A Bulgarian tuner has chromed and marooned a V12 W140 Merc S-Class

A Bulgarian tuner by the name of Vilner has given an old Mercedes-Benz saloon a good going over using lots of chrome, carbon und maroon. Meet Vilner Garage’s W140 S-Class.

A fine, fine saloon to begin with. Not that you’d remember. Blighted by development delays, spiralling costs, the arrival of the BMW E38’s mighty V12 and cheaper Japanese offerings like the Lexus LS, the big, heavy, awkwardly styled Merc had its work cut out when it arrived back in 1991.

But keen Mercedes enthusiasts reckon this was the last true 'engineer's' Benz. So, a fine, fine saloon to begin with. To this W140 S600 L, Vilner attached lots of leather and Alcantara to “every inch of the interior” in a shade it's calling ‘barn red’. So maroon-y, then.

There’s also some forged carbon thrown in there too, while the seats feature Vilner’s own embossed, hand-crafted pattern.

There’s no word on what’s been done to the W140’s monster 6.0-litre V12 – a riposte to BMW stealing Merc’s thunder when that E38 was launched – but from these pics it looks… clean. And with a sneaky little K&N filter tucked on. Small wonder that this would go on to literally power Pagani.

“The W140 has become not merely a restored automobile, but a new interpretation of grandeur,” said Vilner. How would you restore your dream W140? And you can’t all say ‘by selling it and getting a W126 instead’…