1978 MERCEDES-BENZ 450 SEL UTE: THE SMALL GERMAN TRUCK OPTION?

Over a decade ago, Brian Lohnes referred to me as “The Patron Saint of Automotive Lost Causes”. He was referring to a 1981 Dodge Mirada CMX that I had purchased for a few hundred dollars to have as a knockaround fun car and the “adventure” I was having with my new toy. At the time, it was a lighthearted jab at my automotive picks, which usually feature unloved American cars of the 1970s. But it wasn’t like he was off the mark. I like the strange, the unappreciated, the vehicles that make even the most jaded in the automotive world stop and blurt out an expletive before their inner filter catches the word. This 1978 Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL ute conversion, which is available to own via Hemmings, is one of those vehicles. I’m not a Mercedes type. I’m not even a European vehicle type. But a Mercedes-Benz ute that is finished to a high standard? Okay, you have my attention.

The Mercedes W116-chassis 450 SEL is a solid choice, no question. The Freidrich Geiger-designed shape would set the pace for Mercedes design language through the 1990s. The 4.5-liter M117 V8 cranked out 190 horsepower (in U.S.-spec tune) and would’ve been backed by a three-speed automatic with 3.07:1 gears in the rear. Add in four-wheel disc brakes and a 0-60 time in the eight-second range, and the 450 SEL made for a great 1970s sedan. 

Knowing that, however, leads to a question: What happened to this car that earned it the ute treatment? There is no information to go on from the advertisement. There are no obvious signs of trauma that would explain what happened. Did a tree fall on the rear backlight? We can only guess at how this ute came together, but it appears that the rear quarter glass from the doors was retained and molded into place behind the B-pillar, a firewall was built behind the front seats, and every trace of the rear doors was filled in. 

The trunk lid was incorporated into a tonneau cover (that’s why the fitment looks spot-on correct) and the newly formed tray is finished in carpet. If you ignored the AMG SL 65-style wheels, the window switches for the rear doors on the console, and the exhaust tips, you could be forgiven for thinking that this was a factory one-off. It certainly fooled me, because I had to ask several people if they could shed light on the subject, just to make sure I was in the right.

What we have here is a custom one-off that looks factory -close, ready to go. Details like the grille (which, for some reason, seems strange to me) are up to interpretation, but the work is done and the car (ute, truck, whatever) looks ready to be driven to local car shows just to mess with the heads of enthusiasts. Not knowing the story, we don’t know if this car was cut up just to be cut up or if this was a way to save a car that had been wounded. Whatever the story is, the result stands on its own as the ute that Mercedes did not decide to build. And while I’m still not a Mercedes guy, this custom certainly qualifies as a strange vehicle that has my attention. Does it have yours?

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2026-02-03T13:47:27Z