A true automotive marvel from the 1990s has appeared on the US auction scene, making connoisseurs' hearts beat faster. It's the ultra-rare Isdera Imperator 108i - a car that formally doesn't bear the three-pointed star emblem, but in whose veins flows pure Swabian blood. The 1991 model will be auctioned off by RM Sotheby's, with estimates suggesting that the hammer will hit at a price of nearly $850,000.
The story of this wedge-shaped predator is worthy of a Hollywood script. It all starts with the daring Mercedes CW311 concept, presented back in 1978. When the Stuttgart giant decided not to put the model into series production, its creator – engineer and visionary Eberhard Schulz, did not give up. With the blessing of Mercedes-Benz, he received the rights to the project and began assembling the car under his own brand Isdera. Thus was born one of the most exclusive supercars in history, of which only 30 were produced between 1984 and 1993.
Visually, the Imperator 108i is a true sculpture of speed. The aggressive silhouette and the rising headlights immediately betray the spirit of the era, and the "gull-wing" doors are a direct and emotional reference to the iconic Mercedes 300SL Gullwing. However, under the sharp shapes lies serious power. Mercedes-Benz not only allowed Schulz to finish his work, but also supplied its V8 units for the project. The specific ad offers a car with a 5.0-liter naturally aspirated M119 engine, generating 300 horsepower, transmitted to the road via a 5-speed manual transmission. For its time, the dynamics were impressive - a sprint to 100 km/h in just over 5 seconds and a top speed reaching 282 km/h.
This particular Isdera Imperator 108i is a true “time capsule”. Ordered new by a Japanese collector, the car has covered only 2,218 kilometers in its 35 years of existence. Its condition is impeccable, as if it had just left Schulz's small factory. For serious investors and admirers of rare German engineering masterpieces, this may be the only chance to own a piece of history that combines the audacity of boutique design with the reliability of Mercedes' golden era.