It just wasn’t quite as successful as BMW’s 2.3-litre, high-revving four-cylinder version of its small executive saloon. One wonders wherever BMW could have got the idea for that, dogleg Getrag five-speed and all. When Mercedes went to develop the 190E into a performance saloon, they didn’t turn to AMG.

502 190E
Only 502 190E Evolution cars were built, making this particular example more interesting. The car’s tartan-and-wood interior is almost as big a selling point as the Cosworth-built engine and five-speed manual transmission, but note that it’ll need to be shipped from the Netherlands.

Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evo II

The 190E is generally robust and reliable, little of a significant nature goes wrong with them. The body is strong and doesn’t suffer from rust to any degree; the paint quality is also of a good standard such that they still sparkle if looked after.

The 1987 Mercedes-Benz 190e Cosworth 2.3 16V started with the unique four-cylinder engine, which features a twin-cam, four-valves-per-cylinder head, a high-flow intake manifold, an exhaust header and a free-flowing exhaust system.

While the modern high performance Mercedes-Benz models pack monster power, but in the 1980s, the 190e Cosworth 2.3 16V secured its place in automotive history with 167 horsepower and 162-lb-ft of torque.

It was around the middle of the decade that Mercedes-Benz decided to take its best-selling sedan and breathe some more performance into it. Thanks to a great collaboration with Cosworth, the W201 was the first of its breed to receive a 16V motor.