GTP Cool Wall: 1984-1993 Isdera Imperator 108i

1984-1993 Isdera Imperator 108i


  • Total voters
    87
  • Poll closed .
Are those precursor to Murcielago headlights?

The car looks cluttered and stuck in a certain decade.

Uncool.
 
Mixed feelings with this... thing...

It is a car you'll notice on the streets... but will be followed by a "The 🤬 is that?" right away...

Meh.
 
Cool because no one has even heard of the damn thing.

Oh, and '70s styling.
 
Apart from the quirky window shapes and clearly dated rear end, I think its styling is close to timeless, or ahead of its time. It's a supercar with old-school values (5-speed manual, modest power relative to today) and it looks awesome, but its lack of impact or truly meaningful history keep it from reaching SZ. I vote Cool.

I first thought it was related to that wankel-engined prototype M-B was toying with, but that was the C111 that LivingWithGames mentioned. I think this is way more attractive.
 
"Why does your 1970s Not!Mercedes supercar vision of the future with Mercedes SL rear lights have a silly-looking periscope when it has a conventional rear mirror anyway?"

"I... uh..."

Uncool.
 
It is dedinitely a cool-looking supercar, but it's a Countach knockoff. And despite a mere 30-unit run, four different engines were available? What the 🤬 is the point, give them all the 420 hp engine- but that's still not much, especially considering it's 6.0 liters...

Dang it, I should have voted after I wrote this... Seriously Uncool, although I did vote meh.

Edit: Just noticed it has a center-driver's seat, that brings it back to a meh.
 
The 420 HP engine wasn't a thing when they started building them. The 235 HP engine was probably the best V8 Mercedes had at the start of production, and they decided to share better engines as they becane available.
 
Peace_symbol.svg
 
It has a periscope. A PERISCOPE. Gotta be sub-zero. On a more serious note, the fact that it was such a seriously limited production car from a relatively unknown manufacturer, combined with its bonkers concept-car looks, means that most people who see it will just say "WHAT THE 🤬 IS THAT?!?!?" How can something so niche, so unknown, and so strikingly different be anything other than sub-zero?
 
"It looks ridiculous!!"
I think that adds to it though. Yes, it is ridiculous, and frankly, the periscope and gullwings are pointless gimmicks, but I think it's cool when a car manufacturer basically decides to go mad and not design something safe. I think, for instance, the Renault Avantime is a fantastically cool car. It has that sense of just being different and odd, and that, to me, is cool.
 
give them all the 420 hp engine- but that's still not much, especially considering it's 6.0 liters...

wat

You're bitching about the smog choked 70s (that even most European cars didn't even escape) horsepower rating when your 4.2L V6 in your pickup makes a whopping 200 horsepower? But it's only 4.2 liters...

But you don't sit here and complain that 7.5L V8's only were rated 375hp in some muscle cars...
 
wat

You're bitching about the smog choked 70s (that even most European cars didn't even escape) horsepower rating when your 4.2L V6 in your pickup makes a whopping 200 horsepower? But it's only 4.2 liters...

But you don't sit here and complain that 7.5L V8's only were rated 375hp in some muscle cars...

Don't know where your 70's argument is coming from; this car started production in '83.

I judge cars based on what they are, and how much power they should have. I say muscle cars should have between 275 and 400 horsepower, as too little would make the car slow and too much just isn't right for a FR vehicle. A supercar trying to match the might of the Countach should have more power than the original engine of the Isdera had. Plus, I simply don't care very much about classic muscle cars.

I've never bragged about my truck's horsepower on GTPlanet, but it is more like 210. And yes, I would like more power, but I don't want to tamper with it's aging engine.
 
Don't know where your 70's argument is coming from; this car started production in '83.

'83 is typically still considered part of the malaise era.

I've never bragged about my truck's horsepower on GTPlanet, but it is more like 210. And yes, I would like more power, but I don't want to tamper with it's aging engine.
No one said you did. But I find it funny that you complain about how it's "underpowered" yet you drive something that Europeans would typically consider to be well underpowered.

That said, lets not drag this further off topic shall we?
 
'83 is typically still considered part of the malaise era.


No one said you did. But I find it funny that you complain about how it's "underpowered" yet you drive something that Europeans would typically consider to be well underpowered.

That said, lets not drag this further off topic shall we?

Lower-powered engines in a pickup have a point because it makes them less expensive. My truck had no options, and was the cheapest on the lot, which is why my grandfather first bought it, for less than $19,000.

On the other hand, there's no reason for a supercar to have that little power. I'm no expert on the Isdera but I'm guessing having the smallest engine didn't affect the pricetag very much.
 
I'm no expert on the Isdera but I'm guessing having the smallest engine didn't affect the pricetag very much.

Between the two relatively standard Mercedes V8 engines pulled out of the contemporary S-Class? Probably not; though again the Imperator debuted several years before the 560SEC engine did.



For the handbuilt highly modified versions of those same engines that AMG debuted in the late 1980s for use in the Hammer? Probably a bit of a price differential there, yeah.
 
Is the '03 F-150 the new Sunbird or can we talk about a mid-engined Mercedes powered sports concept super car thing?
 
Cool. Unusual styling, nice V8 with good specs, and just an amazing sound.

The ONLY thing that it keeps it from going into the Sub-Zero section is that the Commendatore 112 is a better looking car in general.
 
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