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The W201 - "190" class.The 190 - internal Mb designation W201 - was a completely new chassis, on the market since October 1982. Speaking of sedans until that time MB had only middle-class-size chassis like the W114/115 and the W123 plus bigger S-Class chassis like the W116 and W126. MB decided that there would be a market for a smaller chassis and constructed the 190 W201.In the beginning there was the 190 with carburetor and 90hp, later it had 102/105hp (with/without 3-way catalyst converter). In fact that were the 2.0-litre engines from the W123, despite the model designation "190" with the W201, which would make one believe it’s a 1.9-litre engine. The 190E which also was available from the beginning had the same engine with fuel injection and 118/122hp. One year later the 190E 2.3 was added, with the 132/136hp engine from the W123. In 1987 the 190E 2.6 was added, with the 160/166hp 2.6-litre engine known from the W124 and W126. Diesels were 190D with 2.0-litre 72hp engine, later also used in the W124 200D and one and a half years after that the W201 was available with the 2.5-litre diesel engine from the W124 with 90hp, still later also a 190D 2.5 Turbodiesel with 126hp, the engine from the W124 250D Turbo. For the USA there was a 190D 2.2 with 72hp, the additional 0.2 litre displacement were needed for the 72hp to meet strict American pollution laws. In September 1983 at the "Internationale Automobilausstellung Frankfurt" (aka "Frankfurt Motor Show") the 190E 2.3-16 was presented, it featured a front spoiler and a large rear spoiler, a thing not seen ever before on a MB sedan. One year later the car went into production, it was intended as a base model for motorsports and was - at least for that time - really fast: ca. 225km/h, remember the W123 was still in production and the fastest W123, the 280E had a top speed of 200km/h, even a W126 500SE had a top speed of "only" 225km/h. In 1988 the 2.3-16 was succeeded by the 2.5-16, with even bigger spoilers front and rear plus wide tyres and fender flares. At the same time the 190-series was face-lifted, e.g. it got the plastic mouldings on the doors, similar to the face-lifting of the W124-series one year later. Very last engine variant was 190 1.8, a 1.8-litre engine W201 with slightly reduced trim level and a very attractive price which substituted the 190 as the base model. There were also some 500 "Evolution" variants of the 190E 2.5-16 plus later the same number of "Evolution II", high-priced sport models. The W201 was significantly smaller than the W124: Length (mm): 4448 <-> 4740 Width (mm): 1691 <-> 1740 Height (mm): 1390 <-> 1446 Wheelbase (mm): 2665 <-> 2800 The design similarities come from the fact that the design of both cars was developed very much at the same time, the W124 was ready for production in 1982, too, but because of the W201 and the fact that the W123 still sold very good was delayed for two years. Unlike the W124 the W201 only came as a four-door sedan, but soon after the introduction a nick-name was found by the people: "Baby Benz" and there’s also people who always regarded the W201 as "Ladies` Car", the MB for women, but despite that there were many "optically tuned" 190`s on the streets, lowered, with wide alloy wheels and also often with spoilers and these in almost all cases were driven by men... The total number of W201`s built was 1.874.668, the car was built at Sindelfingen Factory in Stuttgart and parallel in the factory in Bremen - a novelty for MB - where also the W124 stations came from and the current SL R129 is built. In 1993 - a time when sales of MB`s reached a low worldwide - the successor of the W201 was presented, the W202 now having the designation "C-Class", in 2000 the W203 follows the W202. Jaguare The MB Enthusiast's Pages |
