Isdera Commendatore 112i
- 1999
- 9.694 km
- Chassisnumber 1
- CH registration
- CH & EU taxes paid
- Sold
The first Commendatore sold by the Isdera factory, this particular automotive time capsule was registered in Germany on the 11th of January 1999 before it was sold to a Mr. Albert Klöti from Basel, Switzerland. Since 2005 she has been part of an important private carcollection.
This masterpiece of ingenious German engineering machinery, has just undergone a complete service, comes with a new Controle Technique (Swiss MoT) and Emission Control certificat, is full roadworthy, and easy to register in the EU. Please also note that the car has already been subject to European Union taxes.
After the successful Isdera Imperator 108i, Eberhard Schulz started working on another project: "the Commendatore 112i". It took almost 6 years, until 1993, and USD 4 Million to develop this fully hand-built high-performance supercar.
Built in Leonberg, Germany and based on designs produced by Schulz and his sons it was completed as a pre-production prototype which had to be followed by a limited series with a salesprice of USD 450.000.
The sleek bodywork was hand-built and featured a roof mounted, periscope-style rear view mirror. The shape is somewhat reminiscent of the legendary long-tail racers of Le Mans. In the Mercedes-Benz wind tunnel, the Commendatore 112i had a Cd value of 0.306.
Many of the mechanical components are borrowed from Mercedes-Benz while the styling drew inspiration from Porsches racing program, such as the Porsche 968 and 917. Wheels, suspension and complete brakesystem all have been borrowed from the Porsche 928 GTS, while the headlights come from the 968.
The gullwing doors were matched by gullwing engine covers hiding a Mercedes-Benz 6L, V12 engine. Producing about 408hp at 5200 rpm and 580 Nm at 3600 rpm. The Commendatore 112i could go from 0-100 km in 4.7 seconds, capable of reaching a top speed of 343 km/h.
All that power was sent to the rear wheels by a Getrag six-speed manual transmission borrowed from Porsche's 911 Turbo. Schulz has made extensive modifications to fit the manual transmission to the engine. He also enlisted the help of Bosch to adapt the engine's electronics.
It requires a little bit of gymnastics to climb over the two extremely wide door sills (both of which house fuel tanks). Once inside, the driver is faced with Mercedes instrumentation altered to read up to 400 km/h. The Commendatore 112i weighs 1,550 kg.
To improve handling at speed, the car is equipped with a velocity-sensitive electronic chassis which lowers the car three inches at speed. An active air brake and active suspension are standard as well.
The low drag-body and flat underfloor showed the world that Isdera was capable of producing a cutting-edge aerodynamic design with a low drag coefficient which creates considerable downforce. Under braking the rearwing shifts to an ulmost upright position, serving as a powerful airbrake.
In Italian, Commendatore means "Knight Commander", a title being used when one is awarded knighthood in Italy. Interestingly, Enzo Ferrari's nickname was "Il Commendatore". Some say that the Commendatore 112i was named in honor of Enzo Ferrari, "the monk of Maranello" or "the Pope of motor racing".
112i can have more meanings. One is that it reveals the number of cylinders of the engine. Or the number could be borrowed from the 1991 Mercedes-Benz C112 concept.
The Commendatore is one of the most mysterious supercars of our time. The one-of prototype is such a rare sight, that photos, outside of the shots from the car's release during the 1993 Frankfurt Auto Show, are hard to come by. The 112i also features in the 1997 video game "Need for Speed II".
Since Schulz was particularly experienced at creating advanced prototypes, it was finished as a fully drivable and roadworthy machine. Unfortunately, before any production Commendatores were made, Isdera went bankrupt and the remainder of the company was sold to a group of Swiss investors.
However in the late 90's this group of investors decided to revive the commendatore and had the idea to rename it "Silver Arrow". The car would share the same body and chassis as the 1993 Commendatore 112i with minor modifications. But before production came off the ground the dream was over again.
Like all Isdera sports cars, the Commendatore is also fully equiped to travel, including a temporary spare wheel, 200 liters of luggage space, standard air conditioning and a 120-liter fuel tank. And unlike its competitors, the C112i is very compact and measures only 4.66 m long, 1.88 m wide and 1.04 m high.
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