This month, we’re starting off by turning the clock back 100 years to take a quick look at the automotive coachbuilding era that largely began in the 1920s, with a focus on Mercedes-Benz. If you’re not familiar with custom coach-built automobiles, these were vehicles that came to be when very wealthy folks had the ability to order a basic powertrain and chassis platform supplied by luxury marques such as Duesenberg, Mercedes, Packard, Rolls-Royce, and Lincoln.
Instead of being delivered to the customer, the basic chassis with running gear was forwarded to a bespoke coach builder who would create a unique, one-off body design and mate it to the chassis to form a complete working automobile. The prestige of having a “built just for me” ride was irresistible among the well-to-do during the gilded 1920s.
As Hagerty.com editor Aaron Robinson writes, “Coachbuilders delivered a few handmade bolides produced by irreplaceable craftsmen using ancient tools and techniques, while mass production harnessed unskilled labor and mechanized automation to deliver millions of identical vehicles at an affordable price.”
SOME AMERICAN EXAMPLES
Aside from hearses and ambulances, GM’s last coach built model was the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham of 1957-58 built by Fisher (shown above), and of 1959-60 built by the Italian firm Pininfarina. With only several hundred made each year, these variations are authentic coach built cars.
Renowned American coach builders of the period included Darrin, Erdmann & Rossi, Derham, Fleetwood, Ghia, and LeBaron. Of note, the Fleetwood Metal Body Company of Fleetwood, PA produced custom bodies primarily for General Motors before being purchased by Detroit’s Fisher Body Company that was, in turn, bought by General Motors in 1925. At that point, it was renamed the Fisher Body Fleetwood Plant, and went on to create a number of low-production Cadillac models through 1960. Aside from hearses and ambulances built through the late-1970s, GM’s last coach built model was the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham of 1957-58 assembled by Fisher (shown above), and of 1959-60 built by the Italian firm Pininfarina.
Shown here, a coach built 1931 Chrysler CG Series roadster by Imperial
Founded in 1920, LeBaron Carrossiers created custom coachwork designs for Lincoln, Packard, Locomobile, Pierce-Arrow, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, Delage, Hispano-Suiza, and others. In 1927, LeBaron was bought by Detroit’s largest auto body builder Briggs – at which point it was relocated to Detroit to serve as its in-house design department. Briggs was a builder for Chrysler, Ford, Hudson, and Packard – with in-house LeBaron group producing some of its most noted designs for Chrysler before Chrysler purchased Briggs outright in 1953. The cachet of the LeBaron name lived on, however, and was applied to various production Chrysler models through 1995.
Chrysler Ghia concept cars from 1957 (left) and 1962 (right).
From Italy came big names like Pininfarina, Vignale, and Ghia. That last name had perhaps become best known in America for the 1955–1974 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia, or as a trim badge on 1970s Fords. Ghia, however, had an illustrious history that included building Chrysler concept cars and limited-production specials in the ’50s and ’60s.
MERCEDES – THEN AND NOW
This 1960 Bentley S2 was created for a customer who wanted a custom-built Mercedes station wagon, but was turned down by Mercedes-Benz. Bentley was happy to oblige, however, sending one of their chassis to coachbuilding firm “Wendler” who created a unique estate car by grafting elements of the Mercedes W112 300 body onto the Bentley chassis.
Above, you’ll see a 1960 Bentley S2 “Wendler” that was commissioned by an anonymous buyer in New York City. Because Mercedes refused to build a W112-generation station wagon in-period, the buyer decided to take matters into their own hands, commissioning this wagon custom-job from German coachbuilder Wendler Karosseriebau, a shop that was involved with making the bodywork for the Porsche 550 Spyder and 718 RSK. The result is a sort of Bentley-Mercedes hybrid, using several Mercedes-sourced panels and trim pieces (including the headlights) with a Bentley chassis and drivetrain underneath.
American firm Erdmann & Rossi created this coach built vehicle based on a 1936-38 Mercedes 500K model.
From Europe, there were German firms Karmann, Deitrich, Wendler, Baur and other smaller operations that specialized in European brands, particularly Mercedes-Benz. French firms of Saotchik, Gangloff and Figoni & Falaschi also built some fabulous bodies for Mercedes as well.
Pininfarina began with a 1955 Mercedes Adenauer sedan and created a custom, one-off pillarless coupe.
Some Stuttgart chassis destined for Great Britain were bodied by the well known English houses of Gurney Nutting and Freestone & Webb. Extravagant American bodies by Murphy of Pasadena, California or more conservative designs by Durham of Rosemont, Pennsylvania occasionally found there way onto Schwabian mechanicals as well.
