About Isdera

Isdera was founded in 1981 by Eberhard Shulz, a former Porsche and Mercedes-Benz designer. Schulz had presented his CW311 concept to Mercedes-Benz in 1979 but it was never greenlit for production. Refusing to let the design die, he secured baking to build it himself under his own brand – the result: the Isdera Imperator 108i. It became Isdera’s most famous model, alongside the Commendatore

The Imperator

The Imperator had Isdera’s largest production volume with 30 examples produced between 1984 and 1993. This specific example is one of just thirteen of their Series 2 models produced. It features pop-up headlights, a larger front grille, and vents above the front wheel arches. The exhaust was re-routed ahead of the right rear wheel for a more aggressive profile.

It’s powered by a 5.0-liter Mercedes-Benz M119 V-8 paired with a five-speed ZF manual transmission. It produced 300 horsepower and claims a top speed of 175mph and a 5.1 second run to 60 mph. It is built on a tubular steel spaceframe with a fiberglass body and features double wishbone suspension with coil springs and disc brakes on all four corners.

This particular car was originally delivered to Japan. It was later registered in the UK in 2016 before moving to German where it was partially restored by MePoPres F. Ulbricht GmbH. It is now part of a private collection here in the United States.