I love Hondas and I love inexpensive cars. I finally blew up my Civic. Not really, but the valves were so shot, it blew smoke like a two-stroke so I sold it to a carpenter for four hundred bucks. I figured I’d get an Accord. Or, maybe an old Mercedes 190e, since the Civic reminded me a bit of them; Honda ripped off a few lines.
I came across one on Autotrader. Mercedes 190, bla bla bla. I thought some kid must have blinged it out. Or maybes somebody’s wife sent it to ‘Pimp my Ride’. Ground effects. Rear spoiler. Low pros. Looked like a standard-issue ‘80’s coke-dealer car.
In fact, it was a Cosworth Mercedes and it was all factory, except the tires and rims.
Turns out the awesome BMW M3 was kicking the shit out of Mercedes in the DTM (a European touring-car race series) in the early to mid eighties. Mercedes couldn’t just stand there and get the crap smacked out of them. But they didn’t have a platform to compete with the M3, so they just cobbled one together.
The 190e was their lightest, smallest sedan—the economy Benz. That would be the body works. Now, how to make it go? They hired Cosworth, the winningest Formula 1 engine builders in history, to turn the demure 190e engine into something formidable. While they only had four cylinders and 2.3 liters to work with, they built a high-flow racing head that chased every bit of ‘family car’ out of the 190. It has headers that look like they should be bolted to a big block Chevy. And they sound like it too.
The new engine didn’t make big-time horsepower; about 185hp—200hp with a few simple mods and a bit more with a hot cam. But the Cosworth was surprisingly light—four hundred pounds less than a Porsche 911, and it’s a sedan. Still, that was no match for the M3s of the day.
If you can’t get ‘em on the straights, you’ve gotta out brake ‘em or carry more corner speed. Mercedes did both. The breaks are fantastic but what was truly remarkable was the innovative suspension: a hydraulic self-leveling rear suspension. In a turn, the suspension system dips the inside of the car into the well of the corner, all but eliminating body roll. Way ahead of its time.
Mercedes looked to AMG, their race division, to make the car slippery. And AMG delivered with one of the lowest drag coefficients of any sedan, anywhere. The Cosworth pierces the air like a bullet. (Ask the officer who tagged me on radar doing 138mph… after I had hit my brakes).
The whole package is truly remarkable. And in ’86 it was at least a decade ahead of its time. And the innovation would cost you back then too, with a price tag of $50,000. Compare that price tag to exotics, and it’s not surprising the Cosworth recently made the list of top twenty exotic cars under 25k.
What’s even better, is that this hopped up economy car I bought on my search for a Honda Accord didn’t cost much more than an economy car. Prices range from 8-12k.
People who know what it is, oogle it. I don’t know how many times I’ve had people take pictures. Even the guys at Schuck’s came out and asked if it was an ‘real one’ and snapped a few pics. I’ve heard there are only six of them in Oregon, but I’ve seen three, including mine, so I find it a dubious claim.
It does have a few drawbacks. The gearbox is the same Gettrag unit used in the DeTomaso Pantera: a dogleg five speed (where first gear is down and to the left, hugging your thigh); it’s great, but it takes some getting used to. And the Cosworth is geared for the racetrack. It was an image-builder to sell 190s so they didn’t bother gearing it for the street. First gear is very tall, and so is second, though it still has a respectable 6.5 second 0-60 time. Third gear will set you back in your seat; it was obviously designed for a track that needed third gear grunt. Oh, and if something brakes, it’s going to cost you. Everything is at least five hundred bucks. But it doesn’t break much. It could use another fifty horsepower and more streetable gearing. Other than that, this is about as much exotica as you can get for the money. And you will NOT believe what this car can do in the corners.
I didn't photograph the car shown, though I suspect it is mine because of the very small numbers and because when I bought it, I had the very same tires and wheels. The odds of that combination in the NW are extremely low
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