There’s an Audi 6 inches off my rear bumper. I have to think if the driver had any idea what this car cost—approximately 12 times what his run-of-the-mill A6 went for—he’d back the hell off. To him, it’s just an old car, probably too slow to get out of its own way, much less his. Or maybe it’s being driven by a retiree with nowhere to go and all day to get there. Or some self-absorbed young punk who doesn’t care he’s blocking up the passing lane with his 1971 Mercedes-Benz SEL 300 6.3.

In point of fact, it’s actually a Mercedes SEL 300 6.2 crafted by Icon, if he’d bothered to read the subtle custom badge on the trunk and had any idea what it meant. Were he situationally aware beyond the scope of his own personal situation, he might also have noticed the photographer hanging out the window of the car next to it and perhaps figured out what was going on.

No matter. He quickly learned what the 6.2 stands for, just as the guy on the sport bike did back on the on-ramp as the 638-hp, 51-year-old luxury sedan suddenly disappeared into the distance ahead of him.

It’s the stance. No all-original vehicle from the ’70s sits this low on its wheels.

Icon’s vehicles always have a tell, but they’re getting more difficult to spot. If you’re not an expert on these somewhat obscure luxury sedans, you’d never notice this 1971 Mercedes-Benz SEL 300 Derelict has been rebuilt from the ground up.

Icon owner and founder Jonathan Ward has never, in our many…