UP NEXT
Rarely seen in the U.S., it’s one often-overlooked car—unless you’re a child of the ’80s
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Films:
This Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 Has A Subtle Flair
I bought a new 1986 190 2.3 for the simple reason that it was the fastest sedan sold in the US at that time, top speed 141 mph.
Out ran many a muscle car with it on the freeways, it was easy to out corner them anywhere.
Used to get from Albuquerque to Telluride in it in less than four hours, 320 miles, 300 miles of that on secondary roads. You do the math.
After a while I was on a first name basis with a Highway Patrol officer who seemed to range all over the state just to nail my ass, despite my state of the art Valentine Radar detector.
Great driving car but troublesome with 29.5 days in the shop in the first year, the ABS system was the other reason I bought it and there was some gremlin that caused it to not work in the rain…..no kidding. They replaced the computer twice, sensors, pads, rotors everything and it never got sorted out.
Mercedes tried to convince me that it was normal to go through pads and rotors in 15, 000 miles, I said I had never been through pads on anything in less than 75, 000 miles let alone rotors. This happened twice in the time I had it.
As a footnote this is about the time Mercedes started ten year loans to pay off their cars….and you needed it. This also exposed the myth of Mercedes good used car prices since most people that could afford the high cost of a used one could afford a new one making it difficult to sell.
Sold it to a doctor in Roswell and traded the sheepskin seat covers on it for the diesel Audi 100 he was driving so I could get back home……that was a bit of a shock to drive after the 190, you had to speed downshift to not lose the revs to get up any slight hill.
Loved the 190-16 but was not sad to see it go after all of it’s problems.
At 3:13 there is a poster of a crazy widebody ’80s Cadillac Seville of some sort. It reads “Paisley Productions”. I am intrigued, and Google can’t seem to help me figure out what on earth this thing is. Anybody? It’s strange and shouldn’t exist. Dare I say I think I might really like it? (Oh yeah, also, I love the 190E Cosworth).
My parents got one in 1987. A week later my mom let me drive it one day. I was 17 at the time. An older driver made a left turn in front of us while I was going about 40. The car was totaled and the airbags saved both me and my mother from serious injury. My arm still went into the windshield. Sad that one of these only last a week thought a Mercedes mechanic bought it and was going to build it back up.
Apparently Ayrton Senna drove one of 20 identical MBZ 190 2.3-16s at the Nurburing, against a field of F1 drivers and won.
“These cars, introduced in September 1983, were showcased at the “Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit May 12, 1984, the inaugural race was a celebrity affair arranged by Mercedes, who had launched their 190 2.3-16 saloon just months before. It was meant as a light- hearted jape to generate publicity for the new car and track, but not everyone saw it that way… Mercedes provided 20 identical near road-spec 190s for the race, and gathered together a strong field of Formula One drivers past, present and future to provide the thrills…. for the young Senna, a virtual unknown who had made his F1 debut just two months before, this was an opportunity to prove himself by beating F1’s established stars….After the race, an elated Senna said of his victory: ‘Now I know I can do it.’”
Having driven both the E30 M3 and 2.3 16V’s extensively I’ll add in that the 2.3 16V is seriously under rated in comparison to the M3 as well as in the overall pantheon of M-B classics not to mention a much better daily driver / road car than the M3 . Suffice it to say the E30 M3 has an agricultural feel to it on public roads [ e.g. they drive like a tractor ] whereas the 2.3 16V has a sense of refinement and gentlemanly comfort about it all while sacrificing very little in the way of performance to the E30 M3 . As for this young man’s 2.3 16V ? Despite some criticisms from the peanut gallery above .. in my opinion he did the car up just right . Addressing the few issues that exist while not compromising the function for just a tad bit more … form !
and see what the car can do in the hands of Paul Geddings! https://www.youtube.com/user/4doorracer
