sleeper 6ltrs? What do we call pre merger AMG?@kvrs, I found some old posts I made years ago. Per member EuroCoupe, "And yes, I found out there were 1985 6.0 2cam motors. They were built/shipped from Germany only. It is the 560 block, as Mercedes finished developing this engine in '85. They are rated at 340hp in Euro form. The 4cam heads only yield another 35hp but even more torque" https://www.benzworld.org/threads/1985-500sel-amg-6-0.306721/Thanks for the clarification@48hp @TheAMGKit Thanks for your question TheAMGKit. Few know the inner workings of the pre merger AMG like 48hp who's worked on them and blogged for years, covering their finer points in so much detail while doing open heart surgery rebuilding his car.. Big thanks 48hp for clarifying TheAMGkits question and also keeping us all entertained on the AMG internals over the years. To add to 48hp comment, some AMG have their upgrades stamped on the block, some don't, this example for sale is stamped. I also had a great chat with a well know pre merger AMG mechanic (JH) and he indicated the 5.4 were the more worked on AMG motor (subject to desire & pockets), while the 6 with MB upgrade as a base left less that could be done. I hope I requoted that right. Have a great Xmas. (NZ is first to see the new day light and have Xmas.) S@kvrs Beautiful WB. This very car was inspiration whilst building ours. Good luck with the sale and hope it continues to be enjoyed out on the open road.@TheAMGKit Yes, 5.4 is achieved through bore and stroke as is 6L if starting with a 5L crank. (pre 560) The more common 6L was achieved using a 560 crank and 100mm bore.So the 5.4 was bore out, not just increase stroke? The 6.0 is stroked 560 motors right$88,888 bid placed by @Fatboi
@benzgarden Hi Benzgarden Your car is interesting. It would be good to know what the experts have to share about this @AMG5pt4 @CURATED @BlueridgeMB or Blakley What's your engine stamped with.. engine numbers (down where the motor bolts to trans)? 117? My understanding is that the earlier (1985 and earlier) Merc 500 - 5ltr was bored out to a max of 5.4 as the first step of the AMG 5.4 performance upgrade. The later 1986 Merc 560 engine was upgraded to 6 ltr by AMG. Does your documentation give any clues if your 500SEL has its original engine? Eg the 1984/85 500, was swapped out later and upgrading to the newer 560 by AMG to a 6ltr? Reply with the engine numbers? Is this the Curated car you refer too? It states the "1985 Mercedes-Benz AMG 6.0"..."In 1987 the car received a complete conversion by AMG, i.e. a new AMG engine" https://wearecurated.com/1985-mercedes-benz-amg-6-0/ Half the fun with the pre merger AMG's is unrevealing the mystic around their history. Reply with more on your car, numbers & documentation. The experts mentioned above will be able to help to clarify.@Silo, the 6.0L in 16V configuration existed in 1984/85. I have a 500SEL AMG which is a documented car with it. There is also a 85 Gen 1 500SEC 6.0 16V currently for sale at Curated.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvxCBfpuoGk&ab_channel=casper3396 earlier vid@AMG5pt4 thanks AMG5pt4 for your 2cents, with your wealth of pre merger knowledge. Hopefully this goes to a good AMG pre merger collector@Silo Thanks Silo. well saidAlso, remember that this car is way over the 25 year age threshold for EPA/DOT regulations - no EPA or DOT hurdles to deal with into the US - the car is exempt from all of these regulations. Other than a Bill of Sale, a Certificate of Export from NZ and someone at a US port to accept the car as an import broker for DHS stamp of approval, the process of clearing into the US is relatively easy. The state you are trying to register the car in is another story. Forget it if you are in California - probably won't happen. Any state that would require emissions testing will be a challenge. This car does not have cats on it, and it would be a shame to cut up the original Sebring exhaust system to add cats. I was lucky, in Georgia any car > 25 years old is exempt from emissions testing.Whoever might be fortunate to win this auction, I have shipped a car from Japan (a 1990 560SEC....) several years ago and the prevailing thought was roll-on/roll-off was the best option and cheapest. And I have read other posts in various forums who say cars shipped in containers get damaged more frequently than roll-on/roll-off. Suggest the buyer research this before committing. Just my $0.02... I shipped my car to Jacksonville port. I used an importer to hand-hold me through the process on the US side, but they did very little for $500 I paid them. The biggest issue I had after I got the car was getting it licensed in Georgia - buying the car in Japan, shipping to the US and getting the car out of Customs/DHS was very smooth - getting a license plate was a PITA. Mainly because the export certificate from Japan was, drum roll, in Japanese and I had to have that document translated by a certified translation company.Such a rare beast! This was the 6.0 of the time back before the 6.0 even existed.