Mercedes 300TE 3.6 Brabus | PH Auction Block
Old AMGs are hot property at the moment - what about a much rarer and more powerful Brabus?
A few years ago, I was one of the lucky few to be given a peek behind the curtain of Brabus’s headquarters in Bottrop, Germany, which was a bit like Charlie landing a ticket to Wonka’s chocolate factory, only with a lot more V8s and fewer Oompa-Loompas. It was everything you’d imagine it to be: an immaculate facility packed with exceptionally clever engineers extracting more power from the many Mercedes, Porsches and Range Rovers on the shop floor, all while exceptionally fashion-conscious designers stuff interiors full of plump diamond-quilted leather and precious metals.
That’s mostly the vision of Constantin Buschmann, Brabus CEO and son of company founder Bodo. Constantin took over the business after his father’s sudden passing in 2018, and set about turning the business into something far more luxury-minded. It’s still the Brabus we know and love, as recently demonstrated by the new 900hp Rocket G-Wagen, but there’s nothing quite like the Bodo cars that prioritised power over everything else. It shoved V12s in C-Classes, for instance, and carbon wheel covers on E-Classes. It also made this beautifully boxy Mercedes-Benz 300TE-24, which will soon be going under the PH hammer.
Granted, it’s not quite as outlandish as the company’s other creations, but its black paint, blacked-out brightwork and and black badging are all Brabus hallmarks. This 1992 car started life in Japan as a regular S124 estate, fitted with a 3.0-litre, 24-valve straight-six that outputted around 220hp, which was pretty decent for the early '90s. But it wasn’t long before the car was shipped off to Bottrop for Brabus to work on, with most of the firm’s efforts focused squarely on the engine. The big change was a bore out to 3.6-litres, bumping power up to a much more appropriate 280hp and, presumably, a good step up in torque, too.
Brabus didn’t leave it there, either. The suspension was overhauled with Bilstein shocks and Brabus’s own springs, while the bodywork was given a makeover with the company’s own bumpers and skirts. But no Brabus would be complete without a new set of wheels, with this car featuring 17-inch Monoblock V rims in the company’s signature design of the time, wrapped in Michelin rubber, which were fitted in 2024.
Even the interior received some attention. The seats, for example, were retrimmed in buffalo hide, the steering wheel exchanged for Brabus’s own design and the instrument cluster swapped out for one that reads up to 300kph (or 186mph in English). Whether it’ll get anywhere near that is anyone’s guess, unless you fancy taking it to Germany and opening it up on the straightest stretch of autobahn you can find. And if it doesn’t get anywhere near the triple tonne, you could always swing by Brabus for a tune-up.
It should be more than up for it, too. After it was imported in 2015, the car was sent to Mercedes specialist John Haynes for a comprehensive overhaul, with documents showing £22,000 worth of work. Remarkably, it’s covered just 500 miles since being in the country, meaning almost all of the 85k miles it’s covered have been done so in Japan. And you know what Japan doesn’t do to its roads the moment things get chilly? Douse them in salt. Obviously, it’s properly rare, and will certainly garner a huge amount of bidder attention when the auction goes live in Feb. Come prepared, because there’s a hat to be eaten if another one comes up again.
It looks a bit sheddy to me, in that Vauxhall Nova bolted on sporty bumpers kind of way.
I think it’s the wheels which are a bit too Max Power (TSW Venoms?) and the tinted windows.
Loose the “tintz” and add AMG Monoblocks and I think it will look much better.
PS— I like a sporty Nova!
The wheels, the black chrome, the tints etc just don't look right. The steering wheel, wood boss nor the crap wood gear knob either.
Of course each to their own.
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