This is a rare Isdera 036i Spyder from 1989, just 14 are thought to have been made, and today they’re largely unknown outside of very specific youngtimer enthusiast circles.
This car was sent back to the Isdera factory in Hildesheim, Germany in 2011 for a series of major upgrades. The purple leather interior was replaced with blue leather, it was given wider wheel arches and wider wheels with Toyo Proxes tires, new Recaro Sportster seats, and the original 3.0 liter engine was replaced with a 3.6 liter Mercedes engine developed by AMG producing 276 bhp.
Fast Facts – The Isdera 036i Spyder
- The Isdera Spyder 036i is a rare German sports car, with only 14 believed to have been made. Originally released in 1987, it featured a tubular steel spaceframe chassis, a fiberglass body, and a mid-engine layout, powered by a 3.0 liter Mercedes-Benz inline-six producing 217 bhp.
- In 2011, this specific 1989 Spyder 036i underwent extensive upgrades at the Isdera factory, including a new 3.6 liter AMG-developed Mercedes engine producing 276 bhp, wider wheel arches, new wheels with Toyo Proxes tires, and a refreshed blue leather interior with Recaro Sportster seats.
- Isdera, founded by former Porsche designer Eberhard Schulz, is known for exclusive, hand-built supercars like the Imperator 108i and Spyder series. The company maintains a highly selective ordering process, requiring customers to contact the CEO directly by phone, with build times of at least 12 months per car.
- This upgraded Spyder 036i is now up for auction with Artcurial in Paris, expected to fetch between €230,000–€280,000 ($248,400–$302,400 USD). It includes a digital history file, photos, and a letter from Isdera detailing its modifications. The car remains one of the most powerful and unique examples of its kind.
Isdera – The Little-Known German Supercar Maker
The cars built by Isdera are prized by their owners, relatively few can afford them and many of those than can are put off by the minimum 12 month wait time – as each car is built specifically for each customer.
The design of the Isdera 036i Spyder seems to never go out of fashion, with the best elements of 1970s and 1980s car design integrated with a healthy dose of retrofuturism.
The company was founded due to the stubbornness of former Porsche designer Eberhard Schulz, he had developed the 1978 Mercedes-Benz CW311 concept car but Mercedes opted to not put it into production. So Schulz decided to do it himself.
A new tubular steel spaceframe chassis was designed, a 5.0 liter Mercedes V8 was fitted behind the driver compartment, and a lightweight body was formed from fiberglass. Schulz called it the Isdera Imperator 108i, and it was one of the most futuristic production supercars in the world when it was unveiled in 1984.
The success of the first cars released by the company, the Spyder 033 and the Imperator 108i ensured its ongoing success, despite their high prices and 12 month wait times. The only way to order a car was to call the CEO on the telephone and chat to him directly.
The company remains in business today, it’s released a number of models over the years including the Spyder and Imperator mentioned above, as well as the Commendatore, Autobahnkurier, and the 100% electric 2018 Commendatore GT.
The Isdera Spyder 036i
The Isdera Spyder 036i was released in 1987 as an update to the Spyder 033i model series from 1982.
The wrap-around cockpit with its analogue controls and push button head unit will be a breath of fresh air to those who can’t stand the proliferation of touch screens in modern cars.
Whereas the 033i was fitted with a 1.8 liter four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz engine, and the 033i-16 was fitted with a 2.3 liter four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz engine, the 036i was given a markedly more powerful 3.0 liter inline-six Mercedes-Benz powerplant, producing 217 bhp and giving the car notably better performance.
Much like the Imperator, the Spyder 036i has a tubular steel spaceframe chassis, a fiberglass body, two seats, and a mid-engined configuration with power going to the rear wheels.
The engineering, styling, performance, and handling of the Spyder 036i has been winning it fans for decades. The key issue for enthusiasts is that they’re expensive and exceedingly rare, with just 14 believed to have been made.
The 1989 Isdera Spyder 036i Shown Here
The car you see here is one of the fastest examples of the Isdera Spyder 036i in the world today. It left the factory with the correct 3.0 liter Mercedes-Benz six-cylinder producing 217 bhp however (as noted in the introduction) it was given a series of upgrades at the Isdera factory in Hildesheim, Germany.
The most important of these upgrades was the fitment of a new Mercedes engine, a six-cylinder 3.6 liter unit developed by AMG producing 276 bhp – a marked improvement over the original which means this 036i has no problem keeping pace with more modern sports cars.
It also now benefits from a blue leather interior, rather than the very 1980s purple leather interior that it originally came with. It also has new Recaro Sportster seats and the wheel arches were widened to allow the fitment of new, wider wheels and Toyo Proxes tires.
This Isdera 036i Spyder is now powered by an AMG-developed Mercedes six-cylinder engine producing 276 bhp.
The car is now due to roll across the auction block with Artcurial in Paris with a price guide of €230,000 – €280,000 or approximately $248,400 – $302,400 USD.
It comes with a digital history file, including photos and a letter from Isdera detailing the list of modifications made, and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more or place a bid.
Images: Artcurial 2025© Peter Singhof
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