Here, this one-off model started out as a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 sedan. It was coach built by Italian firm Pininfarina.
Back then Mercedes actually opened its own, in-house, coach building salon. Some of the most fashionable supercharged autobahn cruisers of the period carry the exclusive “Sindelfingen Karosserien Werke” badge.
More than one coachbuilding firm has fabricated station wagons out of 1980s Mercedes W126 body S-Class sedans.
I have actually seen two Bertone built Mercedes models: a 1956 300 coupe (pictured at the top of this article) and a 1963 230SL. Both have been on display at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in past years. But with a handful of exceptions, all postwar Mercedes, even those that were largely hand crafted, were series built. Station wagons fabricated from 1980-91 Mercedes W126 body S-Class sedans as well as convertibles based on 1980s coupes are some more modern examples of what I mean about series-built custom MB vehicles.
This coach-built, one-off “600 Royale” was built on a 2015 Mercedes W222 (2014-2020 S-class) platform. The design was inspired by various 1960s and 70s Mercedes models which featured upright grilles, chrome bumpers & trim, and vertical headlight assemblies. The Royale design includes supercar touches such as hood vents and headlight units sourced from Mercedes’ SLS AMG. According to those who have seen it, the build quality is remarkably high and must have required a serious cash outlay.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF CUSTOM COACHWORK
Across Europe the drab egalitarianism of the postwar era spelled the downfall of custom automotive coachwork. Furthermore, the change over to unit body monocoque construction made custom work problematic. By and large it was only in Italy that hand built aluminum bodies continued for a time to be fabricated for sports and grand touring machinery.
The 1980 Ferrari Pinin-19 4-door was initially conceived as a static design study for the 1980 Turin motor show, but somebody along the way thought it was a good idea to make it fully functional. A 5.0-liter 12-cylinder engine and manual transmission were borrowed from a 512 BB, and the car became the only official functioning 4-door made by Ferrari.
In recent decades, Ferraris have most commonly been the subject of coach-built conversions for rich sheiks such as the Sultan of Brunei and others. An example that jumps to mind are Ferrari 456M front-engine coupes transmogrified into 4-door sedans and wagons.
One more recent Ferrari model that’s seen a great deal of custom conversions by coach building firms was the front-engine Ferrari 456 – often transformed into sedans and wagons for super-rich Saudi princes.
Fast forward to today. The lean old days are long gone on the European continent. And the happy dream of a universal middle class society, conceived during the Eisenhower years, has been dashed on the hard rock of globalization.
What you’re looking at above is not AI-generated, it’s a one-off 1973 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Drophead Coupe built by Frua, presented at that year’s IAA show in Frankfurt. The car had been ordered by H.E. Consul Simon van Kempen and took 2 years to build. With its extended (or “exaggerated”) proportions, we feel the Phantom convertible may be the most American Rolls-Royce ever created.
On both sides of the Atlantic, and around the Pacific rim, there is a large, brash and self-assured upper class eager to assert its ascendancy. Surely the conspicuous consumption epitomized by custom automotive coachwork could not fail to reemerge. And so it has.
From L to R: 1992 Lorinser Mercedes S500, 2023 Saleen Mustang, and 2020 Alpina BMW 7-series.
Today’s custom coachbuilders go by the name of “tuners.” Companies like Saleen, Rousch, Brabus, Alpina, Carlsson, Dinan, Lorinser, and others modify vehicles mechanically and cosmetically to their customers’ specification. This allows today’s oligarchs to enjoy an exclusivity akin to that attained by the storied patrons of LeBaron, Glaeser, Touring, or James Young of old.
This 1997 Saab EX prototype was crafted by Per Ekstrøm, a car body expert from Oslo, Norway.
And just as in the 1930s, Mercedes has established its own in-house tuner, AMG. Like the old Sindelfingen Karosserien Werke, AMG produces tuned and tweaked autobahn cruisers for today’s carriage trade. Both a conveyance and a statement, these modified vehicles allow those with the scratch to address the eternal itch of personalized self expression.