@Fatfrog Hi Fatfrog Thanks for your question. Yes. To make thing easy, I'm working in with Rocket Freight Ltd for estimates and will help the buyer working in with whatever shipping company is chosen to get the car on a ship to the USA. There are a number of NZ international freight forwarding companies who regularly facilitate the shipping of classic around the world from Auckland - NZ One of those companies Rocket Freight Ltd, with an office in Auckland provided these prices for Dec 2022 As an example I requested Long Beach - USA as the destination. - Roll on roll off - Driven onto the ship. Auckland to Long Beach port USA approx 4500NZD (USD$2900*). - 20ft container - Auckland depot to Long Beach from approx 9500NZD (USD$6100*) - 20ft container - Auckland depot to New York approx 16,000NZD (USD$10200*) - 20ft container - Auckland depot to London port approx 12,000NZD. * todays exchange conversion For this AMG with the widebody the freight manager recommended a shipping container. I will work in with the buyer and the freight forwarding company. If you need some reassurance, look at the likes of Patina Collective on youtube who have shipped hundreds of rare Mercs from all corners of the world.I wonder how much shipping would be to the USA? . or how much of a headache it would be to get her Stateside. If this was in the USA? If this badboy was in the USA -- I'd be bidding.. Simply awesome.. Love these coupes .. Good Luck with auction.@mercmatt Yes it's likely this car. Especially if Dominion Road as I'd regular drove down to Auckland with Mt Eden a regular stop. Only know of one other (rumored widebody on the road). The story I heard, Silver 6ltr that the GM of Merc NZ owned at the time.Wow ! What a beauty !! Not to many of these 5.4s around. It brings back memories of an AMG that I'd often see in mt eden about 6 years ago. That AMG v8 racing rumble, with its black sinister looks. A lovely example of AMG artwork. Already out of my league, but will follow this auction with interest.@MAbbott Thanks MAbbott The 1984 AMG 5.4 'Wide-Body' that sold in 2019 at RM's had no spoiler, but somewhere in it's life they replaced the period AMG 5 spoke Pentas with the 3 pieces lower profile OZ wheels of the later AMG's. My take is keep it in period Gen 1's look nice as is, Gen 2 6ltrs low profile OZ. This car apparently had some big modern mags on it for a short time with its prior owner, fortunately when I bought it I got the original wheels. I watched a video where Blakley returned his AMG 6ltr SL back to its right mags and it just looks right. Spoilers either way, but as they come.I don't think there's any other MB that evokes the same visceral response as a black widebody C126. They immediately transmit everything sinister, cool and epically 80s in the blink of an eye. Its like a countach or an F40...total archetypical insanity that's aged better than wine. Also - I may be in the minority here but I think this thing would look better without the decklid spoiler. 🤷♂️. Excellent presentation - Good Luck!https://www.benzworld.org/threads/sec-amg-widebody-selling-in-nz.1577107/@AMG5pt4 Thanks AMG5pt4 for your eagle eye and sharing your experience on my car. Yes the big stopper for a USA buyers all those years ago was that at the time the car was 1-2 years off their 25year old import reg's. With so few 5.4 widebody cars built and even less around these days, the 5.4's are not well known and refreshing to get your experience. The first generation widebody and the fully worked 5.4 the top AMG performer. Yes to answer your glass question. Lighter too than steel with the front/rear fiberglass widebody fenders. It means a lot esp on the 5.4's history, having read your other AMG blog comments over the years on pre merger AMG sales to blog builds. You are in the ideal position of enjoying the build and driving experience. Thanks for sharing your experience.Excellent and authentic widebody. I recall many years ago this car being for sale in NZ and I so badly wanted to buy it (for a heck of a lot less than what this car will sell for now!). I have a fully documented 84 500SEL AMG 5.4L SOHC and these are very nicely tuned engines. My engine has the full performance treatment - cams, ported/polished heads, headers, solid lifters, full Sebring non-Cat exhaust. I rebuilt my engine and bored the 98.5mm diameter cylinders to 99mm and had new forged pistons fitted. Very capable engines and quite robust. I also have an 85 5.4L widebody (authentic as well) with the DOHC 32v big engine that I am restoring. I too love the Gen I's as well for the same reasons mentioned in this auction. And, the WB five-spoke wheels are hands down better looking than the 3-piece OZ Racing wheels that are found on the Gen II cars. There are many little differences between the Gen I and Gen II widebody cars - the profile of the rear flares are a little less flared out and are not as linear as the Gen II rear flares (a little curvy). My car has glass front/rear flares - Seller are the rear flares on this car glass as well? The fronts are all glass. The color combo on this car is the same as mine. Best of luck, Seller, this is a stellar offering!