The Evo 2 variant of the 190E 2.5-16 is the culmination of one of the most sporting Mercedes-Benzes ever made. Its story dates back to the arrival of the standard 190E, a new small Mercedes that was introduced to help the marque meet emerging fuel economy standards while preserving the traditional Mercedes qualities of world-class engineering, technical innovation, quality, and durability. The Mercedes Board of Directors insisted that the new small car meet S-Class standards of ride comfort, roadholding, refinement, and long-distance touring abilities and so, despite its compact dimensions, the 190E was a superb automobile, even in its most leisurely diesel-powered naturally-aspirated form.
Mercedes initially intended to race the car in Group B, but seeing Audi’s success with the Quattro, it was clear that four wheel drive would be necessary to be competitive. So one of the engines developed for the car, a four valve version of the standard M102 4 cylinder developed by Cosworth was adapted for street use and placed in a new performance version of the 190E. Called the 2.3-16, the car had a host of other performance improvements including upgraded suspension, wider, flush alloy wheels, a body kit which reduced lift by 40% at speed, Recaro seats, supplemental instrumentation, limited slip differential, a 5-speed close-ratio dogleg gearbox.
It was among the fastest sedans in the world and promptly debuted on the race track where it participated in a 201 hour endurance run in which three lightly modified examples circulated the high speed track at Nardo in Italy at an average speed exceeding 150 mph including fuel and maintenance stops and driver changes. The run took place in August of 1983, a month before the car’s public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show and the cars set records for 25,000km, 25,000 miles, and 50,000km.
The following May, the new F1 circuit at the Nurburgring opened, and to break in the track and highlight the new Mercedes sport sedan, a race of champions took place. 20 lightly modified 2.3-16s were piloted by some of the greatest racing drivers of all time, all of whom were contemporary Formula 1 race winners, former F1 champions, or Nurburgring winners. All but five of the living F1 champions participated and the entry list was epic: Stirling Moss, Nikki Lauda, Jack Brabham, Hans Herrmann, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Denny Hulme, Jody Scheckter, and Alain Prost to name a few. Emerson Fittipaldi was in America preparing for the Indy 500 so his car was taken over by a young relatively unknown Aryton Senna, who had only four F1 races under his belt, none of which he had won. He qualified third and pushed pole-sitter Alain Prost off on the first lap, presaging the rivalry between the two that was to become legendary. Senna took the lead on the first lap and would keep it for the rest of the race. Nikki Lauda had missed qualifying due to a commitment to appear on TV and pushed his way up from 14th to second. Senna’s victory raised his profile considerably; John Surtees urged his old boss Enzo Ferrari to hire Senna to drive for Ferrari, although this was of course never to be.
Once the 5000th example had been built in the spring of 1985, the 2.3-16 was homologated to race and privateers began preparing and racing them in DTM, showing the cars to be quite competitive although without Mercedes factory support, they won routinely but didn’t dominate. BMW’s response to the 2.3-16, the E30 M3, started racing in 1987, which it did with factory support, and won the championship straight away. Because of this humiliation, Mercedes finally relented in December of 1987 and lifted their Motorsport ban.
The resulting rivalry was legendary and led to the creation of two Evo versions of the 190E. Homologation rules allowed the creation of meaningfully upgraded versions of the race cars as long as certain key characteristics of the cars, including their engine, aerodynamics, suspension, and wheel setups were included in a road version of the car, of which at least 500 examples were made. Thus the Evo 1 and Evo 2 versions of the 190E appeared in 1989 and 1990 respectively.
Both Evo variants shared a larger 2.5 liter engine, bigger wheels and brakes, faster steering box, lowered suspension, and a revised body kit although the Evo 2’s especially outlandish body kit is what distinguishes it. Desperate for any competitive advantage, Mercedes engaged a professor of aerodynamics at the University of Stuttgart who designed a totally outlandish set of aerodynamic appendages that caused BMW R&D chief Wolfgang Reitzle to comment that “the laws of aerodynamics must be different between Munich and Stuttgart. If that rear wing works, we’ll have to rebuild the BMW wind tunnel.”
They rebuilt the BMW wind tunnel.
Together, the rear wing, fender blisters, and aggressive front splitter increased downforce while also reducing the coefficient of drag from .33 to .29. Just 501 Evo 2 road cars were built, and the car finally delivered Mercedes their long-awaited DTM championship in 1992.
This particular Evo 2 is one of 501 examples built in the first half of 1990 to homologate the car to race. Sold new in Switzerland, it remained in the care of two fastidious owners, covering fewer than 26,000 kilometers. It remains in superb original condition with original paint throughout and is complete with books and service invoices to substantiate its careful use, proper use, and low kilometers.
