....
..Hilariously-coincidental ambient-temperature aside; it's time for a look at the very last of the tank-like small Mercedes sedans - the 1982-1993 W201 chassis...
...and in this case; the desirable, E30 M3 fighting, twin-cam 16valve sports variant.. introduced in late 1983.
1988 Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16, currently for sale at
Alps (Car purchase Alps industry sales centre?) in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan; for a whisker under 2million yen.
Other than the terrible exchange-rate for Australians like myself currently; with no compliance and no conversion necessary, thanks to that pre-1989 joy... $30k all up? That's not so bad....
1988-production actually makes this very late days for the 2.3litre variation of the Cosworth-developed four.. with the tail-end of 1988 seeing the introduction of the 2.5litre stroker version of the same engine, for the 190E 2.5-16.
Visually it was all very much the same, with the 'wild' aero (deep front spoiler, flares, skirts and door mouldings, rear under-spoiler, and
that wing..) continuing on as-is until the Evolution models. No joke.. Youtube the period Motorweek (USA) review of the 2.3-16... ol' John Davis seems a bit taken aback by that wing!
..compared to the AMG models today? This is tame. This is tasteful. Properly integrated, and looking
so sharp on those accessory colour-matched AMG wheels...
..not forgetting of-course, all the fun details shining through from the base vehicle! Single-wiper, asymmetrical wing-mirrors, and headlight-wipers? Aw yeah...
Star of the show, and the reason for all the fuss: that Cosworth-developed (and part-manufactured) M102.983 2.3litre twin-cam four. These 2.3's
were initially
quite oversquare, had a ~7000rpm rev-cut.. and delivered their peak 185hp (~138kw) at a relatively-high 6,200rpm...
All this power gets to the ground via the rear wheels, with thanks to a limited-slip differential and multi-link IRS setup; but not before making it's way through either the standard Getrag 5speed manual (with dog-leg first!) or - as on this car - 4speed automatic transmission...
Moving inside...
..matching AMG (again, accessory?) wheel, in a sea of black.
Have to mention at this point, that
damn this thing looks clean inside. Ti-dy. What a nice place to be.
Electric-sliding metal-panel sunroof...
Bucket-like bolstering on the rear seat, resulting in one of your four friends having to catch the bus....
..a quick segue to the equally-spotless boot/trunk area. No pass-through to the interior compartment means we're not going skiing... but pah - all is forgiven when I'm so easily distracted by that CD-stacking briquette of nostalgia, hanging from the underside of the parcel-shelf...!
Driving that CD stacker; the entirely push-button single-din Technics AM/FM/cassette ('Tape') unit...
..and below, some auxiliary gauges: voltage, oil-temperature... and.... Mercedes 190E sport-chrono!? Ha, yes.. it's a stopwatch. For
safely recording traffic-light and engine warm-up times, you know?
..and done.
Unfortunately the extensive lower-panel cladding on these could easily hide rust issues below; but I don't think it's a problem here. Looking
this tidy, with a claimed 88,000km (55,000mi) on the clock? Short of the surprising amount of small skirt-pieces missing, this seems to be an
excellent example of Mercedes' E30 M3 fighter.. the 190E 2.3-16.
Likely not surprise-of-the-day - but
would drive.
What about those lovely cloth protectors on the pedals! Would this be something that the car dealership has installed, or was it the previous owner, do you think?
ReplyDeleteGone are the days of changing the 6 CD's in your boot... haha! Such a time warp, but it really wasn't that long ago. Another great write up. Thanks.
Cheers again.
DeleteI'd simply assumed that was the dealer's handiwork, but now I'm not sure! No.. no.. I'm sure it was. Pedal-booties aren't a thing.. right?! heheh.
Haven't had a car with a stacker for a few years, but even in an early 2000's Subaru 7years ago, it was a bit of a blast from the past. Loading discs into a catridge under the passenger seat...