The
Mercedes-Benz W201 was introduced in November 1982 as the Mercedes-Benz 190.
£600 million was spent researching and developing this car with
Mercedes-Benz acutely aware that a failure of this model could easily bring
down the rest of their model range and ultimately the entire company’s
reputation. By Mercedes-Benz's own admission, the 190 was 'massively
over-engineered'. They were not interested in competing for one or two
customers to switch from Ford or Rover, but for hundreds, even thousands, of
customers suddenly to find a new side to Mercedes-Benz with a new image of
family-oriented compact cars. These new customers were not wrong. The UK
market was kept waiting up to 12 months longer than mainland Europe to get
the 190s into the showrooms, and as soon as the vehicles arrived in
showrooms, they were sold. Local 'red tape' in Bremen prevented MB from
building the 190 there as they wanted, so production was started in Sindelfingen at a maximum capacity of just 140,000 units per year.
Eventually after just the first year, Bremen was cleared for production of
the 190 and these lines replaced the commercial vehicle lines at Bremen
which included the first running modifications since its release
Together with the cheaper BMW M3,
the 190E 2.5-16 continues to dominate the "Normally Aspirated cars up to
2500 cc" class in endurance and 24 hour racing at the Nürburgring
Nordschleife, as newer models from BMW and Honda are not designed to be as
competitive as these two 1980s veterans.
Production of the 190 ended on May 5, 1993. About 1.8 million were produced.
It was replaced by the C-Class, with Mercedes announcing that they were
stopping the process of 'over-engineering' their cars. Today the Mercedes
190 has a cult following, and is considered by many to be a classic car,
with a number of owners clubs and a healthy modification and showing scene.
In spite of their age many 190s can still be seen on roads all over the
world today, a testament to Mercedes famed build-quality, and cherished or
rare examples continue to demand high prices when sold |
