Raised to the highest level of luxury, the car, to which even the most finicky oil sheikhs will click in approval, is a rolling palace. This was more or less the goal of the Gemballa 1001SEL built from the Mercedes-Benz W126, which we still stare at with wide eyes today.
Because the sight is stunning, the car, which is capable of the basic 500 SEL, is sculpted by Gemballa and advertises wealth in many places, it has decorative inserts with 24-carat gold on the outside, Remotec rims, and the paintwork is twelve layers.
The real show begins inside, which was found in a modern living room of the time, and is not missing here either. It featured custom seats covered in the softest possible leather, two televisions, one for each row, which included a VCR if one wanted to watch their own movies. Hi-fi could optionally be Pioneer or Clarion, but only the best kind, with radio, CD and cassette player.
Today, you have it all in a cell phone, but this car was built in 1985, when even a CD player was a rarity. Between the two rear seats, there is a minibar waiting for champagne, the fold-out, original wooden tables are operated by motors, and the designers also thought of the female passengers, there is an illuminated make-up mirror in the headrests of both front seats.
The latest VHS action movies could be enjoyed on the TVs
At that time, controls installed on the steering wheel were not considered common either, and the driver could also control the hi-fi system from there. At the time, such a system required a lot of space, so the trunk was practically occupied by the electronics that belonged to the many gadgets. Its current price would be HUF 150 million, at that time they asked for HUF 350,000. The factory Mercedes 79,000 was only a West German brand.
A copy of the rare machine can currently be seen in Abu Dhabi, in the Emirates National Car Museum.
