This one-off S-Class wagon has the same engine as a Zonda

Did you know that Mercedes-Benz once built a small batch of custom S-Class wagons with a giant-V12 engine that was shared with a limited-edition Pagani Zonda? Us neither.

But, that’s exactly what they did in the late ‘90s, when the Sultan of Brunei – the head of state of the oil-rich nation and serial car collector – placed an order for fifteen of the original S73 T AMGs from Affalterbach.

TheDrive has done some digging on these custom mega-wagons and uncovered some very interesting nuggets of information.

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The S73 T AMG is the only-long roof to wear the S-Class badge, but is certainly more than worthy, thanks to the monstrous engine slotted under the bonnet.

The hand-built 48-valve M120 V12 engine originally had a 6.0-litre capacity, but for the S73 T this was bored out to 7.3-litres, good for an estimated 421kW and 740Nm fed through a five-speed automatic gearbox.

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Power was sent exclusively to the rear wheels, and the S73 T was able to haul ass to the tune of 300km/h+.

The Pagani Zonda S 7.3 would later be sold with the same engine.

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Starting life as a W140 S-Class sedan, Mercedes-Benz grafted a 600SEC coupe front end onto the nose, and custom wagon sheet metal and glass to the rear, to create the sleek styling.

Other tweaks for the S73 T included AMG specific suspension, 19-inch monobloc wheels, upgraded brakes and a sport exhaust.

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Oh, and they were built in right-hand drive.

At this point you are probably starting a Google search to try and track one down – don’t worry, we did the same.

However, it’s likely to be a long and fruitless search, with the Sultan’s S73 T’s likely lost to an indefinite entombing amongst his extensive abandoned collection. Rumour is that AMG might have some stashed away in a basement, but this hasn’t been confirmed.

The only wagon that we can think of to rival the S73 T is the McLaren F1-powered BMW E34 M5 Touring mule.

Time for a twin test, no?