Birth of the Red Baron (1983)

This one-off AMG S-Class was built for William "Wild Bill" Witz of Skokie, Illinois, a larger-than-life figure with an equally outsized presence in AMG's early American story. A significant shareholder in Richard Buxbaum's AMG distributorship, and close friend of AMG boss Hans Werner Aufrecht, Wild Bill best understood the desires and service expectations of the brand's customers because he was one.

In March 1983, Wild Bill placed an order to Affalterbach for this 500 SEL. The specification sheet read like a manifesto against restraint; Witz family photographs confirm that the result was exactly the opposite of ‘unassuming’.

Clad in a distinctive Orient Red exterior that inspired its nickname, the Red Baron's original suite of aesthetic delights included a full AMG aero kit, color-matched 16-inch Penta wheels, AMG-Bilstein 'computerized' sport suspension system, and monochrome trim package painted in body color. AMG partner Gemballa tailored the Red Baron's interior with extended palomino leather upholstery, bespoke red piping, contrast stitching, rear curtains, and custom door cards. A Clarion G80 stack fitted to the center console controlled an AMG-stalled sound system, while an integrated phone guaranteed that Witz could organize a table at his favorite nightclub, en route.

To excite Witz’s lead foot, the original 5.0-liter V-8 engine was supplied with an AMG tuning kit and complete sports exhaust system. Photographed professionally for the AMG catalogue prior to shipment, this SEL arrived in Chicago on 2 June 1983 and was delivered to Witz on 6 September 1983 following federalization.

For a man whose automotive appetite was legendarily insatiable, the fact that Witz kept the Red Baron for three whole years constituted something approaching fidelity.

The Fingold Era (1986-1992)

On 25 November 1986, Witz traded the car back to AMG North America. With a single phone call, Buxbaum sold it to AMG super-client, Canadian industrialist J. Paul Fingold for $63,449 (approximately $187,000 in 2026 dollars).

Fingold maintained an interesting arrangement with his automobiles. He registered them in Ontario, stored them in Palm Beach, and moved them with regularity between various properties scattered across the United States and Canada.

Here the documentary evidence becomes frustratingly sparse.

Buxbaum's meticulous business records on the car conclude with that November 1986 transaction. What transpired thereafter, how the Red Baron evolved from Witz's specification into its present form, who performed the work and when, remained obscure for nearly four decades. That the transformation occurred in period is not in question, yet documentation is presently missing, and many [more accurate to say some?] of those who may have played a role have since passed.

Three establishments possessed both the capability and the connection to Fingold. AMG Canada maintained operations in Toronto. AMG North America continued in Chicago. And by 1989, Hartmut Feyhl had established his own practice in Florida. Feyhl brought impeccable credentials to the matter: development engineer at AMG, and former Chief Technical Officer under Buxbaum at AMG North America.

Ask any of them today what they remember doing for Fingold and you get vague recollections at best, most often due to the sheer volume and frequency of cars within the man’s international coterie of customized automobiles.

Even Buxbaum and other former AMG NA employees couldn't piece it together reliably. However, recent evidence has rescued some of the story from oblivion.

The Transformation

As was Fingold’s habit, the Red Baron was immediately sent to Ontario. While there, Eddy Lai of AMG Canada is believed to have been responsible for subsequently servicing the car and applying several updates such as removing the original rear curtains, adding a Clifford alarm system (since deactivated), modifying and reinstalling the original AMG color-matched metric gauge suite, which Buxbaum's team removed during federalization in 1983. Importantly, the odometer and speedometer do still measure 'in miles' (indicating Fingold’s intentions for road use in Florida and Canada).

During this period, Lai's team would have executed a complete conversion to the USA-homologated Gen-II AMG styling package which the Red Baron still wears today. The quality of the work remains outstanding despite the passage of time, and of note is the extremely rare, USA-only, SEC-type front spoiler.

Evidence suggests that sometime in late 1987, Fingold returned this car to Chicago and demanded an engine upgrade. Tracing the serial number of the engine which served as the basis for this upgrade has revealed it to be a US-spec unit sourced from an Illinois-registered 560 SEL that crashed during December 1986 at just 2,300 miles. Consistent with this, one might reason that the engine would have been modified not in Canada, Florida, or Germany—but in Chicago at AMG NA. The most likely culprit, however, is actually a bit more interesting.

Several details point to the involvement of legendary mechanic John Hadjuk at Motorkraft in Noblesville, Indiana, in the undertaking of the substantial engine work. From 1986 until 1992, Hadjuk served as AMG North America's principal supplier for what the organization diplomatically termed "special wishes" components. Although Buxbaum’s outfit almost exclusively used complete engines sent by Affalterbach, occasionally, certain commissions required Hadjuk’s involvement for bottom-end work. This engine would have been a very likely candidate for his involvement.

