CMS Motorsports is the shop featured in the episode, and the hosts discuss how the company restores and works on AMG cars. The conversation emphasizes their growth from a smaller operation to a larger downtown facility with a showroom and display-focused setup. This makes CMS Motorsports a key “who” in the story, not just a name-drop.
“AMGs” are Mercedes cars made by AMG, the performance division of Mercedes-Benz. They’re known for being quicker and more track-capable than regular Mercedes models. This episode is about restoring and working on those AMG cars.
“Restoring” means taking an older or worn AMG and bringing it back to a really good condition. That can include fixing damage, replacing worn parts, and making it look right again. The episode is about what that process is like and why people want it.
“Vintage AMG Day” is the episode’s theme. It’s basically a spotlight on older AMG cars and the people who restore and care for them. It helps you know what the show is focusing on.
“Pre-merger” means before AMG became fully part of Mercedes-Benz. Back then, AMG had a more independent “tuner” vibe, which many people associate with the brand’s early cool factor.
Recaro makes performance car seats. They’re designed to hold you in place better during spirited driving. The host remembers the Recaro seats as a standout part of the car’s “cool” factor.
The host references “Miami Vice” as a cultural touchstone for the 1980s era they associate with certain car styles and driver fashion. It’s used here to explain why that period’s cars and aesthetics felt so iconic to them.
Radwood is a car show where the vibe is more about the style and culture of classic cars—especially the 80s/90s look. The host is saying that the same kind of “Miami Vice” fashion shows up at events like this.
They mention “Formula One Imports” as a local importer/dealer that had a reputation for bringing in fancy cars. The speaker says it was a place where he could sit in lots of cars as a kid.
A gray market dealer sells cars through unofficial import channels. That can change what’s available and how the car is handled compared to buying through the normal brand network.
“Body shop guy” refers to someone working in collision repair and vehicle bodywork—things like panels, fabrication, and paint. The speaker is connecting that trade to building custom cars and getting into the custom fabrication side of the industry.
The speaker describes an older collision-repair approach where body shops “beat the metal” and use heat to reshape damaged panels. This is essentially metal fabrication and panel beating—before modern repair workflows and specialized departments became common. It highlights how restoration and repair used to rely more on hands-on metalwork.
The speaker says they used to heat paint and that it was “solvent based,” with a strong smell lasting for weeks. Solvent-based coatings rely on solvents to carry pigments and binders, and they can off-gas for a long time compared with many modern waterborne systems. The “heat up the paint” part suggests older spray/curing practices.
Term
spraying glass
“Spraying glass” appears to be the speaker’s way of describing a clearcoat or a glass-like finish produced by the paint system used in older body shops. In many refinishing contexts, people describe certain coatings as giving a “glass” look due to gloss and smoothness. The exact product/chemistry isn’t specified, but it’s clearly about the finish quality.
They’re talking about Mercedes-Benz, the car brand they’ve loved for a long time. It’s also the reason the conversation is about building and tuning cars—because Mercedes has a big enthusiast scene.
They’re talking about a Mercedes-Benz 300 E from 1986. It’s a classic E-Class sedan (the W124 generation) that was built to be a reliable daily driver. “Bone stock” means it was mostly unchanged from the factory.
“Bone stock” means the car was basically as it came from the factory, with no meaningful modifications. It’s useful because it shows what they changed later.
They wanted the car to look like a much more powerful AMG version, often nicknamed “Hammer.” Since they couldn’t afford the real AMG parts, they used other parts to make the car resemble that higher-end setup.
They found a shop that sold replica parts meant to look like AMG equipment. That let them build the style they wanted without spending the huge money that real AMG parts cost.
They changed the headlights to a European-style set. People do this for the look and sometimes because the light pattern is different than what you get with other markets.
An “AMG kit” is a set of parts that makes a regular Mercedes look more like an AMG. It’s usually about styling—bumpers, trim, and similar pieces—rather than turning it into the real AMG mechanically.
A “clone” here means they modified the car to look like a more expensive AMG version. It’s like recreating the vibe and appearance of the real thing, often without doing every mechanical upgrade.
They’re talking about Mac Tools, a company that sells tools to mechanics. The segment is about how someone can own a route and sell tools directly to repair shops.
Concept
trial by inferno
It just means learning through tough, costly mistakes. The host is saying it’s easier if you have help and guidance instead of figuring everything out alone.
Factor is a service that delivers prepared meals. The host uses it to make eating healthy easier because the meals are already planned and ready to go.
Term
GLP-1 support
GLP-1 is a hormone that affects appetite and metabolism. The host is saying some meal plans are designed to support that kind of health goal.
The Mercedes-Benz 500 E is a special older Mercedes sedan with a powerful engine. People like it because it’s quick and feels sporty, but it doesn’t look like an extreme race car.
AMG is Mercedes’ performance division. The point here is that AMG got offered on more models over time, and some people prefer the original, more special versions.
Sometimes the real original cars are too rare or too expensive, so people build cars that look and feel like the original using old, correct parts. The goal is to make it as authentic as possible.
A body kit is the set of outside parts that change the car’s look. They’re saying that even if you find the original kit, it’s old and usually been fixed up before, so it may not be perfect.
The Lamborghini Countach is a very rare, high-performance sports car made by Lamborghini. It’s known for its bold, unusual design. The podcast mentions it because owning one can be expensive, especially for repairs and upkeep.
A junkyard is a place where old cars get taken apart and you can buy parts. The speaker is saying they used to be able to find performance parts there cheaply.
Company
Pickapart
Pickapart is referenced as a parts source where the speaker used to collect components in person. In the context of the episode, it’s part of the story about how enthusiast parts used to be easy to find before online marketplaces and rising collector demand changed pricing.
Gooding is a well-known classic car auction house. The speaker uses it as a benchmark for ultra-high-end, auction-priced cars (the “$700,000” example) to contrast against the more typical market where recreations and period-correct builds can make sense.
Even if a car hasn’t been wrecked, older body panels can slowly shift or wear in a way that makes them not line up perfectly anymore. That affects how well new parts will match the existing body. So restoration isn’t just about having parts—it’s about having parts that fit the way the originals did.
AMG’s “classic program” is referenced as a Mercedes-AMG initiative aimed at preserving heritage cars. The host says it’s focused on record keeping and certification rather than producing new replacement parts at scale. This distinction matters because it explains why some classic AMG components remain unavailable even when the car can be officially documented.
The Fiat 500e is a small electric car version of the Fiat 500. The podcast is talking about replacing parts like bumpers and fenders, which is the kind of work you do after damage or for restoration. Even though it’s electric, it still uses body panels that can be repaired or replaced.
“Popping molds out of” refers to using existing manufacturing molds (or mold tooling) to reproduce parts that are no longer available. When molds are the only way to make accurate, repeatable shapes, they become a critical resource for niche restorations. In this episode, it’s presented as a practical solution to the lack of current factory-level reproduction.
QC means quality control, basically how well a company checks that parts are correct. The host is saying some replacement parts they’ve seen are low quality and don’t fit or match properly. That’s why restoration can turn into a parts-availability and parts-quality problem.
Concept
wide body SEC hammer
They’re talking about a custom-looking Mercedes-style coupe with wider fenders. The goal is a more aggressive “stance,” usually by changing the body panels so the car sits and looks wider.
Reproduction parts are new-made versions of older parts. Sometimes they’re actually better than the originals because they’re made to fit correctly and can be improved in the manufacturing process.
Fiberglass is a lightweight material used for some body panels. They’re saying earlier wide-body versions used fiberglass parts, but later people had problems like cracking, so the material choices changed.
They’re saying they build the bodywork out of steel instead of lighter materials like fiberglass. Steel can be stronger and, when welded properly, it can make the panels feel more solid and better integrated.
A pillarless coupe is a car where the side windows don’t have a center support pillar. That can make the body flex more, which can stress body panels and lead to cracking.
“Overly restored” describes an aesthetic choice to make a car look extremely fresh—sometimes beyond what a purist might consider “original.” In this context, it’s tied to the goal of perfect fitment and finish on the wide-body conversion.
They’re describing the careful metalwork step where rough panel pieces get shaped and smoothed so the car’s body lines look continuous. Primer is used to reveal any imperfections before final finishing.
Company
Tennessee
The car is said to be coming back from Tennessee, implying the fabrication or metalwork is being done off-site. For listeners, this is a clue that the build process may involve shipping the car to a specialist shop for bodywork and metal massaging.
They’re talking about the Mercedes-Benz SL, which is a classic luxury convertible/roadster. They’re basically saying red looks great on these cars and can make them more valuable.
They’re talking about taking a Mercedes-Benz 500 E and turning it into a convertible. That’s not just cosmetic—making a car open-top usually requires major changes to the body so it still feels solid and drives right.
Turning a car into a convertible changes how it flexes and how loud/solid it feels. The goal is to make it still drive and sound right, not like a loose, rattly open-top conversion.
Fender flares are the parts that extend outward over the wheel area. They change the look of the car a lot, and in this build they’re a key part of making the conversion look right.
They mention a trim piece called “dog leg molding” that helps define the shape of the rear body. For the conversion, they’re changing how that area is built so the flare becomes one unified piece.
They’re explaining how they copied a tricky body shape using 3D modeling, then made a physical mold from it. That helps them build the part so it matches the original design.
The Tesla Model 3 is an electric car, meaning it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. The podcast is talking about how the car’s shape is designed and built, including using models and manufacturing steps. It’s mentioned because it’s a major example of today’s EV design.
Side cladding is the trim along the side of the car that can cover and protect bodywork. They’re saying their version is made in a different way (one piece) to match the look.
Door cladding is the outside trim around the doors that helps the car look smooth and properly shaped. They’re recreating it so the edges and contours match the original design.
Rocker molding is the trim strip along the bottom edge of the doors. They’re saying this is hard to replicate because the shape has to match the car’s body lines so it doesn’t look “patched together.”
They’re trying to make a custom car look like a specific Mercedes-Benz coupe—the 500 CE. That means matching the shape and trim details so it looks “factory,” not like an aftermarket conversion.
The fuel door is the little panel where you open the gas cap. They’re saying the fuel door is placed differently depending on the body style, so it’s one of the tricky parts to make the conversion look correct.
“Bolt-on” means those parts can be attached with bolts and brackets instead of being custom-built from scratch. They’re saying some body parts are easier to swap than the tricky trim pieces.
They’re talking about the Mercedes-Benz SL 500 they owned before. They’re basically saying their past experience helps them judge what kind of engine setup makes sense for the way they drive now.
The Autobahn is a famous German highway known for long-distance, high-speed driving. They’re basically saying their driving isn’t the kind where an engine’s high-speed strengths would really show.
A “four cam” engine means the engine uses more camshafts to control the valves. More cam control can help performance, but the host is saying it won’t matter much for how they actually drive.
Jim Farley runs Ford. In this segment, they’re saying he’s also into racing, not just business.
Car
Mercedes 400E
The Mercedes-Benz 400E is the smaller-engine E-Class sibling mentioned alongside the 500E. The key point here is that the firewall and engine-bay packaging differ between the 400E and the larger-engine setup, requiring major fabrication to swap in the bigger motor.
The firewall is the big wall that separates the engine area from the passenger area. If you put a bigger engine in, you might have to cut and rebuild that wall, which can also affect parts inside the car.
This segment describes the real-world challenge of engine swaps and fitment: when the engine doesn’t physically fit, you may need structural changes like cutting and re-welding the firewall. They also note the “diminishing returns” problem—beyond a point, the cost and complexity stop making the swap financially sensible.
Company
Rent Tech
Rent Tech is a company name mentioned by the host. They bring it up because the owner shares real stories about Mercedes-AMG engineering and builds.
Concept
SCCs
They mention Hart moot building something called “SCCs,” but the transcript doesn’t say what that stands for here. It sounds like a parts/project setup related to these kinds of performance builds.
A five-speed gearbox is the transmission with five forward gears. They’re saying the donor car’s transmission is part of what makes the swap work better.
“Diff” is short for differential, the gear unit that allows the left and right wheels to rotate at different speeds while also distributing torque. They mention getting a “better diff” as part of the donor package, which typically improves traction and how the car puts power down.
A powertrain is everything that transfers engine power to the wheels. They’re saying their build uses a whole matching set from another car, not just one part.
The Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG is a faster, higher-performance version of the E-Class. The podcast is talking about its transmission and drivetrain upgrades that help it move more strongly. It’s mentioned because it’s a well-known performance setup from the factory.
An ECU tune is a software adjustment to the car’s computer. It can help the engine make more power, especially when combined with exhaust changes.
Concept
four cam vs two cam engine
They’re comparing engines with different camshaft setups—four-cam versus two-cam. The claim is that the four-cam design can make the engine feel stronger at higher RPMs.
