Custom-Built Mercedes 560 SEL Kombi
While automakers have historically built small and mid-size sport wagons, full size wagons (or “Battlewagons”) are quite rare. Sure BMW built a few 7-series wagons and the Sultan of Brunei had a several V12-powered S-Class wagons made, but there’s not a big market for super-luxe wagons. For those who want such a creation, a custom solution is required. Enter the Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL Kombi. Converted only recently from a 1990 560 SEL, this Battlewagon offers unparalleled luxury and practicality. Many elements of the car’s new rear appear to come from an E-Class estate, which are quite common in the owner’s native Germany. Power comes from a Mercedes 5.6L M117 single overhead cam V8 engine producing 295 horsepower and a more important 335 lb-ft of torque. This kombi drives the rear-wheels through a 4-speed automatic transmission (although the W126 S-Class could be purchased with a 5-speed manual- how cool would a manual, rear-wheel drive, S-Class wagon be?!). The cost of this conversion was an astronomical $55,000 U.S. Dollars (at current exchange rates), which would be okay if elements of the conversion (check out the integration of those tail lights) weren’t so shoddy. Yet at the end of the day, the W126 S-Class was one of the most over-engineered and well-constructed vehicles ever built, and with the extra room of an estate is perhaps the perfect Grand Tourer.