SA-Built AMG Powered Mercedes Ponton Pickup Restomod is Too Cool

European and American companies have been producing lust-worthy restomods for quite some time. We have covered many of them on our website, as you can see at this link. One South African outfit has also got in on the act, building, what must be, the coolest Mercedes Ponton pickup restomod in the world.

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Mercedes Master

Morne Greeff is an old hand in the world of classic car, and particularly Mercedes-Benz, restorations. He learned his trade alongside his father before starting his very own outfit, Mo’s Restorations. The Jo’burg company has earned a reputation for producing restoration work of exceptionally high quality. As a result the small panel shop has earned plenty of silverware for its efforts along the way.

Contact Mo’s Restorations for all your classic car restoration needs.

Only for SA

The Mercedes-Benz W120 is widely known as the ‘Ponton’. The name referring to its advanced, for the time, construction technique. The same series also spawned a bakkie, or pickup if you are reading this outside of SA, version. These bakkies were converted from sedans only for the South African market. There were a few hundred of them running around SA at a time. It is estimated that less than 100 still exist. The Ponton bakkies were powered by a naturally aspirated diesel engines as they were based on the 180D sedan.

A First Attempt

Greeff keeps his eye on the Mercedes classic car space. A few years ago he started to buy up Ponton bakkies and keep them at this workshop. When the time was right he dipped his toe into the restomod game to create the vehicle you see here. The Mercedes Ponton pickup restomod has been restored to Mo’s Restorations’ usually high standard.

Not Your Average Bakkie

But a good restoration was not the goal, there is also the modification aspect. The original engine just wouldn’t do for this project. Greeff looked within the AMG family and settled on a Mercedes-AMG A45 powertrain. Yep, you read that right. The Mercedes Ponton pickup restomod is powered by the company’s well-known turbocharged 2,0-litre engine. The engine is still standard. As a result it still delivers 280 kW and 475 N.m of torque, in other words, a truck-load more than the original bakkie’s 40-odd kW.

In fact, the revitalised Ponton body was grafted onto the donor car. As a result, the inline four is paired with its factory fitted dual-clutch transmission. The seven-speed unit still sends power to all four wheels through the A45’s driveline – how cool. If you take a peek inside you will note that the A45 interior has been transplanted into the new project. The bakkie has the full interior treatment from the hot hatch. This includes the facia, steering with paddle shifters, infotainment system and HVAC controls. Even the door cards with electric window switches were installed.

The vehicle pictured above did not stick around very long and was snapped up by a Mercedes-Benz collector. As a result Greeff and his team are already working on a second, similar, vehicle which they plan to hold on to… but just for a little, until the next client arrives. If you are keen to own one of these excellent restomods, drop Morne an e-mail on [email protected] and/or check out more of the company’s handiwork on their Facebook page.