From far back in 1971 to its closure, the German tuning studio Hartge was modernizing of BMW, MINI, and Range Rover cars. The Hartge brothers became famous for their wild engine replacements, which consisted of taking massive engines from larger BMWs, tweaking them, and then customizing them to smaller models.
Hartge pushed the technical boundaries of what was possible while giving fantastic attention to detail. But did you know that Hartge once put a BMW M88 engine in a Mercedes-Benz 300E generation W124? Yes, the brothers did it only once and called the car Frankenstein Hartge F1. It happened in 1988 when car refiners decided that the Mercedes-Benz 300E chassis of the W124 generation would be a good fit for the in-line 6-cylinder BMW M88 engine. Yes, you read that correctly: Mercedes-Benz is equipped with a competing engine, which installed in the BMW M1, M635CSi, and M5 E28.
So, the stock E300 lost its heart and instead got a tightly tuned BMW engine. It was increased from 3453 cm3 to 3545 cm3. From the 6-series E24, he got a gearbox. As a result, it reached 330 hp. And 350 Nm of torque. To the first hundred, the 124th accelerated in 6 seconds, and the top speed exceeded 300 km / h. Hartge also reviewed the undercarriage, installing a Bilstein sports suspension for improved handling. The interior has also been updated with new wood trims on the dashboard, center console, and front doors, and sports seats wrapped in custom upholstery have been installed in the car. The cake on the cake was the Hartge wheel.
Many consider Hartge F1 to be the pinnacle of German company creation, and this is hard to argue with. After all, we're talking about one of the most iconic Mercedes-Benz sedans fitted with one of BMW's most popular engines. On June 24-27 2020, this machine will be auctioned at RM Sotheby's Essen. The vehicle comes with a set of documents and papers that prove its authenticity.