The power band is the RPM range where the engine feels strongest. They’re saying an automatic can sometimes make it harder to keep the engine in that sweet spot.
“Slush box” is slang for an automatic transmission. They’re saying it can feel less connected because it may not keep the engine in the right RPM range for strong acceleration.
A six-speed gearbox is a manual transmission with six gears. More gears can help the engine stay in its best power range, but it also changes how the car feels day to day.
A manual swap is when someone changes a car to use a manual transmission instead of an automatic. It can be fun, but it’s not always the best fit for how the car is supposed to feel.
The Mercedes-Benz CLK is a luxury car line, usually a coupe or convertible. The podcast is talking about a special high-performance version called the “Black Series,” and it mentions that it can be paired with a manual transmission. That combination is unusual, which is why it stands out.
Bilstein dampers are shocks/struts that control how the car moves over bumps. They help the car stay stable and predictable, especially after suspension changes.
H&R springs are aftermarket springs that change how high the car sits and how stiff it feels. Combined with shocks, they help the car handle better and ride more evenly.
They’re using the Mercedes-Benz E 500 as a benchmark. The idea is that the suspension parts they’re choosing were also used on the E 500, so it should feel right.
A laser scan is like a high-precision measurement using a laser. It helps the shop and wheel maker confirm there’s enough clearance so the wheels fit without rubbing.
They’re choosing a 17-inch wheel size for this car. Wheel diameter can change clearance and fitment, so the exact size matters for whether the wheels work properly.
Part
two-piece FMR
They’re talking about how the wheel is made in two main sections. The goal is usually to make it stronger and lighter than older wheel designs.
A forged barrel is the wheel’s outer part made by squeezing metal into shape. That process usually makes the wheel tougher and sometimes lighter than cheaper casting methods.
Clear coat is the shiny protective layer on top of the paint. They’re saying they want it extra glossy so the color looks deeper and more eye-catching.
Term
Frozen polished clear
This is a particular type of clear coat finish. It’s chosen to make the paint look brighter and more “alive” under real lighting.
This is a custom front bumper option (from Lorenzo) that changes how the car’s front end looks. They’re saying it’s a rare piece and it helps the car look right.
This is a styling principle: choosing wheels and accessories that match the car’s original design period. The host argues that mixing in newer-looking parts (like wheels from a newer Mercedes-Benz) can make the build look visually “off,” even if the parts are high quality.
Bigger wheels (like 18 inches) can change how the car looks from the side. They’re saying 18s make the car look like it’s sitting too tall compared to the look they want.
LIVE
What up everyone? Welcome to the Smoking Tire Podcast. Today's episode is brought to you as
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All right, folks. On this episode, I've got the homie Shant from CMS Motorsports in studio.
We're talking about AMGs. We're talking about what it's like restoring them. We're talking about
the demand for them. We're talking about what Shant and his team are doing with my car and
a whole lot more. It's Vintage AMG Day on the Smoking Tire Podcast. Let's go. Guys, the Smoking
Tire is giving away a 992.1 Turbo S in partnership with Dream Giveaways. We're giving away a $275,000
car with some slick choice mods. The proceeds benefit charity, and you don't have to buy any
merch. It's a straightforward entry process. So hit the link in the show notes and get entered to
win today. What's happening, Shant? Welcome. Not much, man. Thank you for having me.
Welcome in. My neighbor, about a quarter mile up the road from the studio here,
CMS, which you won't see because the sign says Marina West Auto Body on it. Business within a
business, if you will. Well, we have the other side, which was CMS, which is smaller. Now we've
grown to a bigger facility in downtown. So now we officially have a showroom and we're building out.
So I'm building out the showroom to where, you know, when you walked into AMG, you had a car.
It's a huge office with all the seats, the wheels, and everything on display.
So you can specify your shingo. So, all right, reverse it, reverse it some years. We met
eight, nine years ago, probably, but you'd already been in this game for a long time at that point.
Why pre-merger AMGs as an area of expertise? I've always been passionate about just
AMG, the pre-merger. I mean, back in the 80s, if you had anything pre-merger, AMG, or tuner,
it was like you were the king of the road. So my first experience with an AMG car,
so my mom, she designs custom wedding dresses. She's retired, but she was
a private designer that used to get hired through all these very high-end wedding gown
businesses. And when someone wanted to design a custom wedding dress,
they hired my mom to come in and design it. So some brand name, you know, needs the specialist
to actually do the thing. Her main clientele was based out of one bridal shop in Beverly Hills,
which I probably still there right next to Saks. I don't know if it's there or not, but
they used to have a parking lot in the back with like a gazebo smoking area. So in the summer,
when I was on summer break, when they used to contract, you know, my mom to go out there,
I just used to go hang out, walk around and go eat. So I was sitting in the back
of the shop one day and, you know, in the parking lot comes this white SEC,
just AMG white pentas brand new car. This was like late 80s, mid 80s, 85, 86, you know. And
I see them rolling up and they just parked and they were probably engaged. So she walks inside
and then he stood out there and was smoking a cigarette in the gazebo and I'm just staring
at this car. Yeah. And he finally comes up and he's like, you like the car like with some European
action. I don't remember what he was. And I'm like, yeah, I love it. So the guy opened the door
and told me, you know, go ahead and take a seat. And this was, you know, I'm whatever,
eight, nine years old. I'm on my cloud nine core memory. And I remember like,
gray recaro's fully trimmed the whole nine. And that was was like, wow. Yeah. This is what I like.
This is what I want. And then, you know, the whole, the whole thing with Miami Vice and all the,
you know, drug dealers driving all these. And you dress like them guys now when you go to car shows
too. You know, Radwood and all that, you have to understand it was good on you though. It was
a great time. It was a great time. And I started, you know, watching, you know, Miami Vice when it
was, when it was, you know, the show and I used to record it and rewind and play back all these
parts with the, and then my parents were wearing, he's wearing out the tape like, like an old porn.
But it's like, but it's like Don Johnson getting out of a Testarosa.
So all these clips that had these, you know, all these clips that had these benzes, I used to
rewind and replay to a point where my parents looked at each other like, is our son growing up
to be a drug dealer or what's going on, you know? He's just sexualizing Mercedes vehicles.
That's where it started. That's hilarious. A guy let me sit in a Countash when I was like seven.
And it was like, you know, the next level. There was a place in Atlanta. I lived in
Atlanta at the time when I was a little kid. And there was an importer called like a gray
market dealer called Formula One Imports. You might remember these motherfuckers because they
were on the back cover of every DuPont registry in the 80s and 90s. They owned that real estate.
That was the expensive magazine. That was like eight bucks back then.
That was where you bought fancy fucking cars from. That's how you knew what was for sale on the other
side of the country. They had the back page of it. So that was when I was a kid, it was around the
corner from them. And I was a real nerd about cars. So he would let me sit in all the cars.
You know, I still have all those magazines. Of course, we all do. It's just the best.
It's too bad they have like zero value to any other person. You know, about once a week,
somebody's like, would you like my entire collection of road and track? And I'm like,
no, I already have one. What's you have? Like, what am I going to do with this?
Where are you going to store it? Yeah, it's just, I don't want your garbage, but thank you.
And I say, you have your own garbage. My own garbage. I've had to build fucking warehouses for
my own garbage. Believe me, I know. Right, right, right, right. It piles up quick.
So did it, did you like become a body guy, a body shop guy in because you wanted to build
custom shit? Or did did you decide to build custom shit once you got into the body work
industry? Well, my, my uncles both were in the business from back home. I'm Armenian originally
born in Syria. So back in Syria, you know, with not having parts available like you do,
you had to fix everything. Every, every body shop was a fabricator, and they used to, you know,
sit there and beat the metal, heat it. And that's the way you fixed cars because you just
didn't have a parse department where you called. So my uncles were real crafty with their hand
when they, they came to the States. They, they flew to Boston and my, my dad's cousin owned an
Osmobile dealer in Boston called better GK on Osmobile. And they worked there for a few years.
And then my uncle bought a 69442 brand new and they drove it to Los Angeles. Cool. And that's
where they opened up their first body shop in Hollywood called stallion auto body.
It's a better, it's better than the name that Osmobile dealer. And then they opened up their
second facility and then eventually, you know, grew into, you know, retirement. And then that's
when I kind of took the business over and continued at Marina West. Did you go like work with them?
I was there in the summers. I mean, I have photos of me like five, six years old, like pounding on
metal. Like it's, you know, I, I loved working with my hands. So they used to come pick me up in
the summer and take them with them to the shop. And I just used to dabble. And I remember like
back in the day, they used to heat up the paint and that's how they sprayed it. It was like,
they were spraying glass right even back then, but it was just solvent based pungent. You could
smell it like after you painted a car, you could smell the paint for like three weeks after it was
serious stuff. So it seems bad. And he used to be in the booth with, you know, smoking a
Marlboro just in the fucking pain. It's like, yeah, it's flake. So that's kind of how I grew
into it. Yeah, what kind of flake? It's a camel. It's a camel, blue, blue flake. Camel lights,
I was camel lights for sure. So that's kind of how it all started, man. And then why Mercedes,
you know, I was always passionate about Mercedes. My dad's first car was a 57 Mercedes 180 Pontoon
Racktop. And ever since then, there's been a Mercedes in the family, whether it's a diesel
or whatever it is. And the whole, you know, movement with Mercedes and the tuners in the
80s was exciting. Yeah, I mean, it was just, you know, the car. Did you start building cars
like you're building more like you're building now? My first car that I built, this was right out of
high school. I bought a 1986 300 e grandpa gold on Palomino interior bone stock. The guy worked
for JPL. At the time, my brother worked for Rusnack and he brought it in as a trade and this thing
was like spotless. So my brother called me, he's like, listen, you want a car? It's not that expensive.
It's, you know, the color's not too exciting. It's smoke silver. Do you want it? I said, fine.
So I ended up buying that car. And we had that exact car in high school. It might have been a 320,
but it was a 124. This was an 86, you know, just bare bones, you know, gray bumpers, just real basic.
But it was amazing transportation. It ran great. So I ended up buying that car. And then a year
later, you know, after flipping through magazines, I'm like, hmm, let me make this thing look like a
hammer, like the six liter hammer. So at the time, I couldn't afford to buy the AMG parts because
they were super expensive. So there was a shop that used to sell. It was called Euro Euro imports.
It was in the valley and they had replica AMG parts, which were amazing. Yeah. And then there
was another company called Performance Autosport. So I bought European headlamps. I bought this
AMG kit. I found monoblocks for it. So I made this thing exactly like a six liter clone.
And that's what I drove, but it was grandpa gold. And everyone used to be like,
why this color? That's all. Because you only wanted to paint the bumper, right?
Right. The whole car. Actually, a hammer in that color, like today would be pretty rad.
I still own that car. Oh, you do. I still own it. Did you put a V8 in it eventually?
Not yet. But eventually I am. Oh, you do. How old are you when you bought it?
Folks, taking a quick break for Mac tools. You know, Mac tools, you've seen the Mac tools truck
at shops before. But have you ever thought of being the one who actually owns that route,
selling those tools to those shops for anyone already into cars, working on them, being in and
around shops, or at least spending your weekends wrenching on something? This is perfect because
Mac tools franchisees run their own mobile tool business selling directly to shops and technicians.
It's a relationship business. It's repeat customers that you service every week,
but you're not left to figure it out on your own. They've got an extensive training program and
support to build this the right way. As a small business owner myself, multiple small business
owners myself. I really think this is a good idea because I had to figure out a lot of
expensive and difficult lessons to start my business. But if you've got a partner that's
been around for a long time and they've got training, they've got resources, they've got support,
they can integrate you into their ecosystem and set you up with stable income for a very,
very long time. That is incredibly beneficial if you're trying to be your own small business owner
and you're not ready to learn some of those lessons in what we call the trial by inferno
like I did. Mac has been doing this for over a century. There's a reason it still works. So if
you ever thought about doing your own thing in the automotive world, it is worth checking out.
Go to mactools.org slash tire to learn more and see if there's an open route near you.
That's m-a-c-t-o-o-l-s dot org, mactools.org slash tire to learn more.
We also got support today from Factor and for me, eating healthy isn't a willpower problem.
It's a setup problem, right? Until I found Factor because here's what happens to me.
My setup is a mess. I do not put time to eat in my calendar. I got four jobs. I got a lot to do.
I'm running all over the place. I don't put that hour or whatever to deal with lunch in that schedule.
But with Factor, I can hit the nutrition goals. I can eat on time. I can eat correctly without
the planning. The grocery store runs the cooking because the Factor food, it's already in the fridge,
right? Factor's got meals built around goals, right? That could be weight loss. It could be
overall nutrition. It could be protein. It could be GLP-1 support for strength and recovery.
