Never give up ... Stay visionary!
Chris Hahn - SGS Styling Garage
“The flattering but rather apt name ”Wing God of the Elbchaussee” was created in the 1980s by the well-known auto motor sport journalist & Erlkönig photographer Hans G. Lehmann. That’s very sweet … thank you, Hans!”
So much has happened in the past 47 years. At 73+ years of age, it is still a great pleasure for me to get up in the morning, think about new technical and design solutions and then drive to the factory in Rellingen at 6.15 in the morning – to develop and build our vehicles with my small but highly motivated and solution-oriented team (thank you very much). It’s great fun! And keeps you young …
I would also like to thank my real heroine, my wife Feli, who has stood by me and supported me with love for more than 40 years! Without you, I probably wouldn’t still be here … big kisses … Your Chris
„A no Can be a yes“
As an engineer and master craftsman (in four different disciplines), it was always important to me to develop high-quality and durable solutions from a technical and engineering perspective. The convertible tops, but also the gullwing doors & butterfly doors were very elaborate, yet at the same time very durable technical “marvels” – which also impressed our customers with their filigree soft top boxes/closing mechanisms … and still do. Many of our vehicles that we are now servicing or restoring have “hardly left any feathers” in the convertible top linkage and drive technology. Everything still fits damn well and the soft top is as tight as it was almost on the first day. Even after over 40 years. This is SGS quality, which we call “Timeless High-Class Engineering”.
SGS design language: Aesthetic. SGS technology: Durable. SGS Automobiles: Myth!!
SGS Custom Craftmanship
- SGS Exclusive Gullwing, butterfly & convertible conversions
- SGS Custom Implementation of special customer requirements
- SGS Fine Interiors Individually designed interiors
- SGS Classic Finest restorations, refits- and retromods
- SGS XXL Stretching limousines/autos & SUV’s …
- SGS STS Special Technical Solutions …
SGS geschichte ... long story short ...
It all began in 1978: brothers Ralf & Mathias Engel founded the Styling Garage. At the beginning, SGS was just a normal repair workshop in Hamburg. Chris Hahn – a qualified marine engineer and four-time master craftsman – joined the company in 1979 and took over the business completely in 1980. In 1981, Hahn began extending Mercedes-Benz limousines on behalf of individual customers. International customers discovered the Styling Garage’s spectacular gullwing doors at the 1982 Frankfurt Motor Show. In the years that followed, several hundred custom cars were ordered and built by SGS. Customers from all over the world – especially from the USA, Japan and the Arab world – were enthusiastic about “High End Germany” and loved the Styling Garage.
„The Rainbow Time“: SGS’s most famous order came from Abu Dhabi. In 1983, Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan ordered 36 Mercedes-Benz limousines from SGS for his wedding, including six S-Classes from the 126 series, each painted in a different rainbow color. The entire interior was also painted in the same color as the car. There were also two matching painted Kalashnikovs in each trunk. In addition, he had all the chrome parts of a 500 SL Roadster finished with a layer of 24-carat gold. The cars are now in the Emirates National Auto Museum.
Internationales Growth: SGS grew rapidly. By 1984/1985, SGS – which had since moved into larger premises in Schenefeld – employed up to 100 people. In addition to the Sultan of Brunei and King Fahd Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, international customers included Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, as well as Siegfried and Roy, Sylvester Stallone, Pope John Paul II and many more. In 1986, the collapse in oil prices and the deliberate devaluation of the dollar made car exports to the USA/UAE unprofitable and ultimately led SGS into insolvency. Other renowned entrepreneurs in the industry such as Rainer Buchmann (“bb”) from Frankfurt, Erich Bitter (Bitter-Automobile) and Gemballa also had to close.
New beginning I: In 1985, Chris Hahn founded Design + Technik GmbH as an engineering office for special solutions and Styling Garage Spezial-Karosserien GmbH. As a successful development office for various other tuning companies and manufacturers such as VW, Peugeot, Toyota, Honda, AC Cars, Alfa Romeo and Karmann, many special projects and more than 40 convertible concepts & prototypes have been developed. 24 patents were registered. The next blow came in 2007: the Robur works in Saxony, which Chris Hahn bought in the mid-nineties and which employed more than 230 people and specialized in Unimog-like special vehicles, unfortunately had to file for insolvency.
New beginning II: After ten years of health and financial difficulties, Chris Hahn founded SGS Styling Garage Service GmbH once again (hopefully for the last time) in 2017. Since then, there has been a revival with high international attention and great recognition from the trade press. SGS Gullwings & Convertibles achieve record prices at intern. Auctions. Motto this time: “… learn from mistakes & finally do everything right!”
SGS Galerie
