CLASSIC DRIVE: Unique Mercedes-Benz C124 "560CE"

The feat of fitting a W126 560's V8 engine into a W124 may usually be accredited to AMG, but here in South Africa, a pair of Mercedes-Benz employees did the same. 

Words: Wilhelm Lutjeharms

Images: Danie Nel

The appropriate word here is, "subtle". From a distance even the most seasoned Mercedes-Benz aficionado would only spot that this unique car’s bumpers are different compared to those of a standard W124 Mercedes-Benz 300CE Coupé – they’d have no clue that a 5.5-litre V8 was lurking under its bonnet.

When I arrived at the owner’s garage, I was taken on a tour of his classic car collection, but, after an hour of walking through the various marques of cars and exchanging motoring anecdotes, he pointed me in the direction of the his W124. “This is, after all, the car you came to see!” he exclaims.

“I was looking for a W124 in the online classifieds about fifteen years ago when this car came up for sale. The word ‘Hammer’ was mentioned in the advertisement. At the time I didn’t know about the history of W124 Hammer, and quickly read up about these special cars”.

This W124 was advertised at a price that was only slightly dearer than 300CEs of its age, but he decided to meet the owner and have a look at the car. To cut a long story short, the car caught his fancy and he bought it. At the time, he had no clue as to how special his purchase was. 

History

The history of this car started in around 1986, when two Mercedes-Benz employees at Mercedes-Benz South Africa got itchy fingers and wanted to improve the 300CE’s performance (even before the South African buying public officially had access to the 560 W126 models).

At the time, Peter Lastrucci had a multi-faceted job at the company. He worked in the dealer service department, but, because he was a district manager he was also deeply involved on the technical side of the business. This meant he was well connected and also had access to the company’s large parts bin. 

This car originally belonged to his colleague, Dale Petty, the second Mercedes-Benz employee who played a pivotal role in the birth of this car. After tracking down Lastrucci, I asked him where the idea of this car came from.

“The root of this project was that typical conversation you have with your colleagues at the time of improving the car, making it faster and better,” Lastrucci explained. 

Lastrucci admits that the pair was aware of the AMG Hammer, but, without the Internet, few people at the time knew the exact details and timeline of the Affalterbach programme. However, Lastrucci had visited AMG during those years and, as it happened, got a drive in a Hammer with one of AMG’s bosses.

“We thought we would like to do a local upgrade of the W124 ourselves. You need to remember that Mercedes-Benz was a very conservative company at the time, quite unlike today. You couldn’t even put different hub caps on your car! Mercedes-Benz Germany, however, knew nothing of our plans.

“At the time, during the mid-1980s, South Africa had very high import duties, so the idea was to build a car similar to what AMG was doing in Germany.”

Mercedes South Africa didn’t quite approve of what they were about to do, however: “They didn’t stop us, but didn’t give us their blessing either. However, as things progressed, it was the company’s marketing department that showed a level of interest. They would have liked to see the car being built on home soil. But it would not have been impossible, as there was a lot of development happening in South Africa on the commercial vehicles, but nothing on the passenger car side. Passenger car development was a much more closed environment, which was managed by Mercedes-Benz in Germany. In the late-1980s the market also changed completely and everyone had to tighten their belts, which didn’t help the prospects for these types of cars.”

Needless to say, Lastrucci and Petty continued tinkering with the cars, after hours, in their garage.

“We had access to a lot of information, but in terms of building these cars we had no assistance from Mercedes-Benz. We were total enthusiasts, so we made it happen,” he says, adding that the fact that they both had an engineering background certainly helped their cause. 

“The first car we built was a four-door, and a lot of development was required. This included the rear axle, which needed a new limited-slip diff that had to be hand built with off-the-shelf parts. Other updates included the brakes. Most of the parts were official Mercedes-Benz parts, however.”

Next up was the coupé and then another four door was built, the latter was converted and stripped out for racing purposes. Unfortunately the history of the other two cars is unknown.

“Dale managed to purchase the W126 560 running gear from Mercedes-Benz management in South Africa. That was even before any of the 560s have been delivered in South Africa and before local production began. This drivetrain (engine and transmission) came directly from Germany.”