So we once again affirm the old saw, “the more things change, the more things stay the same.” The limited supply of wonderful old custom built classics of the prewar era spawned the classic car restoration industry of today. In the year 2050, will the green at Pebble Beach be graced by vintage Carlsson starships, classic BMW Alpinas and old-timer Hammer Porsches? Perhaps only if some genius will figure out a way to restore hopelessly delaminated polymers and to rejuvenate fried, short-circuited black boxes…
1969 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia wheelPhoto: Genna Rae
1969 Volkswagen Karmann GhiaPhoto: Genna Rae
50s Calnevar aftermarket hubcaps shPhoto credit: T. Gorski
Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country wheel cover
Cadillac Eldorado painted wheel cover 1976-78Photo: Nate Smith
1974 - 1976 Lincoln Continental wheel coverPhoto credit: H. Carver
1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme rallye wheelPhoto: C. DeMarco
Chrysler 1980s painted wheel coverPhoto: O. Stein
13-inch General Motors color matched wheel 1975-80Photo: Valley Ride Styles
Audi TT RS wheelPhoto: Sean Connor
1994 - 1995 Mercedes E320 Cabriolet wheel
2012 Volkswagen Beetle 2.5 standard wheel
16-inch black steel Land Rover off-road wheelsPhoto credit: J. Getty
18-inch aluminum wheel on 2003 - 2004 Land Rover Discovery HSE
18 inch "Hurricane" aluminum wheel standard on 2002-2004 Discovery SE
1957 - 1958 Pontiac wire wheel cover(Photo credit: R. Ulrich)
1972 Mercedes 280SE 4.5 equipped with repro 15-inch alloy wheels(Photo credit: Sean Connor)
560SL 15-inch aluminum wheel
1981 Porsche 924 Carrera GT aluminum wheel
1978 Lincoln Mark V DJ blue wheel b(Photo credit: M. Garrett)
1979 Lincoln Mark V Collectors Series navy blue painted wheel(Photo credit: M. Garrett)
1969 Dodge Charger RT Hemi wheel with center hub cap
1953 Oldsmobile wire-wheel
2014 Jaguar XK RS GT wheel at the 2013 New York Auto Show(Photo credit: Sean Connor)
2014 Mercedes CLA45 AMG wheel at the 2013 New York Auto Show(Photo credit: Sean Connor)
2013 Subaru WRX concept wheel at the 2013 New York Auto Show
1952 Volkswagen wheelPhoto credit: L. Jacobs
1975 Pontiac Grand Ville rallye wheelPhoto credit: Sean Connor
1991 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham wire wheel cover
Dodge Charger all-black police car wheel a
Dodge Charger all-black police car wheel b
1963 Mercedes 230SL wheel at the 2013 June Jamboree in Montvale, NJPhoto: Sean Connor
1964 Mercedes 230SL wheel at the 2013 Mercedes-Benz June JamboreePhoto: Kristi Burns
Commentary – Customized Automotive Coachbuilding May Make A Return Just Yet…
This month, we’re starting off by turning the clock back 100 years to take a quick look at the automotive coachbuilding era that largely began in the 1920s, with a focus on Mercedes-Benz. If you’re not familiar with custom coach-built automobiles, these were vehicles that came to be when very wealthy folks had the ability to order a basic powertrain and chassis platform supplied by luxury marques such as Duesenberg, Mercedes, Packard, Rolls-Royce, and Lincoln.
Instead of being delivered to the customer, the basic chassis with running gear was forwarded to a bespoke coach builder who would create a unique, one-off body design and mate it to the chassis to form a complete working automobile. The prestige of having a “built just for me” ride was irresistible among the well-to-do during the gilded 1920s.
As Hagerty.com editor Aaron Robinson writes, “Coachbuilders delivered a few handmade bolides produced by irreplaceable craftsmen using ancient tools and techniques, while mass production harnessed unskilled labor and mechanized automation to deliver millions of identical vehicles at an affordable price.”
SOME AMERICAN EXAMPLES
Renowned American coach builders of the period included Darrin, Erdmann & Rossi, Derham, Fleetwood, Ghia, and LeBaron. Of note, the Fleetwood Metal Body Company of Fleetwood, PA produced custom bodies primarily for General Motors before being purchased by Detroit’s Fisher Body Company that was, in turn, bought by General Motors in 1925. At that point, it was renamed the Fisher Body Fleetwood Plant, and went on to create a number of low-production Cadillac models through 1960. Aside from hearses and ambulances built through the late-1970s, GM’s last coach built model was the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham of 1957-58 assembled by Fisher (shown above), and of 1959-60 built by the Italian firm Pininfarina.
Founded in 1920, LeBaron Carrossiers created custom coachwork designs for Lincoln, Packard, Locomobile, Pierce-Arrow, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, Delage, Hispano-Suiza, and others. In 1927, LeBaron was bought by Detroit’s largest auto body builder Briggs – at which point it was relocated to Detroit to serve as its in-house design department. Briggs was a builder for Chrysler, Ford, Hudson, and Packard – with in-house LeBaron group producing some of its most noted designs for Chrysler before Chrysler purchased Briggs outright in 1953. The cachet of the LeBaron name lived on, however, and was applied to various production Chrysler models through 1995.
