If you’ve ever poked your head deep enough into the rabbit hole of old-school Mercedes-Benz tuning, there’s a good chance you’ve come across the name Albrex, but maybe just in passing. Unlike the headline giants like AMG, Brabus, or Lorinser, Albrex operated in the shadows. Yet what they lacked in brand recognition, they made up for in raw, blown horsepower.
Albrex was the brainchild of Austrian engineer Conrad Gruber. Nestled in the Tyrolean Alps, this tuning outfit was all about one thing: superchargers. Long before it was fashionable to bolt on boost, Albrex was doing just that, building mechanical monsters that surprised even the most jaded Autobahn warriors.
One of their most iconic creations was the Mercedes-Benz C126 560 SEC, modified in collaboration with the ever-bold Koenig Specials. If you’re already picturing widebody kits and Testarossa-style side strakes, you’re not far off. But beneath the flamboyant fiberglass, it was Albrex’s handiwork that really made the difference.
With their proprietary supercharger system, the 5.5L M117 V8 went from a stock 268 horsepower to a brutal 400 horsepower, in the late ‘80s, no less. The torque gain was equally mad, making the SEC feel more like a locomotive than a luxury coupe. The engine bay was tight, but Albrex managed to wedge in the blower system with clever custom brackets and piping, keeping everything as OEM-looking as possible, until you hit the gas.
Not content with just the coupes, Albrex set its sights on another icon: the Mercedes-Benz W124 E500. Built by Porsche and already a muscle sedan in its own right, the E500 didn’t need more power, but Albrex gave it more anyway.
With their supercharger bolted onto the M119 V8, the Albrex-tuned E500 could push well beyond the 320 horsepower mark, transforming a gentleman’s express into a full-blown street brawler. The forced induction gave the E500 an entirely different character, torque came in harder, earlier, and more violently. And unlike turbos, the response was instant.
What makes Albrex so interesting is how underground they remained. They didn’t mass produce parts, and they didn’t go chasing magazine features. Most of their builds were custom commissions for wealthy clients who wanted something wild but didn’t want the mainstream names on their valve covers.
Today, spotting an Albrex-tuned Mercedes is like finding gold dust. There’s no big badge, no flashy stickers, just a subtle plaque here or a unique pulley setup there. But the moment you fire one up, the whine of that supercharger gives it all away.
And for those chasing that era of boosted bliss, we actually have one of the original Albrex superchargers available for sale. Whether you're building a period-correct tribute or looking to squeeze more out of your M117 or M119, this is the real deal, straight out of the Alpine tuning underground.
Albrex may not have built thousands of cars, but they represent a golden era of tuning, when innovation wasn’t about software or eco-modes, but about pure mechanical creativity. They were part of a niche brotherhood that dared to squeeze more out of already legendary machines. That’s why we love them!
