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Here it is folks, your chance to put your money where your mouth is and drive the underdog of the 1980s. The Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 is the sleepiest of modern classic sleepers. While E30 BMW M3s are a dime a dozen for those that can afford them, the 190E 2.3-16 remains a rare sight. That means subdued W201 styling all the way round. To say that this car is capable of flying under the radar is a massive understatement. It was only available in Pearl Black or Smoke silver, the latter being the more attention grabbing of the two. Overall this looks like an enticing package, the question is, what will it cost you to enjoy it? Hagerty puts the value of a tier two car at $20,700 and a tier three car at $13,400. That’s a whole lot of ground to cover in between, and in that range is where I would expect the reserve of this car to fall. With two days left on the auction bidding currently sits at $7,200 which doesn’t even meet tier 4 market value, so barring a last minute flury bidding or removal of the reserve, I think we’ll be seeing this one back on the block soon.
The Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 is still one of the best bargains for eighties speed hunters. Sure, it’s well known this isn’t the fastest sports sedan of the era, but with Cosworth tuning, a tasteful bodykit and that dog-leg 5-speed manual gearbox, it’s the stuff of dreams for enthusiasts. It also has a colorful touring car race history in its portfolio. As such, many of these 190E 2.3-16s were run hard and put up wet. Every now and then, we’ll come across a really well preserved example, such as this example for sale in Florida. With just over 50k miles, this one is a minter.
Having looked at a Mercedes-Benz 500SLCyesterday, it got me contemplating what other homologation specials are out there carrying the Three Pointed Star. The next logical car in the company’s timeline was the 190E 2.3-16. Originally developed to go rallying, the Audi Quattro suddenly deemed the Baby Benz a bit uncompetitive, so they went racing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, or DTM series, instead. This new, fast 190 also set twelve endurance records at the Nardo testing facility in Italy, with three cars recording a combined average speed of just over 154 mph over the 50,000 km test. This example for sale in Northwest Germany has covered only 28,000 km more over its lifetime, and since it is more than 25 years old, qualifies for import to US shores.
Our friends over at BlythBros. featured a piece last week regarding a road trip they took in their own Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 on a road trip to Canada. Ever the most resourceful enthusiasts, they packed their tools along with their bags and set off to visit our northern neighbors in this Cosworth legend. What struck me is how reliable and well suited it was for such a trip, considering its age. It really is a testament to how well made these cars were. If you are seeking to make some road trip memories of your own, this 190E 2.3-16 for sale in New Hampshire is worth a look. It has passed through three owners and has seen light usage, clocking only 55k miles over almost 30 years.
Homologation for motorsport is nothing new, but it’s uncommon that a vehicle will make the transition into multiple race series. Mercedes-Benz had intentions of rally competition with the 190E when it was introduced in the early 1980s, but, as they say, life is timing. With the Audi Quattro lighting up the World Rally scene, Mercedes became a bit gun shy of the proposition. Instead, they decided to go racing in the newly devised Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (German Touring Car) race series. The first years of this series were legendary, with Mercedes going head to head with E30 BMW M3s on the track in some epic battles.
The two competition 190Es we’ll take a look at today were intended for two very different race series. The first 190E we’ll take a look at is for sale in Holland and was intended for the rally circuit.
