1991 Isdera Imperator 108i Coupe

Automotive designer Eberhard Schulz began his automotive career with Porsche, who had been impressed with his hand-built prototype, the Erator GTE. A second prototype was built in his spare time with styling inspired by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. Schulz left Porsche in the early 1970s and joined with tuner, Rainer Buchmann, to form B&B GmbH & Co Auto KG, where the duo pioneered the development of the CW311. Leaving B&B in 1982, Schulz founded Isdera.

The Isdera Company provided small-scale production vehicles, design and engineering services. In 1984, two years after its founding, the company introduced the Imperator 108i, based on the original CW311 project. The Imperator 108i was produced for nine years and 30 examples were created with various design changes and V-8 engines sourced from Mercedes-Benz. The tubular steel spaceframe chassis was wrapped with a bonded fiberglass body and had exotic gullwing doors. The front suspension had double wishbones, and the rear utilized upper and lower transverse links. At all four corners were coil springs and disc brakes.

The Isdera Imperator 108i offered supercar performance to match its exotic design, with 60 mph reached from a standstill in 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 175 mph.

Chassis Number W09108215KWJ02021
This Isdera Imperator 108i is a Series 2 example that is distinguished from the earlier cars by its pop-up headlamps, a larger front grille opening, vents above the front wheel arches, softer bodylines, and an offset NACA duct on the hood. The Series I cars had their exhaust exit from the rear, while the Series II exited just ahead of the right rear wheel.

This left-hand drive example has a silver exterior with a black leather interior. It is powered by a code M119 fuel-injected, 32-valve V-8 engine with approximately 300 horsepower and mated to a five-speed ZF manual transmission. The odometer currently shows 1,912 kilometers.

Provenance
This Isdera Imperator 108i Series 2 was originally owned by an individual from Japan. In 2016, the car was registered in the United Kingdom, and shortly thereafter was sold to an entity in Germany. A partial restoration courtesy of MePoPres F. Ulbricht GmbH soon commenced. In 2021, the Isdera entered the collection of the current owner.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2024