Given how vast the tuning scene is in 2025, it’s hard to assume a time when ordering aftermarket parts to your automobile wasn’t so simple as clicking a button.
This shift isn’t limited to the aftermarket world. Nearly every major auto manufacturer now offers a level of customisation beyond just optional extras – think BMW’s M Performance, Mercedes-Benz’s AMG Line, or Toyota’s GR series. In actual fact, today you possibly can order an unpainted carbon fibre bonnet to your 2.5-tonne Range Rover Sport directly from Land Rover as an option in the event you’re so inclined. Whether that’s a superb idea, nonetheless, is entirely up for debate.
Rewind a couple of years, and such behaviour from an OEM could be considered lunacy. But with a lot demand on the market – and manufacturers capable of provide parts without voiding your warranty – it was only a matter of time before they wanted their slice of the tuning pie.
Now, let’s rewind even further, to a time long before magazines like Max Power and Super Street brought tuning culture to the masses. Depending on how deep your pockets were, your options involved having a bash at home or asking the local garage to assist. But for those whose pockets were lined with serious money – or higher yet, oil wealth – there was one other option.
How frustrating life must’ve been when not even Rolls-Royce or Bentley could offer a custom level of luxury to your automobile. The answer? Dial-a-coachbuilder.
Coachbuilding has a wealthy history, with the primary examples dating back to the early 1900s. Alvis Cars, for example, would supply a base chassis, which customers could then have customised with a totally bespoke body and interior. Consider it as an early type of flaunting wealth together with your automobile, a one-of-one special edition with a price tag to match. But when everyone’s driving a one-of-one, the novelty wears off quickly.
The demand for such coachbuilt cars progressively fizzled out over time, especially through the two World Wars when many coachbuilders, like Alvis, switched to aircraft production amongst other things. Mass production became the norm through the Second Industrial Revolution and, as such, low-volume coachbuilding didn’t truly make a comeback until the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s with a brand new wave of extravagant builds that catered to the ultra-wealthy.
Brands like ABC Exclusive, SGS Styling, Carat by Duchatelet, and Trasco were all heavy hitters during this era, becoming famous for taking requests that were anything but strange. This resulted in a number of the most outlandish and wacky cars of the time – lots of which rivalled those within the Sultan of Brunei’s legendary collection.
And it wasn’t nearly styling. In-car entertainment was a significant focus, with firms like Trasco fitting CRT screens and multi-deck audio systems into their bespoke builds. The concept was easy: Add more bling – more crystal, more leather, more opulence – than anyone else to make your construct essentially the most radical and expensive possible. It’d sound vulgar, but when your clientele includes royal families, oil barons, and arms dealers, it starts to make sense.
In recent times, this era has come to be often known as the ‘1000 SEL’ era, a term popularised by Bram Corts’ sensible website, 1000sel.com, which meticulously covers the history of those key brands and coachbuilders together with the assorted special edition vehicles.
Why 1000 SEL? One of the crucial popular premium cars of the time was the Mercedes-Benz W126 S-Class. Known for its unparalleled engineering and luxury, the top-spec 500 SEL (and later 560 SEL) boasted a 5.0-litre V8 engine and an prolonged wheelbase.
In keeping with Bram’s research, within the ’80s, a Middle Eastern customer reportedly ordered a heavily modified 500 SEL from SGS Styling in Germany. When the automobile was delivered, the shopper told SGS boss Chris Hahn that his automobile was “twice nearly as good as an everyday 500 SEL,” and that he’d wish to have a badge on the back to represent that. What’s twice a 500 SEL? A 1000 SEL after all.
Though it was never an official model designation, the 1000 SEL badge soon became an emblem of maximum modifications and opulence, especially within the Middle East, through the height of the oil boom. It was a type of pre-social media flex – a way for wealthy automobile owners to compete in creating essentially the most radical, and expensive, variants of luxury and sports cars.
The 1000 SEL era is much more complex than this very quick synopsis and I urge you to delve deep into Bram’s website – it’s so interesting to see what was being done between 1975 and 1995, and the extortionate cost related to each automobile. Especially now considering these particular cars and styles are coming back into fashion once more.
But what makes these cars truly fascinating is the wealth and secrecy surrounding their buyers. Was it owned by a government official? How did a businessman find over US$250,000 to spec a 1000 SEL in 1985? With such limited history on the market, attempting to unravel a automobile’s past only adds an additional layer of intrigue.
One thing’s for certain, finding any of those cars in good condition is not any easy task. Even period parts from brands like Carat by Duchatelet now cost hundreds – assuming you possibly can even find someone willing to sell them.
That is where Speedhunters regular Higuchi-san enters the image. He’s an avid classic Benz enthusiast, whose automobile history features a 2JZ-powered 450 SLC, several Tommykaira W124s, and even a custom S124 estate converted with 500 E parts. His latest project, nonetheless, is the culmination of a long time of passion approached with a contemporary Japanese twist.
