Tuning Firm Puts an 80s Mercedes 190E Body on a 2010 Mercedes-AMG C63 Chassis and the Result is Amazing

They say matches are made in heaven; and after seeing this combination here, I feel it holds true even with automobiles. We have seen mods where puny cars get bumped with hundreds of extra horses. That seems old-fashioned now. Featured here is a body from the mid-eighties Mercedes-Benz 190E and the chassis and engine of the modern C63 AMG sedan - all blended together into one fine piece of automotive...art? Does the world deserve this car? Moniker’d the Frankenstein Benz, this may actually be a better love story than Twilight.

Ripped Apart For Something Even Better

Like I mentioned earlier, this is not just an engine mod. Piper Motorsport has ripped apart a current-gen C63 AMG, which costs upwards of $70,000 (and even more in S form.) It’s like taking the body of one car, soul of the other, and making a combination that has us drooling.

Piper Motorsport has been kind enough to share all the details on their Facebook page. "To make a long story short... the 190E will feature the engine, transmission, entire driveline, suspension, brakes, firewall, dash, electronics, and even the floor pan from the C63 AMG," is what the description of the detailed album comprising of 163 pictures reads. The album is immensely detailed and worth going through if you’re a keen enthusiast.

What Happened In The Five Years?

Let me tell you the story in brief. Piper Motorsport engineers built a customized jig to lift the body of the Mercedes 190E off its chassis. Once done, the company went on to separate the body of the C63 AMG from its body. Now, this was a tricky part since the C63 actually has a unibody chassis. But the team kept on it until the 190E’s body could fit onto the C63’s underpinning.

A lot of structural parts had to be chopped in order to get the two on board (quite literally!). The C63 is made up of an integrated roll cage and other internal reinforcements, that caused hinder while setting up the 190E’s body. The wheelbase was also made shorter. However, the dashboard fit in easily, and a center console was custom-built to accommodate the shifter of the seven-speed automatic transmission. The electrical stuff like that power window and the locking system switches were still intact, and connected to the C63 AMG’s original key fob. In terms of safety, new three-point (pun intended) belts, along with their seat brackets and mounting points were installed.

Drivetrain

Coming to the engine, the two cars are poles apart. Piper Motorsport had to fabricate the front-end from the scratch, relocate several of the oil coolers, and modify the A/C condenser and the brake master cylinder to fit everything under the stock hood. Modern Horspower and Borla parts were used to build the exhaust pipes. The complications went up a notch when the front suspension mounts had to be narrowed down by 20 mm on each side.

Hold on, it’s not done yet. The client demanded for this car to look like the 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II, a model built to take on the BMW M3 back then. So, 4 years into this process, the tuner added a body kit and spoiler to this beauty. The Frankenstein was spotted riding on DTM-style wheels designed by fifteen52. Post this, there was no update whatsoever for a year, until news sprung that the car had received a supercharger with a trunk-mounted cooler and the AMG C63’s panels. Just when it looked like the car was set to see the daylight, a few pictures surfaced the internet which showed that the interior was yet to be done.

Will We See It Anytime Soon?

Perhaps, that’s why we haven’t seen any test drive videos, or relevant scoops that add detail to the ongoing process. Heck, we don’t even have any performance related info. If the owner is reading this, kindly let the Frankenstein hit the roads as soon as possible. It already has a lot of fans all across the world.

From the pictures that you’ve already seen, did you like this combination? We love this old-school body with the heart of a young C63. What are your thoughts on the Frankenstein Benz? Share them in the comments section below.