Nas Finally Lands His Dream Car, A 1988 Mercedes-Benz

(TMZ) - Nas is living the dream ... exhibit A -- finally landing the car he dreamed about when he was a kid.

The legendary rapper hit up Will Castro of "Unique Rides" in NYC and challenged him to find a 1988 Mercedes-Benz 190E and turn it into a masterpiece.

Will spent under $5k to buy the beater and his team spent another 8 weeks customizing it with, shall we say, Unique touches -- a custom rag-top, leather piped interior seats, custom Nas wheels and a sick sound system. It's unclear what the whip's worth now but it's gotta be a crap load more.

The episode airs Wednesday at 6 PM ET on Discovery.

So, why does this car mean so much to Nas? TMZ says, to him, this Benz personified everything it meant to be rich ... in car, culture, style, life and spirit.

Mission accomplished, Nas.