DNA Classics offered me to take one of their beauties out for a little drive
That choice alone was a challenge since they've got so many special cars
But since my first visit, my eye got drawn straight to the Mercedes 190E EVO II
That's a mouth full..
Where does the name come from?
Fun fact: the 190 series was also called 'Baby Benz' since it was such a small model
Small for Mercedes standards back then.
So how do we come from 'Baby' tot this monster you might think
I'll explain..
The EVO was created because of a rivalry between two Germans
Namely: BMW
Since BMW came out with the M3 Sport EVO
So Mercedes-Benz wanted to keep up
That's why they developed the EVO II
Why the number 2 at the end?
The 2 has a wider, more aggressive bodykit
Like you can see here
Oh and the engine is 'evolved' from a 2.3 to a 2.5 litre
Four cylinders
Cosworth, a British engineer, even tuned the engine a little bit more by adjusting the cylinder heads
Plus, there was a Power Package available
which brought it to 320 HP
That amount of horsepower was amazing for a street legal car at that time!
The paint color on this EVO II is 'Blue Black'
Let's do a quick walk around to check out the exterior
Let's start with the front
Just one windscreen wiper; maybe you haven't noticed it yet
We'll come to the giant front bumper/splitter later
It has the build out/extra wide wheel arches
And the sunroof is standard on the EVO II
When we walk to the back..
not to miss: the large spoiler
You might think this is overdone
But they actually developed this in a wind tunnel
So it definitely makes sense aerodynamics-wise
It even has an extra 'spoiler'
which you can adjust for the perfect amount of downforce
The exhaust is a DTM exhaust
Looks really raw
This car is a DTM homologation model
which means they had to build 500 street legal cars
To keep the DTM satisfied and follow their rules
The result is what you see here.
You kinda have this race-car for the public roads
But with all of the luxury
Since it has electric windows, even the ones in the back
Seat-heating
Airconditioning..
Plus an electric front lip that you can lift
not only for the most modern Ferrari's
they already thought about this in the late '80s!
And that is the funny contrast of this car.
It's a mega special experience, driving this car
Kind of a dream..
It surprises me how easy it is to drive
light on the clutch and steering..
But the handling is still very refined
You can really push it if you want to
Because it does not have any turbo's
you really need to push it to 7.000/8.000 RPM
push it into the red
in order to get the most out of it.
Also fun to know: this car has a dog-leg gearbox
Different than usual..
The shift pattern is distinguished by an up-over-up shift between first and second gear
The layout derives its name from a dog's hind leg, with its sharp angles
The looks on people their faces, so funny
Like they're thinking 'what is this Benz with tuned-spoiler and such'
But I love it since it is all original and therefore 'acceptable'
Why is this such an iconic car?
This car has the last build motorsport engine by Benz
cause after that AMG took over
And back in the days, when they celebrated the opening of the Nürburgring
All of the great race champions - like Senna and Lauda - drove the EVO I around the track
Isn't that reason enough to want one?
