The Merc was a deadly rival to the original M3 - and makes a fine second-hand buy

With all the razzmatazz surrounding the launch of the E46 M3, the profile of its previous incarnations has been raised once more. Fair enough - the original E30 M3 is as rewarding a drive today as it was a dozen or so years ago and those boys from Munich are rightly proud of their heritage. But you could be forgiven for thinking that the M3 had no serious rivals back in the late '80s and early '90s, either on the road or the racetrack (the E30 was, of course, an homologation special with serious track intent).

There was one deadly serious rival though - the Mercedes 190E 16-valve Cosworth. Whether it was down to the brand image, staid looks, poor PR, a clumsy name or insufficient advertising, the Cossie Merc never received quite the same acclaim or cult following as its counterpart. But the specifications of the two cars were remarkably similar, with rear-wheel drive, high output, 2.3 or 2.5-litre four-pot powerplants and focused racing tweaks that added character and intrigue and raised them high above the rest of the range.

Being in a position to win every other Sunday in the German Touring Car championship (the DTM) required constant and dedicated development, especially when Mercedes' fiercest showroom rival provided the bulk of the competition, and live TV broadcast the panel-crunching battles to millions of potential buyers. The Cossie therefore went through a number of incarnations during its life, from the subtle Q-car lines of the 2.3-litre original (the 'two- three' in Merc aficionado speak) to the outrageous and rare be-winged batmobile that was the Evo II. The evolution was in the details, for in all its stages of development the fundamental underpinnings remained the same, which if nothing else proves the concept and engineering were right from the word go.

All were constructed to the same exacting standards upon which Mercedes has built its reputation, and that means they have stood the test of time, despite the fact that the engines were designed primarily for competition use. As long as the oily bits have received the appropriate regular servicing, then the 190E will run and run. But, as usual with older performance machines, there are those which have been bruised and abused.

The trick, as always, is being able to spot a pure thoroughbred and avoid the tarted-up tat. It's worth the effort too, as a good 190 still delivers on the road and is now rare enough to provide a decent level of exclusivity.

The 2.3 arrived way back in 1983. It's more commonplace than the 2.5, and with prices starting at around £2500, Cosworth cars are now available to a wide range of buyers. With 185bhp on tap it was quick enough and it handled well, being both balanced and playfully adjustable on the limit. As you'd expect from a race-bred car, cornering speeds were high and brakes impressively effective. It was one of those rare cars that hit the delicate balance between race-car rawness (50 DTM victories), and road-car civility. A true all-rounder.

The Evo I and Evo II are both extremely rare (as we'll see later) and prices are therefore much higher, but an average mileage, spotless left-hand-drive Evo II can still be had for less than £20,000. With its heritage, the low production run and spectacular looks, future depreciation will be minimal, if not non-existent. If you want one, act quickly, as the best cars are already moving out of the country, with buyers from all over the world snaffling them up.

Whichever version you plump for, you'll find Cossie Mercs are addictive. Many owners refuse to move onto anything else, preferring instead to gradually work their way up through the different variants.



Evolution

Interesting fact: the 190 Cosworth wasn't originally built for superstardom in the Deutschen Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft, but for rallying. That was until Audi began its world domination with the four-wheel-drive Quattro, consigning RWD in the forests to the history books. No-one is quite sure why Mercedes bosses had Mike Hall and Cosworth design the engines for them, but once they'd seen the potential they began looking at other outlets.

The 190E 2.3-16 had its official launch in September 1983 at the Frankfurt Motorshow, but it was the opening of the new Nurburgring in May '84 that really brought the car to the attention of the public at large. Twenty identical 2.3s were raced by the finest drivers of the day, including Lauda, Prost and Rosberg. The race was won by a Formula 1 new boy, a certain Ayrton Senna.

As part of the endurance testing, three 2.3 cars ran flat-out for eight days and nights at the high- speed Nardo bowl in Southern Italy, covering 50,000kms at an average speed of 154mph, setting a new world record.

Road-car sales were strong for the first few years, but by the end of 1987 those sales began to tail off a little, mainly due to the success of the ever-improving BMW 3-series. The Stuttgart concern decided it was time to face-lift the road-car range. At the same time it decided to officially back the five teams competing in the DTM. Up to that point the Mercedes racers had been entered by private teams [although some factory help was given] with a fair amount of success. Roland Asch was the main beneficiary of this more aggressive approach, finishing second in the 1988 championship, even though he was still competing in a 2.3 version well after the launch of the 2.5.

In road guise the 190E 2.5-16 was in essence a longer-stroked version of the old unit with lightened pistons and a number of other internal modifications. [These bore and stroke changes reduced its effectiveness for racing developments, explaining the decision to continue with the 2.3.] The new road car now had 204bhp at 6750rpm and 174lb ft of torque at 5000rpm. This was at the expense of slightly increased fuel consumption, so a larger, 70-litre fuel tank was fitted. Astral Silver and Armandine Red were added to the two previous colour choices of Smoke Silver and Blue-Black available to 2.3 buyers.

Bodywork revisions for the 2.5 were restrained, and with the deeper spoilers now also becoming standard on the lower powered 190s, it was quite hard to spot them on the road. For performance without attention, the baby Mere was the car to have. The problem was that the W201 [the 190s designation number] wasn't grabbing the headlines in the way that the E30 BMWs were. It was time for Mercedes to make a statement.

The company decided to build a new racer, with a new version of the 2.5-litre engine. The DTM rules stated that a car was only eligible to compete if 500 road versions had been produced. So Mercedes set about building a new homologation special which could be developed into a race winner.

Launched at the 1989 Geneva show, the 190 Evolution had a production run of 502 (Mercedes kept two) all in left-hand drive. The engine internals were altered to enable it to spin faster, with shorter, lighter pistons and a new crankshaft and it produced 330bhp at 8700rpm in race trim. Larger 8J x 16in wheels were fitted to deploy this extra power on three-stage adjustable suspensior with uprated struts, and massive 300mm, four-piston callipers reined it all in again. The wheel-arch extensions were wider than necessary for the road car, but that was because they also needed to house 10-inch wide slicks. Other bodywork modifications were limited to new skirts and a slightly taller rear wing.

In the first year Mercedes won eight times with the Evo in the DTM, compared with seven wins each for BMW and Ford, but still the titles eluded them. More work needed to be done, mainly in the form of improved aerodynamics. The Evolution II was launched exactly one year after the first, again at Geneva, with a wild airflow management package having been developed by Professor Richard Eppler of Stuttgart University, who answered to his nickname of 'The Wing Pope'. Eppler had managed to reduce drag by 20 per cent and still produce positive downforce at both ends of the car with some ingenious and occasionally rule-stretching touches. For example the rear wing was adjustable, the front splitter could be moved forward by fitting spacers and the top part of the rear screen was blanked out to side-step the regulation stating that rearward visibility could not be hindered by the addition of wings.

Mercedes won the constructors' title in 1991 and again in 1992 with Klaus Ludvig taking the drivers' spoils. The Evo II cost a whopping £55,200 (back in 1990, remember). £22,000 more than the standard 2.5-16 version, and sold out in a week. Officially only six came to the UK, knowing how many are here now is not clear. Suffice it to say if you do own one, I doubt you'll ever see another on the road.

Our Thanks To:

Martin Pearse