In any case, the engine was bored to 6.0 liters and fitted with rebalanced internals, while AMG NA technicians ported-and-polished the cylinder heads while retaining the stock valvetrain and camshafts. AMG NA technicians also carried over all requisite electronics and accessory systems (with tuning) for the 117.968 unit, including Bosch KE fuel injection, EZL relays, and a re-valved 772.313 transmission taken from a 560 SL donor car. They also fabricated a new sports exhaust system which feeds the original AMG muffler. Large-diameter aluminum intake pipes significantly increased the engine airflow over stock.

Following this drivetrain conversion, the Red Baron was returned to Florida. Fehyl continued to service the car from early 1989 until March 1991, when Fingold returned it to Canada for the remainder of his ownership tenure.

Interestingly, it remains unknown whether Lai or Feyhl is responsible for the Red Baron’s most novel party trick—a hidden auxiliary fuel tank with the sender unit ingeniously modified so the fuel gauge accurately displays the many gallons of additional capacity.

The Quiet Years (1992-2023)

Paperwork indicates that Fingold kept the Red Baron until 25 June 1992, when he sold it to his jeweler, Harvey Hauer of Gormley, Ontario. Lai maintained the car for Hauer during his ownership, which only lasted until 23 November 1994. At that point, Hauer sold the Red Baron (with 27,958 miles on it) to Gordon Weaver of Carson City, Nevada. Weaver paid an importer based in Virginia to get the car stateside, after which he registered it in his home state.

The Red Baron remained Weaver's weekend 'fun' car, driven sparingly but always enjoyed—until 2002 when he moved to California and put the car in storage. Amazingly, this fascinating SEL remained off the road until June 2023, when it was pulled out of storage by the Weaver family with just 39,750 miles on the odometer! Unfortunately, any remaining AMG Canada, AMG NA, or RENNtech paperwork was lost amidst Weaver's move from Nevada to California during the early 2000's.

Resurrection and Reunion (2024-2026)

After a mutual party connected Buxbaum and "Wild Bill" Witz with the Weaver family, the Red Baron's initial history was reconstructed from November 1986 all the way back to March 1983.

Despite significant uncertainty about the car’s evident specification, source, and build quality, Buxbaum and Witz together purchased the Red Baron with the intent to restore it, while discovering as much as they could about the car's life under Fingold's ownership. Only through many months of research and correspondence has this much of the Red Baron’s story been pieced back together.

To carry out the Red Baron's resurrection, Buxbaum assembled two of Chicagoland's finest restoration specialists and gave them full freedom to complete the job, without concern for cost or time, as long as they adhered to the "preserve or replace" philosophy. Brian Murphy of Willow Automotive (Chicago, IL) took on the mechanical recommissioning, while Tom Snellback's The Last Detail (North Chicago, IL) handled all cosmetic restoration duties. From September 2024 until January 2026, more than $50,000 of exhaustive work was required to get the Red Baron fully sorted to a condition befitting its fascinating provenance and low mileage.

Notable expenditures furnished by Murphy's team included a comprehensive major service and full regimen of new fluids, new timing chain and tensioner, sorting of the entire fuel system, repair and rebalancing of the driveshaft, a full set of new Bilstein shocks, Pirelli Cinturato P7 tires, new hardware throughout, and a new mid-pipe for the exhaust system. They also fitted the Red Baron with new engine mounts and drive belts, recalibrated the fuel-injection system, repaired the A/C control unit, replaced the rear window regulators, and powdercoated the Aero I wheels with fresh Orient Red paint.

While at The Last Detail, the car received a full-body paint correction regimen with ceramic coating, a new Hirschmann antenna, and a new Bluetooth-compatible head unit. In June 2025, the Red Baron was one of the star entrants at the ultra-exclusive Pre-Merger AMG Reunion organized in Chicago by 233 West and Fuelfed. Several months later, the car attracted great interest when Buxbaum brought it to Fuelfed's Zuffengruppe gathering at Wisconsin's Burlington Airport.

The Red Baron now stands comprehensively sorted, mechanically and cosmetically, ready for exhibition, touring, or spirited driving as its next custodian prefers. It represents a significant artifact from AMG's early American chapter, embodying the ambition, craftsmanship, and outsize personalities that characterized the marque's pre-merger period.

The story required nearly forty years to reconstruct, and elements remain tantalizingly obscure. For the discerning collector who understands that the finest automobiles arrive accompanied by the finest stories, and that preservation of such history constitutes a responsibility as much as a pleasure, this opportunity merits serious consideration.

Such automobiles rarely appear twice.