Since Mercedes Benz never built a small car in a long, long while, the 190E was over-engineered and was still priced at a premium compared to a similar sized Ford Escort or even a slightly larger Mazda 626 of its day. It had the same 'thunk' when you closed the doors. It brought along the first production multi-link suspension in a road going car as well as many features that you now see in cars today. It was so good that it stayed in production till 1993 with over 1.8million units built.
Take a look at the photos below of drawings and of prototypes to see how Mercedes Benz started out, especially the middle part where they cut a W114/115 and made it shorter and narrower. Quite unique.
Compare this with the full sized w114/5 below
I think it was wise for Mercedes Benz to actually wait till the 1980s before the 'Baby Benz' came out. Don't you guys agree too?
Photo Source:Mercedes Benz
2 comments:
I've always like 190E :)
Built to last. Surprisingly fun to drive and darn comfortable ride too. They don't make 'em like they used to.
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