They've got the Muscle Pro collection and every meal is crafted with those functional ingredients
like lean proteins and colorful veggies, whole foods, healthy fats. Factor, in fact, bans 175
ingredients. There's no artificial colors or sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup,
all that stuff. Everything's fresh. It's not frozen and they have over 100 rotating weekly
meals. So basically, when I'm running around all morning, I don't get to noon or one when I'm starving
and then I try to figure out what to eat. I make an unhealthy decision because it's whatever's
quickest and that's how your diet completely falls apart. But with Factor, the food's here.
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greens per box. And now back to the show. 18. Wow. So that would have been like 1790.
This was 97. Yeah. 97. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Late 96, early 97 is when I bought the car.
That's pretty rad. That's pretty good. And I still own the car and I actually took my wife
on the first date with that car. That's cool. You should do the 55 powertrain thing that I'm
doing. Eventually. When Matt frees up a little bit. Practicing on my car. Yeah, no. We've done
it before but I took my wife on the first date with that car. That rules. And when I picked her
up, she's like, what is this? I said, this is my Benz. And she was used to her parents leasing
her new cars and she had a new Benz at the time. And I mean, it was amazing how humble she was.
I mean, the car was spotless but it's an old Benz. I think it's clean. I think you could have an
old car or a cheap car. As long as it's clean. As long as it's clean. Yeah. I think a lot of men
put too much thought into what women think about their car and all they really give a
shit about is, is it clean and like in good condition? Right. Good enough condition. And at
the time, I mean, that's all I had. Yeah. You know, that was my car. And you know, fast forward,
you know, now we're married and I built her that wagon. Now you have 47 cars. 109 actually. Get the
fuck out of here. 109. Yeah. So I built her that wagon, that 124 wagon. And then now her daily
driver is the 500 E, the six liter car I came with. She doesn't want a new car. We originally
kind of met because of that red wagon. Yeah. Which because I had and I suppose I still have,
although I'm running out of money. I still standing off her to buy that car for Hannah.
She loved it. That car is just badass. Yeah, it's awesome. I love that thing. And every
time I drive it, I mean, she won't allow me to sell it. She's just like, it's a, it's a red,
essentially a 500 E wagon. Yeah. It's, it might be on my Instagram. It's, it's on the Lord's way
down there. Okay. Yeah. It's really, I mean, you can't miss it. It's awesome. It's exactly the
thing you think it is. It's badass. It's great. Yeah. Yeah. Great car. Okay. So the, the, the,
the trends of these cars kind of, I mean, you know, it, it, it dipped for a while. They were out
of trend. And now partially because of stuff like Radwood, partially because of, you know,
once Mercedes expanded AMG to a full model lineup, plus a sub lineup of the AMG, you know, light
with the wheels and, but not the engine and blah, blah, blah. You know, everyone, you know,
then flocks to the sort of purity of the original vehicles. Yeah. Even if, and they're so, they're
so rare, the original ones, the true original is so rare that there's plenty of room in the market
to create accurate recreations using original and, and, and, and period parts and whatnot and
handmade stuff. Right. That splits the difference. Absolutely. You know, even, even if you were to
find like, let's say an original body kit, it's 35 years old. That's been repaired multiple times.
And just like, you know, the Dinos for a while, they, when they had no value, when people were
building these cars, they didn't dump much money into them. Oh, dude. So I own a Kuntosh and a
fucking, I had a 328. You're telling me. Yeah. I got, those two cars were full of more Mickey
Mouse trash that I've spent more money on fucking. Yeah. You know, and, and the thing is I used to
go collect parts from like Pickapart. And back then they didn't have online where you got a, you
know, you knew a car was coming. I literally after school, I used to go, you know, twice a week and
walk. Yeah. And I've bought AMG kits, wheels, AMG wheels, all kinds of stuff from the junkyard,
because people just didn't care about them. And the condition of these parts is horrible. Yeah.
Bondowed and drywall screwed. They used to put pieces of wood and, you know, just destroyed. So
is there in, in today's world in 2026, is there any, unless a car is a, you know, it's one of
these cars you see at Gooding that's $700,000 and it's, you know, it's, it's as, as delivered,
unfucked, you know, outside of that, is there any real value in saying this is an original
AMG body kit versus, you know, wherever you're getting the stuff that's going on my car, for
instance? So if you're building an original AMG car, something special, whether it's a six-liter
or a hammer, having original parts on that car does make the difference. However, if you see the
condition, I mean, I have an 84, 500 SCC factory wide body car with 23,000 miles. The car's untouched.
And if you look at the body fitment of the body parts on it, you know, over the years,
they fatigue. Yeah. And the car's never been repaired. It's just perfect condition. But they
fatigue and the technology they had back then building the, you know, the body kits and the,
and the body panels isn't what it is now. There's no one that's recreating these as far as on a
factory level. There's, you know, AMG has a classic program, but it's not meant for parts. It's meant
for like, you know, record keeping preservation. They have this whole like, you know, a certification
process now that they do. And which is great, but when it comes to manufacturing parts, there's
no one doing them. So I've purchased new body panels, new bumper kits, like for the 500E,
I have brand new fenders, brand new bumpers, everything brand new in boxes that I've purchased
years ago. I bought the last of the stock of everything that's that they had with 500E.
The back glass is different on a 500E. It's thinner and the defrost lines are different.
I have two brand new rear glasses and I just bought everything. This was probably about 10
years ago for pennies to the dollar because they didn't want them anymore. Yeah. And that's what
I'm popping molds out of because they're just not available. So if you have a 500E or you have a
wide body car or you have anything special, God forbid that gets wrecked or you want to restore,
there's no one manufacturing these parts. Yeah, yeah. We're recreating them, you know.
And I don't see anyone worldwide that's doing it. I mean, there's people
in Russia and Ukraine and all these people that are manufacturing parts. But I see some of these
parts that they bring and they're just not usable. Sure. The QC is just garbage. It's garbage.
What about, okay, so that's if you that's if you have an original car that gets damaged or the
body kit is warped, it needs to be replaced or whatever. That's a small percentage of the people
we're talking about. And you do that stuff. You restore those original cars and that's a real
thing. You also do stuff for people like me who go, I want a thing that is a fictional product
that hasn't been done or, you know, I would like you to recreate a wide body SEC hammer.
But but I don't have one, you know. And so it's, you know, a third or a half of the price to make
one from scratch. In that case, is there any value to putting a premium on real parts? There's
only if it's a whole part of the whole. There is no value to go original in that in that case.
And are the reproduction parts that you're like, it'll look it looks better. They're actually
more perfected than the original. I mean, and everything is made out of steel construction,
like the wide body SECs were doing, they came fiberglass bumpers and fiberglass quarters. The
later SECs, very few of them came with the metal quarter panels because people were complaining.
They were cracking, you know, it's a pillarless coupe. We do everything out of steel construction.
It's welded to the car. The the body kits, the spoilers, the cladding fits perfect. So if you
look at it, it's kind of overly restored. But that's just the way I like doing it, you know,
to make it look perfect. Yeah, I went down when when you're you're homey. What's that? What's
that guy's name? Your your your metal worker who was working on the car? Attila. Attila. Yeah,
Attila. How do I forget that? Awesome for the name. That guy's that guy's on a different level.
I had the picture of it. He was he was at the halfway mark where he had them tacked on and was
just starting to blend it into one. And then you sent me, you know, the photos of it a primered.
Yes. And it's got a really it's just got a beautiful curve to it. It's going to look
unbelievable. Yeah. I mean, once the car comes back from Tennessee, there's a lot of massaging
we still have to do to the metal. Yeah, wait, okay. So let's let's let's talk about my car for a
minute because I'm so excited. So I'm excited that I'm building this. Well, I wanted to if I
couldn't buy the fucking red car from you, I was gonna have you make me my own red car. There you
go. It just so happens. I mean, that I might not have pulled the trigger had I not gotten a free
red 124. It's the perfect color. That's what it is. It's the perfect color for what you're doing.
I mean, bless you. Bless you. You don't understand that the red in a 124, like the wagon,
it's just gorgeous. Any any red Mercedes is just same on the 129s on the SL. Absolutely. You know,
a silver 129 is like a $20,000 car and the same car in red is a $30,000 car. You had a silver one.
I had a silver one and it was beautiful. Yeah. And I only got it because I couldn't find a red
that I liked. Yeah. So now we're doing a red. Yes. Okay, so I came to you with the concept,
which is 500 e cabriolet and we didn't have to say much more than that. You're like, I know what to
do here. Oh, yeah. So but we did when we post things about it, you know, people are a lot of
this, you should have done that, you should do this, you should do that. And oftentimes,
there isn't even a real debate because the reason we are making certain choices
become very obvious once you learn why the choice was made. Right. So take me through
from when I came to you and I said, here's what I want to do. What are the challenges
and what do we do to overcome them in making the convertible look and feel and sound and drive
like Mercedes had done it. Right. But in a way that is reasonably cost effective given the
challenges and, you know, returns the best possible result. Right. Now, as far as the
exterior goes, there's really not much you can do. I mean, the 500 e looks pretty badass the way it
is. I mean, with the bumper and everything the way it's set up, the fender flares, they just make
the car. It's not really a challenge, but the difference between doing the coupe versus the
the sedan or the wagon that I did is the flare in the back is is kind of different on the sedan
on the original car because you have the dog leg molding, which is a separate piece. Yeah.
That has the flare. So just taking that design and what we did was we 3D that that's that's what I
did originally I 3D that and I made a mold out of it as a separate piece without the dog without
the dog leg. And then we we created that same shape in a 3D model. And then we reconstructed it
out of steel. That's what we did. So in essence, it does have the same flare, but it's one piece.
Yeah. The side cladding, obviously the quarter cladding is one piece as opposed to a separate
dog leg molding and the door cladding. So that we basically scanned and we recreated a piece of
cladding, which has that that taper which meets with that meets the body. Yeah. The front fender
cladding is the same. Yes. And then the rocker molding is the most challenging part to take
the four door rocker molding and recreated into a size of a coupe that has the taper both in the
front and the back. The whole point is to make it look like as if Mercedes created a 500 CE. Yeah.
That's what it would be. And that's the most challenging part is to make it look factory.
See, the wagon was a bit easier because it does have the same right. Yeah. Only the fuel door
was a little challenging because the sedan has the fuel door on the top and the wagon has it on the
side. But we figured that out. And that's basically what it is. You know, it's just that back section
of the coupe. Yeah. So that's what I pay attention to to perfect because the rest of everything else
is bolt on the fenders, the bumpers. And actually we got super lucky because a bunch of the bits on
my car that were shot like the bumpers were stuff that we were throwing in the garbage. Right. And
a bunch of the stuff that was in good shape like the trunk lid and the hood. All that stuff. And
oh, well, we're keeping those. So and those were actually in really good shape. We got lucky. There
he is. Yeah. Get at it, Attila. The fucking blend on that is real nice. And then so I already kind
of knew I'm not as much of a fan of I am as the 500E. Yeah. I having owned the my SL 500,
my 129 with the 113 that I had, I knew that for the kind of driving we were doing around,
we weren't going on the Autobahn in this car. I'm rolling around LA. That's what I'm doing. Maybe
I'm going on a road trip on the weekends. Like that's what we're doing here. The four cam engine
was not going to be that beneficial to me in the first place. And then you said, by the way,
it won't actually fit. Folks, one more break because support is coming in from Bluetooth.
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Guys, taking a break from the action because support is coming in fast, like Jim Farley,
the CEO of Ford, who's now got a podcast. And you're always asking me what I'm listening to
when not recording this show. And right now it's this, the new season of Drive with Jim Farley.
In it, the Ford CEO talks to some of his favorite people about what they're driving
and what drives them to succeed. Like Formula One driver Daniel Ricardo. Listen,
there's a well-worn trope about racing drivers not being interesting to listen to. But if there is
one that is interesting to listen to, it is Daniel Ricardo. I think this guy's takes on stuff and
life are great. And look, Jim is a racing driver also. I personally raced against him like two
months ago. And for me, a CEO that drives race cars on the weekends is about the pinnacle of
CEOdom when it comes to car companies. So the two of them together obviously have a lot of things to
discuss on Drive with Jim Farley, which you can get on your podcast app. Very easy to find. Drive
with Jim Farley. Check it out. Right. And so explain why we went with the five and a half leader
from the 2002 to 2005. So the 500E, the 400E and the 500E was manufactured by Mercedes. And they
reconstructed the firewall for that engine to fit in there because essentially the four cam engine
is a bigger engine. Yeah. And the way it sits in there, you need to basically cut away the firewall
from a 400 or a 500E and re-weld it, which changes everything. Dash, everything comes up.