@Hamgburglar Hi Hamgburglar Yes a good question as there is no advertise options. MB Classic do offer a heritage review, but their service is to only 40y/o plus cars. Will they take on pre merger AMG's is unknown? I did email them and got the "wait til it's 40y/o" comment. At first I found MB seemed focused on MB & MB AMG cars fully built in their factory eg 1991 onwards. They seem to more like to reference the AMG pedigree/heritage Red Pig, WB's and Hammers in adverts with Lewis and co. But still no formally "advertised" process of pre merger AMG authentication. As we all know pre merger AMG HQ records are very limited, it could be that there is a lot of homework for MB to do to verify cars I would expect a cost for the service and in my case they did it FOC, for which I'm very grateful. The buyer of this car will get all the emails detailing the questions, photos supplied and confirmation as authentic. As its not an establish/advertised process and I expect mountain of requests to MB after this post, may I suggest you get my contact details off Blakley after the auction and I'm happy to share how. (The approach and the contact).@motorderby Hi Motorderby Yes, other top classic are similar with Gen1's, with some not coming to auction often. eg LP400's The AMG widebody Gen1 set the scene for what was coming. Imagine people first sighting the WB's, rolled by or featured in a magazine. It's interesting to read blog comments from people on the low stance and unique widebody..(and sound). As it was explained to me the 5.4's widebodys were the top AMG offering at the time, over a very narrow window from 84-85, before the MB 560 motor came and the AMG 6ltrs took over. With just 25 produced and unknown how many still exist, they are rare. It seems only one has come to public auction in April 2019 over the last 5+ years. https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz/s/w126/c126-coupe/amg/54/ Different wheels in the 2019 example.. I do know of one which changed hands privately. At the time in April 2019 Petrolicious reported on the auction which featured three pre merger AMG's under the hammer " The AMGs performed particularly well at the auction, with the sale of a 1990 560 SEC AMG 6.0 wide body fetching a spectacular final bid of €149,500, double the estimate. Another wide body coupe, a 500 SEC AMG 5.4 was sold at an even higher price of €161.000. far exceeding the pre-sale expectations. The most anticipated car of the collection, though, the 1979 Mercedes-Benz 500 TE AMG wagon, brought an astonishing €143.750, more than doubling pre-sale estimate of €60-70k, and establishing a world record price for the W123 platform. This pre-merger black on tan 500 TE it is believed to have been converted to AMG specifications in period, but whatever the story is, it looks the absolute business.” https://petrolicious.com/articles/gallery-proof-from-techno-classica-that-the-youngtimer-takeover-is-well-underway@kvrs Very, very cool car. The listing mentions, "The seller had the car verified in 2017 by Diamler AG via the Mercedes-Benz / AMG register." What does this mean? How did you go about doing so? I have my own old AMG and would appreciate some insight. Perhaps the answer would also be of value to the auction? I can DM you if not.I've always preferred gen1 WB's over later examples. They are simpler, focused on performance over luxury + you can't beat WB Pentas :). I don't remember the last time a gen1 was sold at auction. GLWS, beautiful example.$80,000 bid placed by @Focused
Epic car$20,000 bid placed by @Mrbenz
At this stage, place bid and figure out logistics later!$15,000 bid placed by @NYCdriver
@teleskier Hi Teleskier Yes. There are a number of NZ international freight forwarding companies who regularly facilitate the shipping of classic around the world from Auckland - NZ One of those companies Rocket Freight Ltd, with an office in Auckland provided these prices for Dec 2022 As an example I requested Long Beach - USA as the destination. - Roll on roll off - Driven onto the ship. Auckland to Long Beach port USA approx 4500NZD (USD$2900*). - 20ft container - Auckland depot to Long Beach from approx 9500NZD (USD$6100*). - 20ft container - Auckland depot to London port approx 12,000NZD. * todays exchange conversion For this AMG with the widebody the freight manager recommended a shipping container. I will work in with the buyer and the freight forwarding company. RegardsIn the US. Can the seller assist with logistics regarding export process?@Roofsforcars Hi Roofsforcars Hour north of Auckland.@seller Where about in New Zealand is the car?Drooling