The station wagon holds different meaning to different cultures. Here in the USA, we look at them as once-popular conveyances of families and friends, a practical tool of suburbia that would later give way to the still-popular SUV model. However, in Europe, wagons were never seen as frumpy or like you gave into the rigors of a normal life, wherein you had to buy a vehicle that could swallow soccer balls and groceries while carting around half the neighborhood. Overseas, wagons were often seen as high-end vehicles, to the point that many popular luxury sedans – from the likes of Mercedes-Benz – were converted into wagon bodies, like this exceedingly rare Crayford conversion listed here on eBay.

Crayford converted several eras of Mercedes’ top-shelf sedan models into estate bodies, but usually in exceedingly small batches. To convert a sedan to an estate was actually quite the financial flex back in the day, showcasing one’s ability to have a vehicle custom built to their standards and desires. For one, you had to pony up and buy a new Mercedes-Benz 450SEL, which required a fair bit of capital, and then you had to pay Crayford a tidy sum to convert it into a proper wagon. The car shown above is what it could look like if you chose to not keep it stock, but the example shown on eBay needs substantial reconditioning before any attempts to modify it are made.

There were different conversions of high-end sedans over the years, with another company (possibly Crayford as well) modifying the E23-chassis BMW 7-Series in a similar fashion. These vehicles were made in very limited quantities, and while online sources of reliable info are scarce for any of these cars, most marque pages seem to get the number of conversions still in existence at well under 20 examples. The seller claims he’s been told there’s only 7 or 8 cars like this W116 left in the world, and I wouldn’t doubt that number. What’s more intriguing is how this particular car ended up in Denver, Colorado, as they are almost always located somewhere in Europe.

This particular example must have been originally crafted for someone outside of the UK, as it is left-hand drive, which makes it all the more desirable as a project to undertake here in the U.S. The seller notes that a parts vehicle will accompany the Crayford car, which is presumably to offer up some rust-free body components. One worrisome aspect of these conversions is always the part of the body that was converted into a wagon, as they always seem susceptible to rust. It’s hard to tell how needy this one is cosmetically, but I’m not sure it matters given how unlikely it is that you’ll ever seen one in the states ever again. The price of $8,998 or best offer seems more than reasonable for such a rare wagon specimen.