We've done that before too. And it's a lot of work. It seems like diminishing returns. Yeah.
It's at that point, it's just, it's, you know, financially, it's not the smart thing to do.
Yeah. Other than that, you're going to have to sit there and beat. And I've seen this happen where
people have literally beat the, the, you know, hence the name Hammer. That's where it kind of came
about. Get the fuck out of here. No, they literally beat the firewall. That's where the name came from
because they hit the firewall with hammers. Yes. That's, that's where the name originated.
There's your fucking Instagram clip right there. We learned something. Did you know that? No.
Yeah. Is that a commonly known thing? And I'm the last one to know. Do your customers know that
shit? Very few people that are like real aims, you guys know that that's what they did to fit
the six liter in there. They literally hammered the firewall to make that fit. That is, you know,
from a company that is famously unfunny, you know, nobody takes themselves more seriously than
Mercedes except maybe Ferrari. And that is a very funny inside joke. If you hear some of the funny
company, if you hear some of the stories, um, you know, I got a chance to meet, uh, Hart moot, uh,
that owns rent tech that he's different. And, and he, well, he tells me some stories of AMG and
what they did. Like when they did the road, America shoot out and all the stuff they did to
that hammer, when they brought it to the States, that's, that's a whole different story. But
he told me some of the stuff that they did. I mean, it's, it's amazing that they thought of all
this stuff back in the 80s. This is 86, 87, but yeah, I've spent time with Hart moot in Florida.
Guy doesn't fuck around. No, no, he doesn't. And he's actually in the process of building
like a set of SCCs. Oh, yeah. Which is pretty wicked. Yes. You have to knock the firewall back
even further. He's really, he's really recreating those SCCs, which I'm so happy that actually
someone is reimagining this thing. Hartman, don't forget your fucking boy when it comes time to
do content on that car. Yeah, that's going to be bananas. It's going to be bananas. Okay. So,
so anyway, the, the, the, the 500 E engine is neither practical to install,
nor in fact, I think is it practical for my use case, actually, it's not because the parts are
becoming obsolete. It's becoming harder to, to find people that want to work on these engines.
You know, like if I didn't have, you know, the network that I did, or as a matter of fact,
my brother, which has been with Mercedes almost 40 years, you know, 38 years,
he knew these cars when they were brand new. So I'm very grateful for that. But a normal person
that wants to own a 119 powered 4 cam Mercedes, it's becoming very few, you know, far in between
to find someone that knows those engines. And that's when the, the 113 engine comes to play,
which is a much newer engine. It's a much more dependable engine, and it has a lot more power.
Yeah. And it's, and it's a smaller package. Yeah. So it fits.
Beautiful. More power and torque. Yes. And because we got a donor car that's a 2002. Yes.
We get a five speed gearbox. Yes. We get a better diff. Yep. We get the E 50, we get
all the entire powertrain from the E 55. Right. I mean, that's a 350 horsepower out of the box.
Yeah. Small, legal, smooth as butter. And with, you know, ECU tune with the exhaust. I mean,
you can easily pull close to 400 horsepower and still be a daily driver, which gives you
20, 25 miles per gallon. And let me tell you something, man, you're looking for a weekend
cruiser. This thing is going to be a hot rod. No, no, I don't, I want to have balls. I just like
that with a four cam engine compared to a two cam engine or a single, whatever,
single over a cam engine. The up high power band, where when you have a car with a fucking slush
box, right? How am I going to just keep the power up here effectively? You know what I mean? It's
not, it's not like I'm talking about a Ferrari. I'm talking about a big, heavy cruiser. So,
yeah, I want some power. I want some torque, but I don't, I don't need a dual overhead cam
power profile for that type of driving. And, and with this car, you know, once it's all dialed in,
like I, I've driven plenty of 124s with a 113 swap. I've, you know, I,
I was working on one last year and they took it to Monterey with a six speed gearbox.
Dude, that car was zesty. That is a quick car. We have one. Sorry, am I in the way? When you,
this shout out to Matt quick, quick classics in Tennessee. He's doing our powertrain swap. Yeah.
And we should be getting the truck, the truck going there like very, very shortly. Now that we,
now that we have sorted the 55 can be driven onto the truck. That's a detail that I did not know
and is good to know. I thought it was more crash than it is. No noise. Okay, cool. But so he's
he's kind of known for doing the manual swaps. We have one at our other store, a black series
that he did a CLK series with a manual that is fucking spicy, really nice. And so we're not
doing a manual swap. I don't know this. There's no need. It just doesn't fit the character of the car.
It's not LA. It's a cruiser. We're giving it an extra automatic gear, which is the right move.
And so, so he's going to make the whole, put the whole E 55 underneath my car. He says,
including HVAC, he's also going to do the suspension. He's going to do the, the, the,
the Bilstein damper with the H&R spring, which is what the E 500 had. Yes. I saw my homies at
HRE came up to laser scan. They did, they did too. That's some pretty. The laser scan is good.
I like the laser scan. Yeah. No, they, I mean, they, they got some pretty high tech shit. I mean,
the guy, and the guy is pretty knowledgeable. Sean came by a really nice guy. So what they are
doing is, and we'll get a photo of it up when Zach, who will come back from the bathroom, I guess.
Everything all right buddy? Yeah. Oh, that's problematic. That's problematic. There's a lot
of pollen in the studio. Zach, will you pull up a photo? You're talking about pre-merger AMGs and
no stars running. I'm allergic to them. We did not talk about stash pockets. The HRE 544 wheel,
please. So I had to, HRE has had to restart production of the 17-inch version of this wheel.
Oh, so they are going to go 17. They're making them in a 17. That's why they had to laser scan.
Amazing. If they were doing them in an 18, they could have gone off. It's going to be too big for
move. So it's the 544. It's the same, the two-piece FMR, which is, it looks like a three-piece,
but the barrel is a forged barrel, which is actually a two-piece, stronger and lighter.
And we're going to do the, I haven't chosen the finish yet, but you were right. We need to go with
like the brightest silver with like the liquidiest clear coat on it to make it like,
like with that red. Almost like a platinum silver. It needs to glow. It does. Right. It does.
Frozen polished clear. Yes. Like something like that. Frozen polished clear. It does need to pop.
Yeah. Yeah. Without a blink. Yeah. So I'm going to have to go down there and look at finishes in
person again, because the, the, the configurator is helpful. Oh yeah. Do we have, do you have photos
on there? There's actually a 124 there. The black one, the black one. In the second row, second,
yeah, that, that's a 124. Yes. That looks badass. That's actually a 500. Yeah. With the Lorenzo
front bumper on it. That's rare. I mean, I think that looks correct. Don't shoot. That's the best
looking wheel on the car. Like the monoblock, whether it's the Aero one or the OZ three-piece,
you know, you have to keep the car within its, within its era. Sure. That's why when I have
clients that tell me, oh, I want to put a newer E 55 wheel on it, it just doesn't work. Zach, third
from the right in the bottom, the top row, there's a whole car photo. I mean, that looks bad. That's
on a coupe too. That's on a coupe, man. That's white bodied. That looks fabulous. That looks great.
That's, that's, that's our look right there, doesn't it? Yeah. If I, I mean, if I can get it,
like, but that's an 18 inch, you know that you think so? That's an 18. Shit. You see the distance
between the floor and the rocker. Yeah. To me, that's too much because, and also what they did
to this car, not to knock the car, but there's no, there's no side skirt. You see how the front
bumper and rear bumper sits lower? Right. To me, it looks incomplete and the center looks empty.
So, but that's an 18. It's too big. I would go 17 and your car's going to be squatted down a little
more. You want it to look great. The car you brought outside is the car I want it to sit like.
And that's exactly how you want it to sit. But that is the right style of wheel. Yes,
that's exactly the right wheel. Absolutely. Oh, and speaking of style, you see what I have?
It arrived today. No way. That is beautiful, man. No, you're looking at the wrong side.
That's the back. This is the front. That is awesome. So this is our, I love it. This is our
fabric for the seat inserts and the doors. And I think it's going to look nuts. This looks,
will look great with the black leather. Absolutely. And it's got this matches,
this one tone matches the car. And then this brightness will do nice with the silver trim.
Yeah. Right. I think it will look great. Yeah. And it's like, it's, it's aggressive, but not,
not like psychedelic. You know what it is? Once it's, once it's in there,
we're going to have to pick and choose the stitching. I would probably go with like a gray
stitching and or piping because the original seats do have piping. Now, what I'm going to do
with your car, the 500E has perforations on the bolster. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like your car. So we
want to do the 500E style seat. It's an actual recaro seat. So they, my guy can take the factory
seat and re bolster it to where it looks like the 500 to give it a little bit more support.
It's really like, that's actually important to me is why I have a hard time with old cars. I need,
I need a new, I need a brand new seat. You sat in my car. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, we need that.
If you want to take it to the next level, maybe we should top the recaro because they do make
a newer seat, which does look like the classic, but it's, it's a different design. So on the,
the one like yours is perfect. So the one like mine is the 500. Yeah. And what I did with mine
is this, it's not a spring yet, the original 500. It has a little firmness to it. That's what we need.
And you want that support. Yeah. More structure. And with, with the cloth insert that I have on
my 500, it gives you a lot more. It's grip grip. Yeah. Yeah. I, that's, I love a cloth seat because
you have that actual tension on your clothes. Right. You don't slide around. Right. But yeah,
more, more support on the bottom, firmer bottom. So it doesn't, you know, you need that support.
Every old Mercedes on earth, the front left of the seat is like completely collapsed and it's
fucking destroys my spine. Well, the early models have the spring. Yeah. The late models like your
94, 95 model has the, has the foam, which has a lot more support. But it's still, it's so old now.
It's all fucked. It fatigues. Yeah. So, uh, and then, all right. What else? So we've got the,
the 500 suspension. Who did you say is doing the, who did Matt say is doing the exhaust for this
car? Super sprint. Yeah. Yeah. He said, he said all the age, age fact will work like factory,
which I, it was great. And my top is in okay shape. It is. Yeah. Yeah. The hydraulics,
probably would need to be rebuilt because those have a tendency to leak, which my guy can do.
I would do that because you're going to put the top up and down. It has like things that
you need. It's old car shit. Yeah. It has to be done. But good part is the top is good. The
camos is good. The headliner is nice. You know, I would, I wouldn't, I wouldn't put a brand new
top on it because you're not going to drive that car with the top up. You're going to constantly
put it down. The top, the top doesn't leak. It doesn't have tears. It's in decent. It was replaced
maybe like four or five years ago. It needs a good cleanup. Yeah. We can clean it up. And that's
it. I'm so excited about this car. I think it's going to be so cool. Brother, you're going to love
this car. You don't understand. It's going to be so fun to drive. You have no idea. I mean,
this is going to be your first experience with a V8 powered Mercedes that didn't come with a V8.
That's the whole thing around it. You're going to be like, wow, this car can do this. I like old
school hot rod and shit. It's going to be a hot rod. Yeah. And the beautiful thing is you can drive
the shit out of the car. It's not a car that you have to be afraid of. It's just the mileage,
like whatever. You lay in this thing. Yeah. I mean, and it's going to, you know, anytime, like
my first experience with a swap, I sent my SEC to Matt Quick and I sent him an SEC and a 2005 S55
and he swapped that with a supercharged engine transmission. I mean, we were driving, we were
going to drive this thing to Monterey. I sent him both cars and literally three weeks later,
he drove my SEC down from Tennessee and the second day I drove it to Monterey. This thing
is an absolute beast. Yeah. 550 some horsepower. Yeah. And it's like the first time I drove this
thing, I'm like, I couldn't believe this car can go this fast. And the same thing with the 124.
With that V8 in it, you lay in that thing, it's just going to lay rubber. Like, yeah. I mean,
the stock engine is 220 horsepower. This is going to be like 380, 400.
Close to 400 horsepower. Yeah, yeah. In a little car. Super.
In a little ass wide body. Yeah, it transforms it. Which, you know,
some people have asked, do we have to reinforce the structure of the car for this?
You know, listen, if you're going to track it, I get it. If you're going to drive it on the street,
you're going to be fine. The convertible already has the chassis, which is super strong. I mean,
you lift this car from one end, the whole, the whole side of the car goes up. It's pretty beefy.
You know, it depends on your use. I mean, if you're going to drive it on the street and cruising
around and your wife is going to drive it around, you're not going to need to do any
that. As long as your brakes are good, you have good brakes. Well, Matt Quick said we're going
to use the R129 SL600 brake, which is the OEM upgrade. And it's plenty. That'll be fine. Yeah.
