Mercedes marks 40 years of the 190
The W201 'baby Benz' was first seen in 1982 - compact executive saloons would never be the same again
It’s a natural reaction to be almost dumbfounded when another car reaches a significant anniversary. Those many years can’t have passed since then, you’ll muse, and wonder where the time has gone. But never does the adage seem truer than with the Mercedes-Benz 190, or W201 to give it its internal designation. Because that was launched in December 1982, 40 years ago next week, and it seems almost inconceivable that a car so modern, so stylish and still seen so often can be a decade off half a century. It can’t be possible.
Of course, that was exactly the point of the baby Benz. Born out of mid-70s fuel crisis austerity, the W201 was to boast everything that was so wonderful about the bigger Mercs, only in a smaller package. There was to be no corners cut and no compromises entertained in the pursuit of a brilliant small saloon. Professor Hans Scherenberg (great professor name), Mercedes’ Board Member for Development at the time, said as long ago as 1974: “This must be a typical Mercedes-Benz. So we can’t compromise too much in terms of driving culture, safety and the corresponding Mercedes-Benz characteristics.” Which is part of the reason why there are cars out there with more than 200,000 miles for almost £20k. But we’ll get to classifieds at the end.
Development really got going in 1978. One of the factories used for the W201, built out of the old Borgward facility in Bremen, was dedicated entirely to the one model line. Back then the Nordwerk Im Holter Feld development represented the largest single investment Daimler Benz AG had made ever, at 1.4 billion Deutsche Marks. That’s how seriously the 190 project was taken. More than a million units were made there, and it continues to build C-Classes today.
Furthermore, while PHey types will understandably remember the 190E as a DTM racer and M3 rival, it should be noted how big a deal the W201 was as a regular saloon. It had a five-link rear axle, for instance, when an E30 3 Series was still using semi trailing arms. It was the most aerodynamic of all the Mercedes saloons at launch, with a drag co-efficient of 0.34. An obsession with creating a lighter, smaller, more efficient Benz meant a kerbweight from just 1,080kg, too, hundreds less than any other four-door Mercedes. The same benefits of low mass that are harped on about today were undoubtedly also relevant in the early 1980s. Plus, of course, the 190 was famously styled by Bruno Sacco, car design extraordinaire, meaning even the base models cut a dash. “Even a Baby-Benz has to look like a Mercedes-Benz, but not like a scaled-down S-Class.” That was the maxim of Peter Pfeiffer, said to have been a big influence on Sacco’s finished car, and we’re certainly not going to disagree. The W201 still looks superb.
It launched as the 90hp 190 with a carb and the fuel injected 190E with 122hp, both using the 2.0-litre M102 four-cylinder from the W123. After that came a 72hp (!) diesel, the 160hp straight six 2.6 to take on the 325i and, for 1990, a 1.8-litre fuel injected engine to take the place of the 2.0-litre carb’d 190.
But it’s the four-cylinder, 16-valve cars that really cemented the 190’s place as a Benz hero. To folk like us, at least. You’ll probably know the story of a doomed Group B rally effort and the input of Cosworth already; if not, it’s well worth swotting up on John’s 2.3-16 history here. Despite no rally glory, the 185hp 190E 2.3-16 made for a superb sports saloon, and even if it's commonly accepted that the Cosworth kudos was lost for the 195hp 2.5-16 in 1988, it remained every inch the M3 rival. Then it really kicked off in the early 90s, the wild Evolution I and Evolution II versions of the 2.5-litre 190E showing just how serious Mercedes was about touring car domination. In 1992, Klaus Ludwig, Kurt Thiim and Bernd Schneider took the top three DTM places. Johnny Cecotto was the best placed M3 driver, in fourth. Point proven.
All of which - the age, the toughness, the motorsport history - makes it a lot more expensive to get into a 190 than it used to be. Because the W201 was so well built, so stylish and so revolutionary for the brand, opening the three-pointed star up to a whole new audience, Mercedes sold heaps of them. Which meant they eventually got very cheap, and since they were tough these poor old Mercs weren’t always taken care of as they should have been. Throw in scrappage schemes and it takes away even more survivors. However, it says much of the W201’s longevity and popularity that there are still plenty for sale on PH. From just £3,500, in fact, if you’re happy with an automatic 190E. £10k is towards the top end for the 2.0-litre cars, with a couple of grand more buying what looks like a decent 2.6. As for the 2.3s and 2.5s, their reputation means big prices - if not quite M3 money. The brave might want to check out this 210,000-mile project, or there’s this for the less risk averse; a 1989 2.5-16, recently restored, magazine featured and yours for £30k. Who knows where we’ll be in another 40 years as far as fast cars are concerned, but a 190E like that is definitely still going to be an icon come 2062. And what a story its history will be by then…
They were not exciting as such, but at the time people seemed to appreciate that quality more than felt the need for low profile tyres, toys and stiff suspension; the 190e was a brilliant creature for its time but that time was rapidly ending.
One of those vehicles you could drive to Italy in a day and still be able to go for dinner feeling quite fresh.
40 years?? Oh but I feel old!
The E30 was also robust, with decent build quality.
But I’ve never seen the appeal. I remember looking at these in 1983 with my Dad and thinking they looked really cheap next to the proper Mercs and thinking that buying one was just the height of pretension as they were slow and jokingly under spec’d for the money.
Others consider ride quality, refinement, body stiffness, aero stability, etc, high spec.
Some things haven’t changed.
Look underneath a modern Mercedes C Class and compare it to a modern Ford/Vauxhall/etc. Very different.
t cortina'Those small Mercedes, in the 1990s, seemed desperately naff: the preserve of nouveau riche pretenders; not a proper Mercedes, and horribly pretentious. The Cosworth one never had the street cred of their Sierra, either. Funny to think, now.
Why did people wrongly think that they weren’t proper Mercedes?
Performance
Fuel Economy
Refinement/NVH
I would imagine a basic 2022 C180 would beat a basic Merc 190E 1.8 on all of these measures.
But yes, we’ve gone backwards in terms of visibility, ride quality and mechanical simplicity.
I was 18, he was living at home with us. Dad was at work. He was not pleased with me when he came home!
The car was a 190E auto, wind down front windows, steel wheels, no air con. It had an electric metal roof, cloth seats and that was about it. Solid red with a black interior. I am sure it was £20k.
My first impression of it was absolute rock solid build quality. It felt so much better than everything else dad had owned. I had experienced this before with a Mercedes 240D (w123).
The next thing was that it went like a rocket. Superb handling. The gearbox had one particularity in that you had to press hard for kick-down. If you understood this it was fine and responsive, I am sure many owners never kicked down one in their entire ownership because of this.
The other thing was that it took off from the lights in second gear. Unless you selected S or kicked down like a few Mercs of the time, it felt sluggish. In-fact if your understood this it was actually pretty rapid. 10 seconds to 60 I would guess. The auto box was actually great and quick.
Some how I got away with driving it on his insurance as an 19 year old, so I borrowed it as much as an 19 yr old could and I loved it. Thanks Gramps.
6 years later, after he died at about 30,000 miles, it was parked in the driveway around the back for a year. I was now living in London.The paint oxidized and it was a bit sad. Eventually, when it was restarted a valve had seized causing a loss in compression in one cylinder.
It was that event that lead me to meet my life long friend Nigel from Spilsby Road Garage, Mercedes Specialists in Lincolnshire.
They did a valve job on it, dad paid the bill and the car was restored to full health.
I was given the car as a skint student. It took me everywhere for a year or 4 and was basically in perfect condition when I sold it for £2k in about 2001 to someone from Grantham.
Great cars.
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