Mercedes never made a wagon variant of the W126, but Higuchi-san’s 500 TE is much from the primary conversion. You may thank the 1000 SEL era for that, particularly, Zender who was an early pioneer of the ‘TE’ W126. Zender famously built several examples, including one with an SEC front end, very like Higuchi-san’s creation.
There’s no eBay search or AliExpress link to order W126 estate conversions, but fortunately for Higuchi-san, he didn’t have to begin from scratch. Not that it made the extent of labor required any less.
“This particular automobile was owned by a famous Japanese comedian in 1990,” Higuchi-san explains. “He loved American cars and thought of a Caprice wagon and likewise the S124 estate before deciding to make the S-Class wagon. In his eyes, a wagon that anyone could buy could be boring, so he wanted something bespoke.”
Styling Garage Japan, the now defunct coachbuilder behind the unique project, was known for constructing some wild custom creations, including limousines and even a Z32 wagon.
Their work was highly regarded, and when Higuchi-san saw this particular W126 develop into available in 2020, he jumped at the prospect to own it.
Nevertheless, the wagon had seen higher days. Abandoned for years, the paint was cracked, the frame was rusted, and the bodywork was damaged. Worst of all, the custom interior was completely pulled apart. With no substitute parts available, the one solution was to painstakingly recreate and restore. Two words that haemorrhage money and time like no others.
Condition aside, the five hundred TE had all of the parts required to revive it to its former glory. The majority of the custom exterior trim was all intact; it was just a bit tired-looking. When Styling Garage Japan built the wagon, they used the rear end of an S124. That makes it sound relatively straightforward until you learn that a W126 chassis is almost 100mm wider than a W124. Every panel needed to be cut, prolonged, reshaped, and welded back into place – lots of of hours of labour. You may see why it helped to have oil wealth back within the day to fund such a habit.
What really makes this sort of conversion so tricky is getting all the swage lines and trim from the W124 panels lined up with the W126. Smoothing every little thing out would have been quicker, but Higuchi-san was determined to maintain the automobile looking as near OEM as possible before adding his personal touches.
“When it was owned by the comedian, the unique Anthracite Grey was repainted to Mercedes Blue Black Metallic, before then further being modified to a lighter blue,” added Higuchi-san. “Since the paint was so damaged, we stripped all of it off and resprayed your entire shell Palladium Silver to provide it a contemporary look while staying true to the unique color.”
Seeing as all of the chrome trim and plastics across the windows were custom-made by Styling Garage Japan (not a single piece from the W124 lined up against the unique saloon items), Higuchi-san had no selection but to powder coat the worn-out mouldings and polish the remaining trim.
From the rear, you’d be forgiven for considering it was just a widened S124 due to that angular boot and smaller hind lights. Nevertheless, Higuchi-san desired to retain the complete functionality of the trunk, which meant constructing a wholly latest custom floor panel and restoring all the plastic trims used inside. Up front, very like Zender’s ’80s concept, a full SEC conversion was undertaken using all factory parts. Although less complex compared to the boot fabrication, to do it properly still requires each front wings, the bumper, headlights, grille, bonnet and slam panel.
Higuchi-san’s builds all follow an analogous style when it comes to the aftermarket parts he suits, the tell-tale sign being his own HWA Asteroid wheels. Measuring in at 17×8.5-inch ET18 and 17×9.5-inch ET17, the Asteroids are almost similar to the unique Penta/AMG design bar one key fact: Higuchi-san makes his wheels in 17-inch size, while the unique designs only ever existed in as much as 16-inch.
Behind those wheels, you’ll find 6-piston ‘Brabus by Alcon’ brakes, which were first offered as a tuning upgrade for the W124 within the ‘90s. Other than massively improving the stock brake system, they supply a subtle nod to the 1000 SEL era without overshadowing the remainder of the automobile. The stance is enhanced by Dkubus coilovers, and real AMG W126 parts are scattered throughout, including the exhaust, steering wheel, and gauges.
All of it gels together brilliantly. Higuchi-san has an annoying habit of constructing cars which appear to tick all the precise boxes, and before it, you’re doom-scrolling through eBay preparing to embark on your individual Benz construct. But that’s a testament to his deep knowledge and keenness for each his cars and the era they represent. In a world of quickly assembled builds which might be promoted and phased out with dizzying speed, it’s at all times refreshing to see what Higuchi-san has up his sleeve.
“All in all, the project took three years to revive and complete,” he adds. “There’s still some more work to do, but such an interesting and unique automobile deserves to be restored properly. I don’t construct my cars for promotion or to sell, they’re to drive and revel in. I like the look of the estate, and plenty of people cannot imagine it was not a factory conversion.”
There are only a few cars on the market which don’t look higher in wagon form, and I don’t ever remember driving a automobile and complaining that it had an excessive amount of space. It’s why I’ll at all times be a large advocate for any estate automobile; you get all the advantages of a superb saloon with enough space within the back to bundle the entire family in. And Higuchi-san’s W126 500 TE is all of the proof you’ll ever need that wagons make every little thing higher.
Mark Riccioni
Instagram: mark_scenemedia
Twitter: markriccioni
mark@speedhunters.com
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