From Italy came big names like Pininfarina, Vignale, and Ghia. That last name had perhaps become best known in America for the 1955–1974 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia, or as a trim badge on 1970s Fords. Ghia, however, had an illustrious history that included building Chrysler concept cars and limited-production specials in the ’50s and ’60s.
MERCEDES – THEN AND NOW
Above, you’ll see a 1960 Bentley S2 “Wendler” that was commissioned by an anonymous buyer in New York City. Because Mercedes refused to build a W112-generation station wagon in-period, the buyer decided to take matters into their own hands, commissioning this wagon custom-job from German coachbuilder Wendler Karosseriebau, a shop that was involved with making the bodywork for the Porsche 550 Spyder and 718 RSK. The result is a sort of Bentley-Mercedes hybrid, using several Mercedes-sourced panels and trim pieces (including the headlights) with a Bentley chassis and drivetrain underneath.
From Europe, there were German firms Karmann, Deitrich, Wendler, Baur and other smaller operations that specialized in European brands, particularly Mercedes-Benz. French firms of Saotchik, Gangloff and Figoni & Falaschi also built some fabulous bodies for Mercedes as well.
Pininfarina began with a 1955 Mercedes Adenauer sedan and created a custom, one-off pillarless coupe.
Some Stuttgart chassis destined for Great Britain were bodied by the well known English houses of Gurney Nutting and Freestone & Webb. Extravagant American bodies by Murphy of Pasadena, California or more conservative designs by Durham of Rosemont, Pennsylvania occasionally found there way onto Schwabian mechanicals as well.
Back then Mercedes actually opened its own, in-house, coach building salon. Some of the most fashionable supercharged autobahn cruisers of the period carry the exclusive “Sindelfingen Karosserien Werke” badge.
I have actually seen two Bertone built Mercedes models: a 1956 300 coupe (pictured at the top of this article) and a 1963 230SL. Both have been on display at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in past years. But with a handful of exceptions, all postwar Mercedes, even those that were largely hand crafted, were series built. Station wagons fabricated from 1980-91 Mercedes W126 body S-Class sedans as well as convertibles based on 1980s coupes are some more modern examples of what I mean about series-built custom MB vehicles.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF CUSTOM COACHWORK
Across Europe the drab egalitarianism of the postwar era spelled the downfall of custom automotive coachwork. Furthermore, the change over to unit body monocoque construction made custom work problematic. By and large it was only in Italy that hand built aluminum bodies continued for a time to be fabricated for sports and grand touring machinery.
In recent decades, Ferraris have most commonly been the subject of coach-built conversions for rich sheiks such as the Sultan of Brunei and others. An example that jumps to mind are Ferrari 456M front-engine coupes transmogrified into 4-door sedans and wagons.
Fast forward to today. The lean old days are long gone on the European continent. And the happy dream of a universal middle class society, conceived during the Eisenhower years, has been dashed on the hard rock of globalization.
On both sides of the Atlantic, and around the Pacific rim, there is a large, brash and self-assured upper class eager to assert its ascendancy. Surely the conspicuous consumption epitomized by custom automotive coachwork could not fail to reemerge. And so it has.
From L to R: 1992 Lorinser Mercedes S500, 2023 Saleen Mustang, and 2020 Alpina BMW 7-series.
Today’s custom coachbuilders go by the name of “tuners.” Companies like Saleen, Rousch, Brabus, Alpina, Carlsson, Dinan, Lorinser, and others modify vehicles mechanically and cosmetically to their customers’ specification. This allows today’s oligarchs to enjoy an exclusivity akin to that attained by the storied patrons of LeBaron, Glaeser, Touring, or James Young of old.
And just as in the 1930s, Mercedes has established its own in-house tuner, AMG. Like the old Sindelfingen Karosserien Werke, AMG produces tuned and tweaked autobahn cruisers for today’s carriage trade. Both a conveyance and a statement, these modified vehicles allow those with the scratch to address the eternal itch of personalized self expression.
So we once again affirm the old saw, “the more things change, the more things stay the same.” The limited supply of wonderful old custom built classics of the prewar era spawned the classic car restoration industry of today. In the year 2050, will the green at Pebble Beach be graced by vintage Carlsson starships, classic BMW Alpinas and old-timer Hammer Porsches? Perhaps only if some genius will figure out a way to restore hopelessly delaminated polymers and to rejuvenate fried, short-circuited black boxes…
-John