So, yeah, it's, it's a pretty straightforward, but he did say he, we talked about maybe doing
dry ice underneath. Maybe we talked about, and he was going to, you know, when he takes the motor
and everything out, he was going to do all the seals and service the motor, service the gearbox
and stuff. So, you know, it's not just like he, he's expensive. I mean, he, and he's giving me
friends and family, which I greatly appreciate. And this is, he's like the guy for this.
I mean, listen, he's, he's getting it done. But I was like, you know, this is, this is quite pricey.
And he was like, well, let me literally run down the whole thing. And when you do it all out,
it's like the bushings and the seats and the this and the this and you're like,
fucking just, yeah, I could see. You have to keep in mind, it's not just the engine swap.
You know, I had a heart, you know, in the beginning, I was kind of figuring it out. And
you know, he's doing a lot of work to the car. It's not just dumping the engine.
No, no, for sure.
Yeah, suspension breaks. I mean, the super sprint exhaust system is a full stainless steel. I mean,
that on its own.
No, I had to send a deposit for that.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
And, and he does pretty good work. You know, you get the super sprint and then the continuation
all the way up to the manifolds he does himself. So he's putting a lot of time and effort. And
he's the only one that I see that's doing it now. I mean, there's a lot of people out there that
claim they can do it. I mean, look, my brother, which works for Mercedes, doesn't want to really
get into it. He's kind of figuring it out for his own. But it's quite a bit of work, man,
to do it the right way.
It seems, well, there's also like the merging of two cars wiring harnesses in order to like make
the from two areas, really. Like, yeah, to make the gauge cluster work.
The key, the gauge cluster all.
He said we're going to use the key from the E 55.
Yeah.
He said he's going to change the ignition over and it's going to be the key from the E 55,
not the old.
It's probably better. I mean, my car has the original key and the, and the cluster is original
and the shifter is original. I mean, you look at the car from the outside and you won't know that
it's if I pop, if I don't pop to it, you won't know it's been sure.
But I don't, I don't mind if the shifter is different, it's close enough that it wouldn't
stand out as being like different. Did I send you the picture of, of, oh, I sent it to Matt of our
buddy Marcus Smith's 280 SE with an E 55 swap. I don't think I posted it on a local dude,
but it looked, Matt did the powertrain.
Oh, he did.
Quick did the power.
Was it a convertible car?
Huh?
Is it convertible?
No, no, no, Matt didn't. I'm sorry. Matt did not do the powertrain. Someone did it in North
Carolina, but it was a really beautifully done thing. I'll show you a picture later. It was a 280 SE
with an E 55 and it had the E 55 shifter in it, but it surrounded in a burl. The rest of it looked
pretty factory and, and it didn't, it, it didn't stand out. It wasn't like, oh, right. They blended
it nicely. Yeah, it was good.
As long as it's tastefully done, you know, that's, that's the important thing.
For my car, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the shifter.
Yeah, it's going to be, and again, the shifter, the difference between the E 55 shifter and yours,
the E 55 changing the gears, it's like a blip.
Oh, the drive. See yours has the drive, the snake, and then the snake. Yeah.
This doesn't. So you,
Oh, it's drive and then left, right?
Left, right. Oh, so I don't know if he's going to do that. If he's going to give you the left,
right option, but if he paddle shifter called twist machine paddle shifters, the E 55 does
have paddle shifters too. Oh, so you're going to incorporate that. You can literally put buns
in back of the wheel and start downshifting. I mean, you can do that. It's kind of sweet.
Money's fast. Money goes fast. Shit. That's probably expensive. He's just adding up the
tally right now. While you're in there, it's going to be fun. I'm super, super stoked. It's
going to be crazy. It is. And what's the name of it? I just call it red, but what is the color?
It's actually a signal red signal red is the color for the car. There's other reds that
there's imperial red, which is from what? It's the same year, but it's more of like a ready red.
Yours is more of like a burgundy, not burgundy, but a darker red. Yeah. You're what's your wagon
same color as yours. Okay. That's signal red signal red. Yeah. Yeah. Which is nice. Yeah.
It's a beautiful shade of red, you know, I'm stoked with the interior and the top, the wheels.
It's, I mean, it's, it's going to look gorgeous. Yeah, it's going to be crazy. I'm super fucking
stoked. Do you, I mean, because you, you've, you were building these cars before they sort of
became trendy. Yeah. Again, what, how, how has the trend? I mean, is it just like, let me tell you
as you can build them now. This, I mean, right now we have 18 cars in production. Whoa.
It's a combination of 124s, 126s. I have a 123, 116. And after the pandemic, it's just,
things just started to blow up, you know, it really put Mercedes on the map, partially because
like people really started to understand how legendary these cars are. They started to realize
these were really special back in the day. And they've been forgotten about, because everyone's
after the Porsche and the BMWs. And Mercedes was always kind of one step behind when it came to
the 80s and 90s tuner game. Yeah. Now BMW was racing, you know, 80s and 90s. And so was Porsche.
And AMG was like a separate thing that was cool, but also sort of like go show. If it wasn't for
AMG, then Mercedes wouldn't have a motorsport program. Sure. At all. It would just, you know,
they still are riding on AMG. But prior to the merger in 94, AMG was the one that was racing
the DTM cars. They develop all the black series cars, you know, they put all that together. BMW,
Porsche, even Audi had their in-house performance sector that was doing these. But after the pandemic,
you know, things started shifting. And even the prices of these cars started to increase slowly.
Yeah. The first time a wide body cracked 500k, it was like, I'm sorry, what? I guess the hammer
was on the Hagerty's list in 2020 or 2021. I filmed it for them for whatever the series was,
like the investor bull market thing. But like it was about six years ago. And it was like,
hey, we should start paying attention to these. How many actual hammers were built by AMG?
It's undetermined. Really? Yeah. They say there was 50 six liter hammers built, but I don't think
that's an accurate number. You think it's lower high? It's higher. It's higher. I mean, it could be.
I know for a fact, they built a lot more engines because the heads were just leaky. They weren't
that dependable. People that were buying these six liter hammers were eventually pulling the heads
off and putting a singular over it, can head on it to make it more dependable. That's so funny.
Every 3000 miles, you had to adjust valves. And so it was a race motor. Technically, it was a race
motor that they wanted to introduce for the street. So there weren't many people that knew about it
here, you know, and it was becoming to a point where that's where the cars lost value, you know,
where once they're, if they're just too annoying to maintain, too expensive, people don't know how
to work on them. And that's when they just start dipping in value, you know, but just kind of like
researching them worldwide, I would say probably 75 to 80 of them that were built. True actual
six liter, some of them were non wide body. There's a handful of them that came, you know,
six liter with the regular SEC body or the four door, like I own a four door SEL
that came with a six liter four cam in it. And no wide body. No wide body. I guess a four door
car, which I bought that car for, I mean, I was going to park that car out. It was the story on
that car. Is the is like, I mean, okay, we don't know exactly is the documentation on the cars
good? Like if you, if you, that's that six liter car, is it, is it possible to document an AMG
as being authentic or not authentic? Yes. So they have a certification program now that they only
have record of the special cars that they built. Yeah. But there's a handful of like cars that
came with body kits, wheels and seats, there's really no record behind it. But the six liter
cars, most of them are documented. The really high specced cars are documented. Like the 86
that I bought, I bought this car literally from someone who was thrown on a field in San Diego.
And I went there to buy a six liter engine from the guy. And I ended up buying the engine.
It's a 30,000 kilometer motor. And I see this car in the corner. And it was just,
it's hit from the back poor shape. So I said, what are you doing with that car? He said, well,
I bought this car to part it out because I'm going to put together another SCL that I have.
And he goes, I just lost interest. So I said, do you want to sell it? He goes, sure. So I went
and I'm looking at this thing, AMG gauges, AMG steering wheel, AMG body kit, Penta wheels.
But the cars just, just torn apart. Like it's just poor, poor quality interiors all intact. It had
a, it has like a purple leather interior with purple wood wood everywhere. So I ended up buying
the car for like 1500 bucks. And I was going to park this car out. Okay. I didn't know what it was.
Yeah. So I brought the car to the shop. A buddy of mine came by and I showed him the car. He's
like, what are you going to do with that? I said, it's a parts car. He goes, don't tear this car
apart. Don't do anything to it till I get back to you. Let me do some checking. So a week later,
he comes by the shop with full documentation on this car. Apparently this was the highest
specced SEL. Of course, purple. Yeah. It was bought by a Texas oil well tycoon. And he brought me
the bill sheet on it, which I have $138,000 worth of AMG upgrades in 1986. Jesus.
Sixth leader, Gleason, Thorsten Rieran, Nakamichi sound system. The guy checked all the boxes. Yeah.
When he ran out of options, he didn't want Rikaro seats because it wasn't good for his back.
He put SEC seats in it, coupe seats, which fold forward for Nori's. How much in options did you
say? $138,000 in options. Yeah. And the car in 86 is crazy. My Kuntosh was 110 for the whole car.
That's $400,000 in options today. So that car, I sent all the documentation to Germany
a few years ago. MKB is a company in Germany, which is run by Melker, the M&AMG. He sold it,
but he originated that company. After the merger, everyone split and Alfreight opened up
HWA and then Melker went to MKB. And they have a certification program through AMG Classic.
So I got the certificate. I sent everything in the VIN number and photos, and they had the car in
their database. Cool. So they sent me the full certification on that car. So is it worth restoring?
I'm doing a full road, I mean full blown restoration on the car. It's an incredible car. And I mean,
I had no idea what it was. I knew what I had, but I didn't know what it was.
That's cool. You thought you had an interior. Yeah, yeah, I'm like, yeah, so I got, you know,
that car, it's rough. It needs a lot of love. But now that I certified it,
now it's time to really go balls out and just make it bitching. Well, and as we've seen with
so many of the classes at Pebble, like you can restore it from being on fire. And if it's restored
well, the VIN's there, then it's got a story. If you have a VIN number and a paper trail,
you can build the car from dust almost. That's so cool. And I think, you know,
it's got, well, it's an SEL, so it's a sedan, right? It's a sedan. It's a four door sedan.
Long wheelbase. Long wheelbase. Just badass. If you see the car, you know there's something
special about it, but you just can't. The wheels are Pentastar. They're Pentas,
Staggart Pentas, Nines and Eighths, which were Aurora. I mean, the car was fully,
aggressive. Texas. You know, he's got cows. That is some Texas shit. Yeah, that's crazy.
When I went, so a couple of years ago, we went to the 233 West meet. This was something they
put together in Chicago, like a little AMG meet. 233 West was the address for Westmont Chicago
AMG. Okay. So they're doing another one in a few years, but I actually took my 124 Coupe there,
and it was like a gathering of all these AMGs. And Richard Bucksbaum, which owned the Chicago,
you know, AMG sector, was there. And I told him about the car and he goes, oh yeah, he goes,
I know who that, you know, who that car was specced to. He goes, we built that car in Germany.
He goes, most of the six liter cars. So the real AMG cars, they say, were built in Germany.
Yeah. And there was some built in the US as well. And there was some built in Chicago. And then,
you know, Andy Cohen, which owned Beverly Hills Motor Accessories, was an official AMG. But they
mainly did body kits, wheels, suspension. Germany is where they did all the heavy duty stuff.
And that's when Hartmut actually came down from Germany to service all these cars, the six liter
cars. Yeah. Is there any other, like outside of either restoring or replicating original AMG models?
Right. Is there demand for other stuff? Do people want Lorenz or stuff? Do people want
Schnitzer stuff? Is there really a demand for that kind of stuff today? There is. I mean,
people are wanting anything that has to do with Mercedes tuning. Like I bought a Koenig,
one of one Koenig a few years back from an elderly couple out of Oregon. And the guy gave me,
when he, so he knew Willie Koenig personally. So they designed a one off body kit for him.
And when he shipped the car down, he shipped the body molds with the car. So I have all the
original molds to that car. And I can tell you, maybe four or five times a month, I get people
wanting me to pop a body kit for a Koenig, which I won't do, obviously, because I'm not going to
devalue my car. A and B, Koenig is still an operating company, you know. Yeah. Yeah. But could
you use the molds to build a whole car for somebody though? Everything. But you would do
that. It's just, you just won't sell the body. Well, I won't do it because that body kit is
specifically for my car. It's the one of one. But I have like people, people want a Koenig,
people want the Lorenz. Or it's, you know, I don't know, one of one. I feel like, I feel like
if you have the molds, you will operate like a stud farm. You know, like, you know, the yours is
still one of one, right? But like, you know, you could issue, you know, a run of 10 recreation
body kits. I'm just saying with yours would still be the one of one. Yeah. I mean, so you could
extract max value. It's just a lot of fiberglass. So much. Zach and I had a go in the Koenig
Testerosa, which was supposedly a thousand horsepower. And I think it probably actually was.
