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Edward Owen

Ed Owen of the Minuteman Section explores the history of the legendary 190E Cosworth and what it takes
to import one from Europe today.

In my formative years, I was definitely an “American-car guy,” but there were a few European heroes that caught my young eye. Cars like the Lamborghini Countach, the Porsche 959, and the Mercedes-Benz 190E 16V appealed to my sense of performance and style. The Mercedes in particular captured my imagination after seeing Senna and Lauda thrash them on the track. The first time I drove one was while working for Hatch & Sons in Wayland, Mass. and itcertainly did not disappoint. My partners and I started European Auto Solutions in 2006 in Waltham, and since then I have owned and sold a few 190E 16V 2.3 models, and have had good luck with all of them. At the 2018 Starfest in Alabama, I was fortunate to get to drive one of these cars on both the Barber Motorsport Park Track and the Talladega Superspeedway. Then, about a year ago, after seeing a few at different auctions, the desire for a top of the food chain 2.5 Evolution II really took hold of me.

 

Genesis of the Evolution

 

The first prototypes of the 190E (W201 chassis) started in 1978 and launched for retail in Germany in 1982. Mercedes-Benz Motorsport at the time was interested in rallying the 190E as a replacement for the 450SLC 5.0 (R107 V-8 powered coupe). They partnered with the British engineering firm Cosworth to develop the engine for the W201 chassis to compete. The collaboration resulted in the development of the high-revving M102 motor, a 2.3-liter 16 valve (four valves per cylinder) design with a lightweight aluminum head. Quoting the Mercedes-Benz website:

 

“August 1983: On the test track in Nardo, Italy, a Mercedes-Benz 190 2.3-16 covers a distance of 50,000 km (31,000 miles) in just 201 hours, 39 minutes and 43 seconds, setting a new world record with an average speed of 247.9 km/hr (154 mph).”

 

Switching to touring cars

 

Unfortunately for Mercedes-Benz, the turbocharged Audi Quattro came on the rallying scene in 1980 and dominated at a level that the 190E could not match. Thankfully they looked to DTM touring car racing (Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft), which ran from 1984 to 1996 and required the vehicles raced to be based on a production vehicle, through a process known as homologation. I

 

n response, Mercedes-Benz introduced the slightly detuned retail version of the 190E 2.3-16 at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1983, with the signature “dog leg” five-speed Getrag transmission. If you ever get the chance to watch the 1984-96 DTM races with the 16Vs, BMW M3s, and the Ford Sierra RS Cosworths, you will get an appreciation for the capability of these cars in the hands of a professional driver. In 1992, Klaus Ludwig won the DTM Championship in a 190E 2.5-16V Evolution II as part of the Mercedes-AMG team.

 

A racing car for the street

 

Retail production for the 190E 2.5-16V Evolution II happened from 1990 to 1991, totalling 502 units. Of those, 500 were delivered in Blauschwartz (DB199 Blue/Black or Black Pearl in the US) with Anthracite Leather, and the final two were delivered in Astral Silver (DB735).

 

These cars all feature a tuned 2.5-liter with a higher rev limiter, four-piston Brembo front brakes, adjustable suspension, adjustable rear spoiler and a front splitter. None were sold in the US market.

 

 

 

Finding the car

 

I had decided I needed to own one of these 500 examples, so the chase was on! The first few cars were in Europe but either there was excessive paintwork or not enough supporting documentation. There were none on the auction dockets.

 

Then build number 494 showed up for sale in Bologna, Italy. The car had one-family ownership, great documentation, and came with 96K kilometers on the odo and sounding like a winner. My general rule of thumb is to not buy a vehicle over a $20,000 price without putting my eyes on it in person, but due to the pandemic I could not gain entry to Italy. Thankfully we knew a friend who could at least put a neophyte’s eye on it and it passed his approval. After a lengthy Facetime session, we held our breath and pulled the trigger. Now what? We were definitely in uncharted territory.

 

Getting the car home

 

The first concern was the Italian VAT (value added tax) of 22%. As it turns out we did not have to pay the tax because we were exporting the vehicle. We breathed a big sigh of relief. We were referred to Promed GoaSpedizioni and they offered the option of one solo 20-foot container or a shared 40-foot container to ship from Genova Harbor, Italy to New York, which translated into a savings of $2,000 for the shared option.

 

We chose the solo container with insurance coverage costing 0.5% of the vehicle's declared value. They were helpful in getting the car shipped from Bologna to Genova, a distance of 292.2km. We were responsible for an administrative fee at the harbor. The car took 18 days to cross the pond onboard the “Chicago Express.”

 

When the car arrived we had to pay an import duty of 2.5%, Harbor Maintenance Fee of 0.125%, Merchandise Processing Fee of 0.3464%, and a single Transaction Customs Bond of 0.4%, also all based on the declared value of the vehicle. We booked an enclosed carrier from New York to home and about two and a half months after pulling the trigger, our car arrived here in Waltham.

 

Worth the wait

 

For the first time in my 26 years in the business, a car arrived better than I had anticipated! I was blown away with the quality of the interior, paint, and undercarriage, even the A/C with its original R12 refrigerant worked perfectly. The difference from the 2.3 to the 2.5 model is very impressive and the handling gets better the more I push it. It has been a true car guy’s Nirvana driving around the roads of New England this last Summer and Fall, but as it goes in the car business, this jewel is off to its new owner; a good friend, client, club member, and fellow fan of the marque. Thankfully our paperwork was impeccable from the export company, as it took three trips to the motor vehicle registry to find the right person in the hierarchy who understood the Federal 25 Year law and the relevant Massachusetts laws.

 

If mentioning the 25 Year law made you scratch your head, you’re not alone. In 1988, the federal Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act was created to address the personal import of foreign vehicles not intended for the US market. These cars had generally been banned for safety concerns. The important provision in that Act was a compromise for collectors that vehicles older than 25 years of age would be classified as antiques and classics and could be imported. We needed the local police to verify the VIN, then we were able to register the car and have it pass state inspection. I’m happy to report that with no regrets, build number 494 is now an official resident of Massachusetts.