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The Isdera Imperator 108i is a low-volume German
sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...
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 below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...
, designed in his free time. Mercedes-Benz had no interest in putting the CW311 into production, so Schulz established his own engineering company, Isdera, to produce the car under his own brand. Isdera AG owns the trademarks to Imperator as separate brand.


Specifications and performance

Implementing a
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...
body upon a tubular steel spaceframe, 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. Inside, the car featured a luxurious interior and sourced many interior components from the
Porsche 928 The Porsche 928 is a front-engine, water-cooled grand touring car, grand touring 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 hatchback coupe manufactured and marketed by Porsche AG of Germany from 1977 to 1995 — across a single generation with an intermedia ...
.


Production


Introduction

The Imperator 108i was first unveiled to public at the
Geneva International Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show was an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show was hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon was organised by ...
in March 1984.


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.


End of production

Production ended in 1993, when the Isdera company itself went out of business. Total of thirty examples produced, of which 24 were the pre-facelift models. Reportedly, two of these thirty Imperator 108i were exported to
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
.


Gallery


Notes


References


External links

{{commons category Imperator 108i 1990s cars Cars introduced in 1984 Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars discontinued in 1993