Icon's Jonathan Ward Builds a Fast Bastard Mercedes

Yeah, Jonathan Ward gets plenty of ink, video views and time with Jay Leno. Why? Because his shop, Icon, keeps producing nasty things like this: a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL powered by a GM LS9 supercharged 6.2-liter V8. The LS9 is the engine installed in the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and is rated at 638-horsepower in GM Performance Parts catalog as a crated unit. The engine is backed by a massaged GM 4L85E four-speed automatic transmission.

Here’s clip of this warped, transatlantic conglomeration through a nearby tunnel and along a few roads. It doesn’t sound much like an old Mercedes.

Ward has produced this thing as part of his “Derelict” line of customs that retains the weathered appearance of older vehicles while stuffing them full of modern performance pieces and adding the luxury plucks that goes with their $450,000 (to start) price tags.

Even though the W108 and W109 series of large Mercedes sedans (built between 1965 and 1972) are renowned as the base for the epic 300SEL 6.3, it’s not a structure with the strength to handle this much thump. After all, the 6.3’s M100 big 6.3-liter V8 was only rated at 247-horsepower when the car went in sale for 1968. So the LS9 has it beat by almost 400 horsey powers.