It was psychotic. The brakes were terrible. But it had like 400 extra pounds of fiberglass on it.
Yeah. How did it drive? I felt heavy because it was. Yeah. But also like, I mean, the steering
was heavy, but it was very. I'm sure that thing. Stiffly sprung. 1,000 pounds of fiberglass.
Lifting the hatch was serious effort. I think we were filling it with gas or something. We had to
open the rear clamshell to put fuel in it. And there was no rod for it. So like, it was so
tiring on the shoulders. How would you do that by yourself? Oh, it would not be possible. You'd
be out of gas. No rod. No. I mean, it probably came from the factory with the rod, but this
one didn't have one. It was really shockingly heavy, though. The power was insane. I mean,
really insane. And when it, when you got on it, the amount of black smoke that came out of the
exhaust, when you, when you, it was, it was a. Well, listen, Koenig really built some radical
cars back then. Oh yeah. They were very performance driven. Yeah. And if you had this body kit made
out of like carbon or something, like it would probably be okay, but like it was just so heavy.
The amount of the amount of Bondo that they use on these cars is insane. Yeah. Like I have an
older Koenig four door car that is in restoration. I'm restoring slowly. I mean, there's areas that
have literally an inch and a half of Bondo. It's that because the fiberglass was just wavy and
shitty or they kept adding it just to smooth it out. And in the joints, you know, where they
wanted them rounded, it literally like the corner has an inch of Bondo and it just kind of feathers
out to the body, but eventually this is going to crack. I mean, there's a quarter inch of Bondo
cracks everywhere. It's ridiculous. That's terrible. Is there a side from, you know,
something like you just talked about a barn find restoration of an original car and, you know,
you score the car for no money. And it turns out it's a thing worth saving. Outside of that,
do you have like a dream build that you haven't gotten around to yet? Or, you know, the one of
the cars that I wanted to build was the shooting break, which was the one we did for my brother.
It was something that like just was never done before. Yeah. And it was something that's kind of
like, you know, what if Mercedes made a shooting break? It's so cool. I love that car. And people
either like it or hate it. You know, it's you get mixed reviews on the car. I feel like if someone
hates it, they probably just don't understand what you've done with the interior. If it had a
fucking tan interior or something, they probably wouldn't even think. Yeah, I love this interior.
I think it rules. It was a color that my brother chose. I mean, it was a collaboration we did on
this build. He did all the mechanical. He did most of the assembly. I did, you know, we did the
coach work. That's real glass. It's not plexi. So it's not tinted blue. It's not clear. It's
totally clear. But it does look everyone thinks it's, you know, blue tinted glass, which it isn't.
Yeah. And the car is just breathtaking. Every time I still look at it, it just kind of just,
it's unreal. Yeah, it is. It's the dopest shit ever. Yeah. So did you take a roof off of like a
124 wagon or is that fully handmade? So the roof is off of a four door car. Okay. Just because of
the flatness and the continuation, but everything else is hand fabricated. The pillars, the door,
the reinforcements, everything is handmade. Just the skin of the center portion of the roof is the
one we used off of a sedan. Yeah. And that's because we wanted the same flow.
But everything else is custom made, man. Those side moldings are all handmade.
The drip rails are all handmade. And these are all intricate aluminum pieces that we had to weld
and shave and bend. You know, all of the roof from the inside, getting it reinforced. So when
the car's twisting, you're not cracking glass. We literally built like a cage within the roof
to give it reinforcement. That thing is stiff. The rear hatch is completely custom fabricated.
The hinges and the struts are off of a 124. So if you break a hinge, you can buy another one off
of a 124 wagon. But everyone thinks it's a donor roof, which it isn't. You know, everything was
handmade. Wow. I'm making the second version of it, which is called a speed tail, which has a
bit more of a slope to it. And that one's going to get a 6.3 in it. It's a 156 with the manual
six speed. Oh, cool. It's going to be meant more for performance. It's a 156. It's a 6.3 from like
a 20. S63 ML 63. It's the naturally aspirated 500 horsepower. It's what comes in the Black
Series. Yeah, yeah. And they do have a Black Series tune, which with the cams and everything,
which will make it pretty beefy. And that's going to get no backseat leather wrapped cage.
It's going to be pretty wild, you know, once it's done. And then, you know, when we built the car,
we were like, you know what, let's just kind of get creative with it and see where it goes. And
this is what we ended up with. You know, I love how this car looks. And I know you don't want to
show it publicly, but you did show me the rendering of the second car. And yeah, the roof line is
badass. It's badass. Yeah, it's going to look wicked once it's done. It's not a it's not in a
different universe from this one. But it's just it has a bit more of a slope, bit more aggressive.
Yeah, that one's going to be all black, which is going to be kind of like the sinister version of
this, you know, that's tough. So if you're trying to build a car, black hides body lines, you know,
something about a black, white body just looks it does look tough. It looks unbelievable on the
right light to see it. But it does the other black one that we drove to Monterey, which we did the
white body on. And you know, everyone kind of gravitates to the black. Like you see the black
one, it just looks it looks vicious. Yeah, yeah, you know, it's got a much more vicious look to it.
And that's kind of what I want with this one. I want it to be kind of like if, you know,
if Dr. Evil had a shooting break SEC, that's what it would be, you know,
I mean, the Mercedes is kind of the bad guy of the luxury brands, right? Yeah, part of it is like,
they're driven by bad guys in movies, but also like they're fast, they look good in black. I think
they've probably used that color for a lot of the flagship cars, black series, like it's just
associated with that. Ferrari's got red and Russian gangster car. Yeah, it's an earned reputation,
yeah. But yeah, the shooting breaks looked magnificent. Yeah, it's very it's a breathtaking
car. It is. I mean, it's just it turned out right. But a good Mercedes shouldn't be like friendly
looking. It should be pretty mean. See, this is like my brother's car is very it's a joyful car,
like it just looks happy, like the interior color, the whole the whole thing, which is great, you
know, and that's where people really are astonished about the color of the interior, like my brother
blew it out of the park choosing that color. It's a custom shade of leather that we he had tinted,
and that's the color he wanted. It's like a cerulean blue sky blue. It's there's really no name for
it. He chose that color and he had it dyed in that color. I mean, we he looked at like
maybe 15 20 different shades, and that's the one he put his finger on. And in the beginning,
I had second thoughts, but he had a vision and I might go with it. And he was right on the money.
It looks unbelievable because there's a lot of it. It's like every surface everything is right.
If it wasn't every surface, I think it might not work so well, like if it had a black console or
a black dash or something like that. Yes, you're absolutely right. It has to be not just the color,
but like an egregious amount of it. It's full boogie. But like you said,
I remember we had dinner at that Italian place at Monterey car week and we walked out and the car
was across the street just by happenstance park profile under one lamp like so dramatic.
And it looked like the windows were blue tinted because every single surface I know you said
it's like is covered in this, I don't know, BVI Tahitian Ocean blue and from from floor to ceiling.
And but the contrast of that with the all white car and having the huge window,
I don't know. I mean, it's like a sneaker or something. It's just striking. So that
that color, even the exterior color is a pure white. Yeah, there's no pearl or there's nothing
in there. And the panel roof really makes a big difference when the sun hits it, it like glows
inside, which which looks awesome. I get that. Absolutely. But when you have a color
that is so ubiquitous in your interior, that it appears the windows are tinted that color.
That's a pretty powerful use of color. It is true. And you know, it works. He
he knocked it out of the park with choosing that color. And I mean, it and what it's got the blue
matching wood grain, you know, everywhere, which makes it nice. And going back to what you said,
where it's all one, it makes it look a lot more complete and desirable. Do you think you've built
a lot of cars and we've seen you at Radwood for years with all kinds of cool stuff. Do you think
this car puts you on the map more than others? Or is it just a step? Yeah, I mean, this is just
the showstopper wherever you take it, just people gravitate to it. I mean, when we first took it
to Monterey last year, it it might my phone was blowing up like people worldwide were noticing
this car because it's just never been done before. You know, it and it's still till today, like we
were at a Mercedes event this Sunday. And it just it creates a crowd. Sure. There's no other body
like it. There's no shape like it. And then without the interior, it would probably have that effect.
That is like a beacon for everybody. It is. It is. We're we're building now. I'm kind of changing
it up. I'm redesigning a wide body now. Like I want to make my own design
that mimics the AMG but something a bit different, something a bit more CMS like a custom build.
I'm in the process of building an SEC for myself, which is a body swap. It's going to be based on
E 63 s 2022, where you have the donor. And I want it to be more
performance driven with the newer interior, just something, something different. You know what
I mean for people because the the wide body SEC, it's it's becoming too diluted in a way now.
You know what I mean? Because it's you start to see more of them and there's more of them around
and people want a change. You know, people want something different. I'm also in the process
of building the Jag. I have an xjs. And we're putting a custom wide body on it that we've
already created. And we're putting I bought a xks that's been wrecked. So we're putting that whole
drivetrain in there with the six speed and making it just a badass Jaguar. Cool. We saw really one
of those Lister Jags at Radwood in Charlotte. That was fun. Let's go to the people. We got a few
questions from our patrons over at patreon.com slash this whole entire podcast. If you want to
ask questions of the show, listen to the live stream, get the show early, get extra show,
get access to exclusive collabs and things like that and more patreon.com slash this
whole entire podcast is where you do it. And we thank the lot of you.
Oh, our patrons have odd usernames. So get on board. Focaccia Country Day School says,
I'm trying to rescue a S123 turbo from a neighbor. What are your favorite ideas to mod or build this
type of car? What is an S123 turbo? It's probably a sedan. The S stands for a sedan.
Like an S class? It's the 123 is like the 300d. Oh, okay.
All right. So turbo diesel? I'm assuming it's a sedan. All right, gotcha.
You know, with diesels and performance, I don't know much about them, but I do know in Europe
they have like tons of upgrades to get these diesels going. I mean, the newer style diesels,
like the most desirable one I believe is the model that's out of the 210, the 210, which is like the
E55 body. Yeah. The blue tech, was that the first year of the blue tech? No, there's,
I don't know the engine code for it, but that particular diesel is the most desirable one
that people build from what I know. Again, I'm not much of a diesel guy, but I mean,
they're pulling 6,700 horsepower out of those engines, which is incredible. That's crazy.
But as far as upgrading, I would probably swap it with like a newer style diesel
and turbo it, you know, and that would be the best. Yeah, just a newer diesel.
Yeah, but definitely beef up brakes and suspension on that.
390 bullet in the head says, what gives you more gray hairs finding a missing piece of a 40-year-old
Koenig fiberglass or trying to explain to a purist why a classic Mercedes needs 600 horsepower?
I mean, gray hairs, just dealing with Mercedes parts and finding parts and
locating parts is probably the toughest part of getting gray hair. But the purist guys,
with Mercedes, the guys that are the purists are mainly the people that are driving the
Gullwings and the 300 SLs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyone that has a Mercedes from the 70s and 80s,
because being a tuner was accepted back then for Mercedes, it's not really the purist,
but it's just finding the parts for these things is the toughest part. Sure.
LL Cartier says, if you were to acquire a decent 210E55, that's like what we bought, right? Right.
And wanted to make it the ultimate mile-munching hot rod, what could be done and at what budget?
I would manual swap that car. I mean, I've always wondered why Mercedes didn't manufacture something
to compete with the M5, because that automatic transmission is horrible. Yeah. I mean, it's
just a slush. If you're going to cruise it around, it's fine. Yeah. But they were an AMG meant for
the wife. You know, they were something as a grocery getter, the shifting is smooth. So something
four-door naturally aspirated V8 manual would be the most desirable. And that's what really wakes
that car up. Every early 2000s and Mercedes that I've driven that came with an automatic
that I drove that had a manual swap was much better. 100%. I drove a CLK430 with a manual swap
that was like lovely. The black one? No, the fourth. Oh, the color of it. Yeah. Maybe. That's my
cousin, David. You did a review on that car. Yeah. So he manual swapped that himself. He did
himself. Yeah. And it was out of a price. Yeah. Crossfire gearbox. And it totally changed the
whole driving experience. It was nice. Yeah. And then we drove a SL55 that had a manual swap
that a guy in Vegas did. That's right. I saw that. Yeah. I saw that episode too. Also good.
Very good car. Yeah. It's what they need. The transmission is so terrible.
Okay. Actually, I like Duffel Shuffle Retirement Clubs is what is Mercedes
up to with the door-to-door screen in the C-class. The most aggressive use of screen I've seen in
interior so far. No, I didn't. What news came out today? I'll find it real quick. Is it good news
or bad news? Bad news. Zach is shaking his head. It is bad news. Here we go. It's the
2012, 2027 CEV. Okay. The C-class. Wow. I mean, there's a couple of problems with it.
