10 years and $600 million...in the late 70's. Thats what it took for Mercedes-Benz to develop their first entry in to the compact sedan market with the 190. It was a brilliant piece of engineering that served two purposes; first to give Mercedes a competitive product in the highly lucrative compact sedan market and two, to go rally racing - the proving grounds of road-going vehicles in the 80's. However, shortly after the 190's debut in December of 1982, the Audi Quattro and its legendary 4-wheel drive system burst onto the rally scene, rendering the 190 obsolete before it had a chance to race. ⁠ ⁠ As the Quattro dominated in the WRC, Mercedes soldiered on with the development of the 190e 2.3-16v. In August of 1983, to generate press around its launch, Mercedes would book out the Nardo Test Track in Italy to run a 50,000 Km test @ 250 KPH utilizing 99% stock vehicles. For those without a built in conversion chart, thats 30,000 miles at 155 MPH, stopping only for fuel and driver changes. Put another way, it's 9 days of straight driving at 155 MPH - the equivalent of driving to LA and back 5 times. The tolerances and quality needed to pull that off in the early 80's is a mind-blowing thought. It's also one of the reasons why the 190 is regarded as being "over-engineered." ⁠ ⁠ We love some of these vintage images from that week of 3-figure driving that took place 39 years ago last week. We also love that this product was conceived in a time when product managers developed platforms specifically for racing vs modern platforms designed to be flexibly repurposed into a crossover and a minivan. That early focus is to thank for the 190's advanced, self-leveling five-link rear suspension. We're fairly certain that there are modern drivers cars that still go without tech like that today. ⁠ -⁠ -⁠ -⁠ -⁠ -⁠ -⁠ #MercedesBenz #Mercedes #Mercedes190E #190E #190E2316 #Cosworth #Racing #RaceCar #RaceCars #BecauseRaceCar #Nardo #Italy #Fast #EnduranceRacing #carswithoutlimits #carporn #sportscar #automotive #carsofinstagram #cargram #instacar #cars #AudiQuattro #WRC #DTM #Vintage #Retro #AutomotiveHistory