Performance

The 132 kW 3.0-litre in-line six engine was replaced with a 560SE’s 220 kW 5.5-litre V8, sportier bumpers were fitted fore and aft, while the flat, five-spoked wheels further show the sporty intent of the car together with the twin exhaust pipes. Bear in mind that, apart from the additional power and torque, a W124 300 CE tips the scales around 350 kg less than a 560 SEC.

The interior is stock standard, except for one item. The analogue speedometer has been swapped from the standard 260 km/h version to a 320 km/h unit, the latter also from a W126. If you look at an angle you will also be able to note that the finish of the black speedometer is just ever so slightly different to the other black dials. Even installing this, what would seem like a simple task, took some effort as the W124’s speedometer used a mechanical system, and the W126 used an electronic system.

Behind the wheel

From the moment you turn the “560CE’s” key the motor emits a deeper mechanical rumble compared to that of a six-cylinder engine. Blip the throttle, and there’s deep-chested audible confirmation that a power unit of note has been installed under the coupé’s flat bonnet. 

As I pull away in the Benz, there is a level of urgency from the car that’s more associated with more modern AMG models, meaning that under part throttle there is enough torque to allow the car to almost leap forward with small bursts of acceleration.

Even though this W124 has over 173 000 km on the odo, the car still feels solid, and there are no serious or annoying rattles emanating from any part of the car.

I press the throttle down further and watch as the rev needle quickly passes 4 000 and then, eventually, 5 000 rpm. Shortly thereafter at 6 000 rpm, the transmission selects the next gear. The transmission does takes its time – compared with modern transmissions – to change gears, but you don’t expect it any other way. 

It is the same with the car’s rather vague steering feel, but when you want to string a few corners together with enthusiasm, you simply pre-calculate your inputs to the steering system on the approach to every corner. The stiffer suspension limits body movement in a manner you would expect it to, but overall the CE still has a wonderfully pliant and comfortable ride. 

There is enough mechanical grip, but you also sense that this is a weighty coupé, and that an over-exuberant corner exit is likely to have a less than ideal outcome. However, the fact that this car is equipped with a special limited slip differential – unlike any other standard W124 coupé – allows you to trust the car as you accelerate out of a corner.

Every time you press the throttle pedal, there is the corresponding burble from the exhaust as well as a rumbling from the engine, as ever, making its presence felt.

Top speed details

I wonder how fast this car can go in a straight line and, fortunately, the owner has the answer for me: “I’ve seen 260 km/h on the GPS”. This means that it would have probably indicated around 270 km/h on the speedometer. However, in the owner’s manual of this car the following is written: “Mr P. Lastrucci especially prepared the vehicle which was tested on the Gerotek track and rewarded a speed of 310 km/h”. 

I asked Lastrucci about these tests: “I wasn’t part of those tests, but yes, they were certainly conducted. You have to remember that they played with different differential ratios and also used other fuels, including aviation fuel”. Adding to this car’s provenance is the fact that none of these tests were ever conducted on the other two cars, only on this specific one.

Even if you look at it conservatively, if the car hit an indicated 310 km/h, it still achieved a remarkable true speed of around 295 to 300 km/h (the W124’s drag coefficient was also lower than that of the W126, an important fact that further contributed to its higher top speed).

Over the course of the past few years the owner’s interest and enthusiasm for this Mercedes-Benz has, as expected, increased. This W124 is now regularly taken to club outings and has won several prizes at these events.

I find it fascinating that Mercedes-Benz never built such a performance-oriented W124. Yes, we did see the likes of the limited 500E/E500, but in a car such as this coupé you would have had an even sportier alternative.

Given where Mercedes-Benz is today, thanks to its integration with AMG, we cannot begin to imagine a world without a fast AMG sedan or coupé. Already several decades ago, a number of engineers, both in Affalterbach and even here in South Africa, had foresight of how much more these cars had to offer. 

Specifications: 

Model: W124 Mercedes-Benz ‘560’ CE

Engine: 5.5-litre, V8, petrol

Power: 220 kW at 5 000 rpm 

Torque: 455 Nm at 3 750 rpm 

Transmission: 4-speed AT, RWD

Weight: Between 1450 and 1 750 kg

0-100 km/h: < 6.8 seconds

Top Speed: 295 km/h