I can think of one. There's so many. One is that front grille. Two is that is a grievous screen.
It goes beyond the frame of this photo, Matt. The screen literally goes, there you go. Oh,
my gosh. That's crazy. Wow. I mean, at this point, it's just, you're not driving a car anymore.
That's crazy. This is the C-class. So you're telling me it's cheaper to make screen than just
dashboard. But this is literally screen from one end of the dash to the other, only bookended by
two vents. Like I'm shocked. Lincoln has a curved, dude, pull up the Lincoln Navigator
This just doesn't make it seem like you're driving a car anymore. Right. You know what I mean? It
takes away from the driving experience. And then the exterior, like the grille is just horrible.
The grille, I see what they were trying to do, but it doesn't work. In order to have it work,
you have to have the vertical bar in the middle and then a hood ornament on top. They're combining
two styles right here into one. It's like SilverSau plus the newer stuff. And it just,
you're... Go back up to the taillights though, because those looked kind of decent. I mean,
this is what BMW... Other than the Mitsubishi stars in the middle.
And this is what BMW did too with the grille. It's not working.
Mercedes showed a concept that had this shape of a grille, but had the divider in the middle. But it
looked more like the original chrome Mercedes grille. This is just, you know... Yeah, that's weird.
Yeah, that's not great. And what's with all the Mercedes signs on these?
You guys, they must know. They're everywhere. They must know.
Like the Maybach SL, it's all over the hood, the interior, the convertible top.
It's like the Louis pattern. It's overkill, man. Yeah, they're trying to have their own pattern.
Tim A says, what's your opinion on MB text and its reputation for being indestructible?
It's fantastic material. Yeah. I mean, it's durable as hell. It doesn't crack.
It just doesn't color. You know, it doesn't fade. I have my 300e. 86 is original MB text,
and it looks like it's brand new. Yeah, you see low to medium mile ones, and it just looks great.
It's incredible what they've created with that MB text. I mean, the Mercedes leather is leather,
but eventually leather cracks, you know, especially on the convertible cars. But the MB
text stuff is just unreal. I mean, my 300e, it literally looks like it's brand new.
Yeah, I like MB text. It's good. We already got to Darian's question earlier.
Can you notice these nuts? Why do automakers not prioritize driver seating position when
designing a cabin for non-specialized cars? I would disagree with the sentiment. I think
for the most part, do prioritize driver seating position.
I mean, now they do. I mean, sure. The Ferrari 512 boxer did not.
348, my 348, my feet, my hips are enough to drive it.
Now they do. They do. Yeah. I'd like to hear why this commenter thinks that,
because the vast majority of cars I sit in have a pretty decent seat.
That used to be, I think they used to put packaging first. So then like, they go,
oh, the person's legs will aim a little over here or the seat will be off center because we have to
fit engine trans in these hard points. I mean, the Italians weren't, were like famous for that.
Oh yeah, they don't give a fuck. 80s and 90s Italian cars, they didn't give a
shit about your seating position, whether you could see out the back window or it's just.
Same with the Germans when they were forced to build right hand drive cars.
They built them shits out of spite.
But like, I mean, I mean, look, if you, I drove like my friend had like an 88
Corolla or something in high school that he like inherited from his grandma.
And I thought I was okay. Hannah, we've got the Delica, the Mitsubishi Delica 91.
Very comfortable. I mean, it only goes up and down and back and forward,
but the seats aren't that bad. No, they're not. I'm not. I'd like to hear what the
basis is of that comment because I think most cars actually do a reasonably good job.
Merkin ball run out of curiosity. And maybe you don't know the shot. What,
what could I expect could be the cost of a manual swap for an SLK 55?
That would be a Matt quick question. That is a Matt quick question. You don't really do the
I don't deal with the mechanical. I mean, you know, and again,
what I think the fucking guy for the drive, he was about 20 something. I think it was 25 to 30
for the swap. Wasn't it? No, he said he was into the entire car for 42 grand. Oh, yeah. He bought
the car for like 25. Yeah, I think it was maybe 20, but he also did a major service while he was
in there. Yeah, I think it sounds about right. It was around 20 prices of parts have gone up
because everyone's like kind of woken up to what's going on. So I can tell you like now
to try to find the manual gearbox for a Mercedes or out of a crossfire, people know like what they
have, you know, before you could buy the whole Chrysler crossfire for $1,500 bucks, right? Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Just pull everything out of it, pedals and all, but that would be a Matt quick
question for sure. Yeah. Chubba red bar cheddar. Have you ever considered producing a watch without
limiting the number made or at least producing more so that they reach the public? You know,
we do these and we make limited numbers of them. Well, so we can't really because we are limited
by the number of the amount of moot or I shouldn't say we can't. We could. We haven't so far
because this watch that we've made uses the Lejeuperette Swiss movement. They will only sell
us 250 of them a year. Wow. That is the maximum that they will sell us. Period. Now, is that face
color mesh to your Porsche? Yes, that's beautiful. And in fact, this is the prototype of the one
that we're releasing next. In fact, it is painted with my Porsche paint. That's it. That's how we
got it right with the guilt dial and everything. So our guilt hands and with the red. That's beautiful.
Isn't that cool? So, so these are going to be 1200 bucks. It's not bad. Yeah, we're doing 100 of
them. So we're limited by we will have sold every movement that they will have. And that's the
combination that's coming in. This is the sixth color we've done. We've done we did the mint green,
the orange, the dark blue, the British racing green, the Tahitian Black Pearl and now this one.
Very nice. Yeah, yeah. It's gorgeous. So and then we have an all new watch we're coming out with
later in the year. That one will that other watch we are less limited by movements. And so we're
going to make more of them regardless. So that's why they were so limited. We literally couldn't
make more. So if you were a patron, I hope you I hope you got one. If not, I hope you join and get
one now. Okay. I don't know if this is okay. Pearl love bone of the mad green dog, maybe slightly
different from the question you answered earlier. Okay, sidebar. They are good to reschedule to
load tomorrow before noon. Beautiful. Can you get that other car down here? Okay. Yeah. Thanks,
hubby. You're the man. Is he a hubby bee? No. He's the whitest dude ever. I just bug him out.
He doesn't like when I talk like that. Yeah. Okay, what unique project would you like? Would
you most like to have a well funded customer bring to him? Meaning what is your cost no object build?
That I've done so far or that you want to want someone to bring to you? Geez, I mean,
that's kind of a hard question because there's so much you can do. I mean,
I would love to build like a v12 stroked v12 powered just badass. Build your own Zonda motor
kind of basically, you know, in a six speed and a custom basically what Hartmut's doing to the
sledgehammer would be like my dream build. You know what I mean? There was a fairly decently
substantiated rumor that every time an SL60 or an SL73 came up for auction, it was fucking Horatio
buying them back to strip them from motors. Really? That's interesting. They were paying a lot of
money for them too because you turn one was Zonda. Sure. What did he do with the parts?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. We got to find out. Out of like Russia somewhere.
I mean, listen, I wouldn't doubt it because it's probably cheaper for him to do that than
to develop the motor from scratch. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The M120 I think is what is based off of the
v12. You can't find them anymore. You know, so it is a fantastic motor, by the way. It's just
everything else around that the wiring harness and the support is horrible.
The engine itself is a badass engine. I just actually got on someone's Instagram. I don't
remember the name, but he's actually like turbocharging these things, twin turbocharging them,
putting them with the manual, and he did an SL600. Dude, it's wicked. I bet it's nasty.
It's nasty. That's a good time. It sounds amazing. I bet. It's so fast. Yeah, it's kind of nuts.
So at the time when these were new, my buddy bought one in 96, 95 or 96. It was a purple
special colored SL600, which he took to CEC and he had it supercharged and he drove this car
and then he ended up selling it and now he wants to buy it back. So he has no trace of the VIN
number. He has no trace of anything on the car. So I told him, listen, what month did you sell it?
And he kind of remembered the month and year and he remembers putting it in the DuPont registry.
And you found this? So we went on eBay and we bought the month to see because sometimes they
put the VIN numbers in there and it wasn't there, but he's still trying to look for that car.
And you found out there's got a purple SL600? Purple SL600 with the Lorenzo supercharged.
From CEC. Back then, I mean, it was kitted. Lorenzo marti kit, the RSK wheels, supercharged.
It was pretty wicked. I did the bull run with Klaus Ettingsberger a few times. He is not a
normal person. Klaus is crazy. Is he? I mean, I've met him a few times, but I've never in my
entire life. I respect him a little bit. No, I do respect him and I respect him as a business
man and as a fucking crazy German. Yeah, he did. He did one of the most dangerous things I've
ever seen anybody do. He had a he did bull run in 2009, I think with us and he drove a C63
with some other lunatic fucking German friend of his and he had a smoke screen in it. Like he
put a legit. Yeah, he installed a smoke screen and I've never seen anything like that used in
real life. Crazy. And he and he hit the smoke screen on the highway and it was just instafog.
Wow. Instafog. I couldn't across how many lanes. The whole highway. Wow. Why would you do that?
Like because we was because bull run was stupid. It's like long. It was long distance endurance
street racing effectively. It was deeply irresponsible. That's pretty dangerous, dude. Well, because
these guys would out do each other in the crazy land. It was like him and fucking Richard Rawlings
and these these. Did he ever use it while running from police or was he did he make it? It's like
this is a fun gimmick to have. I personally witnessed him use it the one time and I was like,
oh, I am I am out of my. Was it like those DJ foggers? Yeah, maybe. No, it was apparently it
was a very simple system that just dumped baby oil into the catalytic converters.
Jesus. Are you serious? Yeah. Oh my God. That's nuts, dude. That was crazy. That's puff daddy
injection. He puffed daddy injection. Yeah. And he fucking hit the smoke and I was just like,
I just I couldn't believe it. It was one. It was one of the most. I mean, one of the most
unbelievable ones. That's dangerous. Yeah, it's super dangerous too. I'm pretty sure like everything
about this was dangerous, by the way. This is like this was the most dangerous thing of.
So was it an actual race for time or was it just it's not. Yeah, but like tell these fucking psychos
that all these guys were all these guys, including me at that age, were out of their minds. But some
of these guys were out of their minds and also like insanely rich. Right. So there's no consequences.
There are no there are no smartphones really. So no one's really not going to get a lot of
evidence filmed about you. Right. And Klaus, there was this unbelievable video. He did get
pulled over once and him and his buddy who were German, you know, Kaus has lived in Beverly Hills
for who the fuck knows how long. But he's, you know, they just start screaming at each other
in German. It's on video. And the cop just like I just I just I don't know. It doesn't even know
what to do here. You know, they give him a license, but it's a German license and it doesn't know
what the right. And they just and they're screaming at each other for like five minutes at the top
of the and the cop just gives up and walks away. So like they would, you know, they do shit like
that. And they can have 50 G's in the glove box. If they got they expected to get arrested.
It was nuts. I can imagine the client tell these people had. Oh, yeah. In the 80s and 90s. His
client must have exclusively, exclusively coke. Psycho. For sure. For sure. People don't hear
no ever. So I got a chance to meet Chris Hahn, the owner of SGS. When I went to Retro Automobile,
he was there because there was a going SEC for some. And I spent a few days with him and he was
telling me the stories of his clientele man. And he was selling like 200,000 plus cars back then
goings, which I own a couple of and convertible conversions and all that. Dude, these people
were like on a different level. Yeah. Like they were on some shit. Dude, the drugs and the configurators.
Yeah. And you look at some of these bills and you think you had to be a different individual to
47 way seats. Even think about this. It's like panels that go up, up, up and then onto the
ceiling and like behind you. They had a tape player up here and one here and equalizers everywhere.
And, you know, Clarion decks on the dad. I don't even know all this shit does.
So I have a limo, like a little executive stretch. Yeah. And this thing is like,
it's got the whole Pioneer deck in the back. It's got the TV and it's got all these gadgets.
And it's like, you don't know what the hell they do. They're just there. You know what I mean?
It's a carat du chalet model. It's badass. The thing's badass. But like you sit in it and you
look and you're like, you're sitting at a circuit city. What do you do with all this shit? You
know what I mean? I need to fine tune my EQ right now, of course. So I can imagine and I'm sure it
builds a character. Like BB and Gimbala and all that stuff with Porsches. It was not exclusive
to Mercedes, but they were. Gumbala was doing some crazy shit. And I think they're still like
creating some. They are. They have like new stuff sometimes. And there's what's his name, The Son.
Mark Philippe Gimbala or something like that. Who's got that off-road called the Marzine.
