The Isdera Imperator 108i was a low-volume German
sports car
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
produced from 1984 to 1993. The Imperator 108i was born out of the
Mercedes-Benz CW311 concept car from 1978, which Eberhard Schulz, who at the time worked as a design engineer for
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
, designed in his free time. Mercedes-Benz had no interest in putting the CW311 into production, so Schulz established his own engineering company,
Isdera
Isdera AG or ''Ingenieurbüro für Styling, Design und Racing'' (English: Engineering Company for Styling, Design and Racing) is a privately run German specialty automaker and design service provider based in Saarwellingen, with a design studio in ...
, to produce the car under his own brand.
Specifications and performance
Implementing a
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
body upon a tubular steel
spaceframe
In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with ...
, the Isdera Imperator 108i was comparable to the exotic sports cars of its day. Little was changed from the original Mercedes-Benz show car with the most noticeable changes being the replacement of the pop-up headlights with two fixed units and more conventional tail lights sourced from Mercedes-Benz. The original Imperator 108i featured a
Mercedes-Benz M117 V8 engine which gave the vehicle a top speed of and a acceleration time of 5.0 seconds. As Mercedes-Benz developed more powerful V8 engines, they were used in the Imperator 108i. Later engines included a
Mercedes-Benz M117 V8, a
AMG V8 and a
AMG V8 which saw an eventual increase of power from to , with both AMG engines featuring advanced 32-valve cylinder heads.
Unusually, the Imperator 108i featured a rear-view
periscope
A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position.
In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
in place of conventional rear view mirrors which gave the driver the rear view, creating a bulge on the roof. It also featured
gullwing doors
In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car in 1952 ( W194), and then a ...
.
Inside, the car featured a luxurious interior and sourced many interior components from the
Porsche 928
The Porsche 928 is a luxury grand tourer produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 until 1995. Originally intended to replace the company's iconic 911, the 928 combined the power, poise, and handling of a sports car with the refinement, comfort ...
.
Model year changes
In 1991, the car received a face-lift which saw the return of the pop-up headlamps from the 1978 show car and a more curvaceous body shape, additional vents at the front near the doors, NACA duct on the front in place of three vents, redesigned front grille and repositioning of turning indicators from the front grille to the bottom of the headlamps along with optional wing mirrors. Around 17 cars were produced with the face lift design.
Production
Production ended in 1993 with a total of thirty examples produced, two of which were exported to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
Gallery
References
External links
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Imperator 108i
1990s cars
Cars introduced in 1984
Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Cars discontinued in 1993