This car, a Imperator 108i, can trace its DNA back to the CW311, a project he worked upon in tandem with the German Tuning House, BB (Ranier & Dieter Buchmann) back in 1978, which was the spiritual successor to Mercedes own Wankel-engined C111 of 1969. Taking control of both project and company in 1984, Schulz first introduced the 108i at the Geneva Salon the same year along side his already well received Spyder 033.

At a little under 14ft long, this is not one of those massive and unwieldy cars; (I've included a photo next to the Delorean for size comparison) nor is it a heavy weight, being just 1350 kgs. Power from this 5.0 Litre V8 32 valve unit is 330 bhp which is transferred via the tried and tested ZF 5 Speed gearbox to immense 345/35x15 BBS alloys; we're talkng sub 5 seconds for the 0-60 dash and something approaching a 180 mph top speed, so propelling this car into real super car performance league...now remember this was 32 years ago, quite phenomenal!

Our red car here, TEX 4, was the 17th Imperator built and the first to adopt the 32-valve 5 Litre V8 Mercedes Benz engine. Interestingly, from this first batch, only 3 went for export, one each to Japan and USA and this actual car, being the sole UK market example. After a six month build, # 02017 was delivered and registered in January 1991 to the evidently patient Ex-Formula One Driver Mike Thackwell.

Subsequently disappearing into a private collection, it was not to emerge again until the current owner secured its purchase in 2007. He's a good friend of mine and actively uses his cars, rightly believing its best to drive them as intended and is not one for 'Show Queens', which is endorsed by the 3500 km's on the Isdera odometer, all covered by himself on regular European jaunts.

It has formed part of an eclectic mix of wonderful machinery, including a Dino, an immaculate Elan DHC, a highly original Lotus 47, various early Porsches and a Crayford Riley Elf convertible!! He likes all of his kit to be spot on and so the Isdera returned to the factory for an thorough and expensive recommissioning. Mr Schulz's 25 page invoice (which included an Autobahn road test at 175 mph) and the ensuing 60,000 Euro cost is fully detailed in the large history file, which includes the original UK order and build blueprints. Please note current UK registration number is not included in the sale.

With just 17 Series one cars built from a total production run of 30 units, these 'hand-made' machines rarely appear for sale. It would be a pleasure to answer any further questions you might have. This ISDERA can be inspected at my Guildford showroom - do please call me directly 07788 865700.