Who date that? That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The anyway. So yeah, Gimbala GTR Evo R by Turbo.
Yeah. Apparently they're introducing this new Gumbala car in Monterey this year.
Sure. All right. Good times. Good times. Cold air intake on my soccer mom SUV says people often
complain about the complexity of repairs on Mercs. When doing builds, do you take steps to
simplify or improve some of the common frustrations? Definitely. I mean, wiring being one of them.
The wiring harness obviously on the mid mid 90s to early 2000 cars were like biodegradable wires.
They do they did sell an upgraded kit. And if they don't sell it, we run through the wires and get
all that strained out. The cars were built pretty solid. I mean, suspension wise, breaking wise,
they're pretty solid. The drive cranes in them are bulletproof. It's just the support, you know,
with especially the 80s and 90s with the Bosch fuel injection systems and the CIS units
are becoming our, you know, archaic. If there's any way to EFI, I know that they do have kits
which EFI those which they go, you know, instead of the mechanical, it's electronic fuel injection.
That would be the biggest improvement where you can actually adjust and, you know, take all the
bugs out of it. But other than that, I mean, it's just mainly the fuel system and the wiring.
If you upgrade a to an EFI on like an old right on a six liter motor or something,
can you get a lot of extra power or a lot more smoother and power, reliability, smoothness,
support, efficiency in every way. Is that a pricey thing to swap? They have kits that they
sell in Europe. I've seen for like 2,500 bucks. I've never really pulled the trigger on one.
But I'm tempted just to see what it does, you know, and I don't know why they went mechanical,
you know, why they went with that CSI. Everybody was doing that shit at the time. Yeah, everybody.
I mean, the Japanese were doing it, you know, EFI. These guys are going the opposite direction.
Every 80s European car I've had has had the Lambo, the Ferrari, the Porsche.
The same. It's the same system. It's all the same shit. It's the same. You don't drive it for a
while. The shit gets gummy and the fuel too doesn't help the situation and the fuel nowadays is just
horrible compared to back in the day, you know. Got to run that non-ethanol. Yeah. That good shit.
ZR1X, go and give it to you. It says people in California who run Montana tags due to not
being able to smog their old car. Why don't they just register in a county that only smogs a title
transfer? All right. Sorry, I should have read this before reading it out loud. I'll finish, though.
We've registered our old truck at my parents' place in Eureka and don't have to smog it unless
we sell it. We don't all have parents who live in Eureka. Yeah. I mean, I... Well, yeah, there's
two answers. One is we don't all have parents that are in a county or like I've heard this before.
If you don't live in a county or have a place in the county, you can't do that. The other reason
some people don't do it is because registering Montana saves the taxes whereas I think registering
in Eureka, you probably still have to pay the California sale. Yeah. Well, I think the question
is targeted at people who would register their cars in California if California provided them
path. Gotcha. Yeah. But what you're also suggesting is buying a property in a different county
specifically for this purpose, which is a far more inconvenient and headache-inducing solution than
by far than the Montana tag, which I'm not officially endorsing. But I mean, how about this?
How about this? You write me a lease and I'll rent your parents' house for a dollar a month.
There you go. And I'm on the lease, baby. Let's go. That's like the bill, like all the Montana
tags, all of them are from like one office building. Yeah. We could run the office building in Eureka.
This is like that whole hospice scam going on. It's like, you know, I mean,
eventually there's going to be another loophole. People are going to find another loophole. Yeah.
I mean, I genuinely think that if you have a car that cannot pass smog and it's a collector
grade vehicle or it's an old work vehicle or whatever, there should be some kind of a path.
There should. It might be money. It might be something, but like... Or some sort of program
where it gives you the opportunity to at least make it smog legal or something that's going to...
Because some of these guys that have these cars, they have no choice, man. This is kind of the car
they own. Well, that's a problem is that it's a hardship if your car that you need is not able
to pass smog. And also, it represents an escaped value for the state if someone with a collector
vehicle like my Kuntosh, which has never been able to pass smog, if I can't register it in California,
but I would and you could have my tax money. Right. Well, what do you want me to do? Exactly.
I'll give you the money. And that's what I'm saying. There's people that will be able to do that.
And they will. And there's people that can't do that, which wants some sort of a package
or a program where they can at least drive this car. Take the money that you give me the pass for
under 2,000 miles a year and then take my money and have a program that retrofits old cars
with better emissions. Yeah. When I run for a fucking mayor, that's what we're going to do.
Until then, we roll around in red benzos. Right. I can't wait to actually once when I had my
Silver 129, I would drive around and play Picture Me Rollin by Tupac. And I'm excited to get to do
it again. What are we doing with the sound system on that car? I will leave it up to you. What is
important to me is that it has a car play screen so if my wife needs the GPS and shit that it
will mirror the phone. But like, I don't want a whole trunk full of speakers. No, just something
nice and crisp and clean. We can eliminate the ashtray and put like a screen in there where you
have like the backup camera. Wait, no ashtray. We're going to ask these blunts. No. I wouldn't
be opposed to a bazooka tube. I would fuck with a bazooka tube. Remember those, they came with
straps. So they don't slosh around in the back. Those things bumped pretty good. They did. The
company's still around. We can get them. Are they still around? They're around. I'm not even
fucking around. I remember they bumped really well. And we should maybe get one, but someone had asked
us on a previous show, like if we were to do like a Restomod Fox body, what would it include?
And I said it would have to be, you know, we'd have to have less rattles and a coyote motor and
this and that. But it would also have to have a strap down fucking bazooka. Do you have like the
leather tie downs, you know, real nice like John Ward would make? You know, those old school ones
were just, I mean, they were just a simple tube with with a speaker and they sound phenomenal.
Yeah, they were great. Especially in the back. So my buddy had one in the back of an
IROC and that crevices. As one does. And that thing used to resonate off the glass.
Yeah, Larry had it in the hatchback of his 5.0 and it turned your whole hatch into a thing. Yeah.
Then you'd have to put the sponge behind the license plate. Otherwise it would round something.
I have like the soft spot for Fox bodies. I have five of them. I love them. I love Fox bodies, man.
It's America's 124. Thanks for the buck. It's just you've seen my dominator, the white one,
the white one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That one's got like the IMSA body kit on it or whatever the fuck.
Super wild. Super wild. We could do a whole other show on all the non-Mercedes
shit. You have 109 cars, but we'll come back to it when my Mercedes is done. Definitely.
Thanks, Sean. You're welcome, man. Thank you guys for having me.
CMS underscore motorsports on Instagram. How the fuck do you pronounce your last name? I've never
had to speak it out loud. Meshaphagian. Boy. Yeah. Meshaphagian. Yeah, it's a good thing. You
don't have an Oldsmobile dealership. You'd be in deep shit. A big building. Meshaphagian. That's
a good one. That is a good one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like a delicious entree that I'm going
to order. It does. With a side of rice. Get me some Lama June like right now, bro. Oh yeah,
we got to go have some good Armenian food. I got to take you guys to dinner, man. 100%
for sure. So down. I grew up eating Lama June every day. Or you guys come to my place for a barbecue,
then we rock and roll. Can you do skewers? Can we make the skewers? Absolutely. With the swords?
Yes. That shit's hard. It's very hard. And it's just the way you line it up and you got to use the
metal skewers and they have to be the right thickness. So when you're putting it on the fire,
that metal heats up and it cooks the inside of the meat too. When I tried to do it,
the meat like kind of disintegrates and falls off the skewer. It depends how you're actually
like you're mixing the ground beef. So the butcher I go to knows the correct fat content versus the
ratio. And it's how you kind of put it on there. It's, you know. Ali said he's going to teach me.
Yeah. Yeah. My other, my other, my Persian friend is going to teach me. Oh yeah. See Persian barbecues
too. Yeah. Well, he's that who took me to the spot in Glendale. Which spot did you go to?
Rafi. Rafi? Rafi. Yeah. Oh dude, you went to like the, you know, the McDonald's. That's a good spot.
No, it's a very good spot. I also fuck with Twin Lomajo in Burbank, the Lama June spot. Yes. That
has the special oven. That place is the, that's the banger. So I'll take you to, you know, you
got to go to the little local spots. Rafi's is like the, it's big, the superstar. But you go to
those little mom and, oh, it's phenomenal. Yeah. But you go to the little mom and pop spots where,
you know, they have the special cut of meat for you set up over there. There's also the spot
in Gardena by our other store that's like next level. Borge Star. If you fuck with Borge Star.
I don't know much about this. Is it? Yeah. Gardena is a secret. Is it Persian or Armenian?
It's Persian. But Gardena is a fucking super secret. There's a lot going on down there. Really?
Yeah. Because nobody wants to go down there. I haven't been to your other spot. I want to
go check it out. It's going to be, it's, it's, it's great. Are you guys going to do the events
there? Are you guys? We're working on it. We're working on it. Yeah. The city isn't happy about
it. The city doesn't like you doing anything. They're very resistant. Yeah. Yeah. But there's
not much going on. Why wouldn't they want it? Like direct traffic to the city and it's obviously
quality people that are going there. It's like, I think they're, I think they're nervous because
the fucking, there's like takeovers down there at night and you stay anything with. I understand.
Anything like cars, they're really on edge. Yeah. We'd like to bring a bunch of cars to industrial
area at night time. Yeah. Yeah. They're really on edge about it. All right. Well, I can't wait.
We got the, we've sorted this. The truck is coming to take both cars tomorrow morning to send them
down to a quick classics in Nashville. I was talking to Matt. I may, when he, once he's got
like things sort of like maximally apart or start, I'm going to find the right time to go down there
and see what's what. Yeah. You know what? Let me know when you're going to go. You want to go?
All right. Yeah. All right. We will make a weekend out of it. Actually, there.
Do you have a white suit in my size? Yes. We'll walk in there with a briefcase with a couple white
suits. But there, I think he does his cars and coffees there. Oh, he does? Yeah. Maybe we can.
We'll go there one of the weekends when he's doing it. Just kind of the car community in Tennessee
is really growing too. It is. No, Tennessee is great. Knoxville is great. Nashville is great.
He's, and we got my boy Cameron Weiss is down there, although he's in Switzerland right now,
training watchmakers kind of make his shit. Yeah. He's like, he's like, I can't find any
watchmakers. So I'm just going to go to Switzerland and train my own. Okay. Sounds good. But we'll
have to figure that one out. And then he said, like, I think he said two months and then the car
comes back to you for paint and interior. You finish it all out. Just like that. All right.
CMS Motorsports on Instagram is basically where you find what you need to know, right?
That's where they find you. That's it. Yeah. Have Sean build you something. He's pretty good at it.
I love the time. I can't fucking wait. Thanks to our patrons for asking such good questions today.
We appreciate you all. And Zach and I are going racing. So when you hear from us next,
you will have the racing wrap up for you. And that's all I got. Goodbye. Thank you guys.
About this episode
CMS Motorsports’ Shant dives deep into the world of pre-merger AMG restoration and recreation, explaining why demand is surging thanks to Radwood and the renewed appreciation for “pure” early cars. The shop’s work ranges from sourcing impossible-to-find parts to building accurate widebody clones in steel, not fiberglass. A major highlight is Shant’s ongoing build for the host: a 500E-based convertible with a 113/55-style powertrain swap, plus laser-scanned bodywork, suspension, and fresh Recaro-style seating. The conversation also covers AMG authenticity, Koenig/Lorenz demand, and the practical realities of keeping these cars on the road.
Love old Mercedes shapes but wish they had modern power? How bad was quality control in the 80s? What if you desire a one-off AMG that never existed? CMS Motorsports is who to call. Owner, Shant Meshefedjian, has been in love with wide-body Benzes since he was 8 years old. He grew up around fabricators and body-work experts. Now he builds and restores the coolest Mercedes cars from the '80s and '90s. Many of his cars have won awards all over the country. Odds are you've seen his work. His story is inspiring, his passion and knowledge run deep.
Patreon questions include:
What's harder: finding original bodykits or doing engine swaps?
Best improvement for an E55 AMG
The new C-class' giant screen
Thoughts on MB-Tex
When cars companies started to care about seating position
Dream Mercedes project
How to improve the complexity of an aging Mercedes
Can I make this old diesel cool?
Recorded APril 21, 2026
Mac tools
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Factor
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Bluechew
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Promo Code Offer: Get 4X bonus tickets with any donation of $25 or more. With every donation you are helping benefit some wonderful veterans' and children's charities.
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Want your question answered? Want to watch the live stream, get ad-free podcasts, or exclusive podcasts? Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesmokingtirepodcast
Use Off The Record! and ALWAYS fight your tickets! Enter code TST10 for a 10% discount on your first case on the Off The Record app, or go to http://www.offtherecord.com/TST.
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