The Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.8 AMG ‘Rote Sau’ (Red Pig) is one of the marque’s best-known touring cars and the brand’s former design chief has shared his 21st-century reimagining of this famous race car for the first time.
Gorden Wagener describes it as an ‘unseen showcar’ [sic] on his Instagram page, inspired by the 1971 109-series SEL, but brought up to date by employing several recent Mercedes-Benz design cues.
These include a chrome version of the ‘Iconic Grille’, which was introduced in October 2025 with the Vision Iconic concept and the new GLC, plus the three-pointed stars in the headlights.
AMG’s 300SEL 6.8 finished second at Spa in July 1971
The car’s overall more rounded shape than its ’70s predecessor immediately lends it a contemporary feel, while there’s a hint of the earlier Ponton in the treatment of the rear wheelarches.
The AMG-prepared original claimed the tuner’s first major motorsport success, at 1971’s 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
At the time, AMG was still an independent company so without factory backing it transformed the S-Class limo into a formidable racer.
