[Chris Barnes]

I inherited a 1987 Mercedes 190D from my father in law. He bought it from the factory when he was a spook in Europe. He says when he was there he was assigned a gas powered 190 that he swears was hands down the fastest car that he's ever been in. An real Autobahn badboy. Then he goes to the factory and what does he order? A frickin' 4 door diesel! My wife and I got it almost twenty years and 200k miles later. It's an oddball, it's got the larger size motor with no turbo and a five speed which makes it maybe one of four in this country. 99.9% of the eighties 190Ds were turbodiesel automatics that expired just before 100k. I'm sure it's been a total turd since day one, driving it is a relentless exercise in pointless shifting. I've been passed by bicycles but it gets over 35 miles per gallon. Unfortunately, much of the money saved on fuel goes towards the insane cost of parts. The windshield wiper, for example, has a transmission that costs over five hundred dollars USED. Driving around up here in the NW w/out a windshield wiper or two is not an option so I had to buy one. I can never get rid of it but I stopped driving it daily because it became too much of a pain to get it started in the winter time. I still keep it clean. It's a good looking car and really pretty high quality. The 63-70 Mopars that I tend to play with are honestly pieces of crap in comparison in terms of build quality (at least until we're done with them). I hate to say it but it's true.

Chris Barnes
Wagons of Steel
Stock 6621