When you're on a long road trip, you get used to certain sights, namely the regular cars that endlessly populate your field of view. However, sometimes a certain something can break the monotony and make you think to yourself "Did I just get goatse'd?" This ensemble of rally-ready insanity is exactly that.
After nearly causing an accident and giving my wife a heart attack by squealing like an 11-year old that just got re-tweeted by The Biebs, I stopped in my tracks to take pictures of this amazing specimen of backyard, and perhaps frontyard engineering. I then took to Facebook, asking if anyone in the area knew who this astonishing car belonged to, and after a short while, I had found my answer.
Devyn Roseman, an LA native, came up with this Baja blaster after realizing that a four-door Mercedes looks way cooler with a bull bar, lifted front suspension and ground off front fenders. The late '90s C220, according to him, has 4-inch extended control arms, long-travel shocks, 800 lb/in springs, extremely massive tie rods, a welded diff, a banging sound system, and a bumper made of angle iron that has literally saved his life on more than one occasion.
This just goes to show you that with a little bit of smarts, a little bit of cash, and a whole 'lotta why the hell not, you can have something that will not only make people literally stop in their tracks to take a picture, but give you the ride of your life on a daily basis. Devyn plans on installing a V8 engine into this aging German sedan, but not before he puts together some "mind blowing footage". In the meantime, here's a clip he put together, having the car do what it do, baby:
If you'd like to find your own Mad Max road monster, you can start here, or post your own insane finds/projects in the comments!
(Photo/Video Credit: Devyn Roseman, Tavarish)
Tavarish is the founder of APiDA Online and writes about buying and selling cool cars on the internet. He owns the world's cheapest Mercedes S-Class, a graffiti-bombed Lexus, and he's the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn't feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.
You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He won't mind.