Mercedes-Benz celebrates 40 years of the first Baby Benz
Mercedes-Benz’s lineup altered substantially in late 1982. By launching a new entry-level model called W201 internally and also Baby Benz informally, the Stuttgart-based business made its cars available to a much larger audience and also substantially boosted its yearly sales.
Although the first W201 saw the light that waits for at the end of an assembly line in December 1982, the concept of broadening the Mercedes variety towards the bottom had backfired with the firm’s research and development division for numerous decades. In 1948, Mercedes established a 145-inch lengthy two-door sedan with a Ponton-like design. It didn’t get to manufacturing. Mercedes tried once more in the 1950s: its board offered an entry-level design the thumbs-up in 1953, and a number of prototypes were built, however the project reached a stumbling block. It took numerous even more tries (and stress from regulatory authorities to boost the array’s ordinary gas economy ranking) prior to the W201 became a reality.
In the very early 1980s, the boxy W201 looked totally out of place parked next to a W126 and also a W123 in a Mercedes display room. And also yet, in hindsight it blazed the path that later on enhancements to the company’s profile complied with. The W124 launched in late 1984 (and later developed into the first-generation E-Class) looked like a jumbo-sized W201, and also this angular style language penetrated the R129-generation SL As the W140 that finished its job as the first S-Class. Elegance remains in the eye of the observer; you could easily argue there’s absolutely nothing attractive regarding a W201 however you can just as conveniently argue it’s characterized by a classy design that’s reasonably easy, pure, and useful.
From the driver’s viewpoint, the W201 felt like the scaled-down Mercedes sedan that it was. The seats were established with a focus on comfort, the tool collection was plainly understandable, as well as the majority of the controls were grouped on the center pile. With that said said, going from, state, a W123 to a W201 needed grabbing a brand-new routine: the emergency brake was a lever located on the center console as opposed to a pedal.
In the United States, the W201 made its launching as a 1984 design with two readily available engines. The most inexpensive member of the range (which, consequently, ended up being the most affordable Mercedes) was the 190E powered by a 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 113 horsepower and also 133 pound-feet of torque, though those figures increased to 120 and also 136, respectively, for 1985. Next up was the 190D, whose naturally-aspirated, 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel engine established 72 horsepower and 96 pound-feet of torque. Rear-wheel-drive as well as a five-speed handbook transmission came conventional despite gas kind, and purchasers that really did not want to change might pay extra for a four-speed automated.
Prices started at $22,850 for the 190E and also $22,930 for the 190D, numbers that represent around $65,600 and $65,800 in 2022. In comparison, Volkswagen charged $6,530 (around $18,800 in 2022) for an entry-level Rabbit that year as well as a 2022 C-Class begins at $43,550.
The W201 was an instantaneous hit, and also its success motivated Mercedes to launch added variations in the 1980s. The 1986 design year brought a 16-valve, 167-horsepower evolution of the 2.3-liter four-cylinder as well as a 2.5-liter, 93-horsepower five-cylinder diesel. In 1987, the initial six-cylinder-powered W201 landed in American display rooms as the 190E 2.6. It used the W124’s 158-horsepower straight-six. The array expanded across the Atlantic as well, and Mercedes also took the W201 auto racing in a quote to uncrown the initial, E30-based BMW M3.
Fuel or diesel, 4, 5, or 6 cylinders, as well as automatic or manual; there were countless methods to set up a W201. What never altered was the body design: throughout its career, the design was exclusively supplied as a four-door sedan. Mercedes explore numerous various prototypes, consisting of a pillar-less two-door convertible (received our gallery), however none were authorized for manufacturing.
The majority of versions of the W201 brought the 190 nameplate (by itself to designate a carbureted engine, followed by an “E” to assign a fuel-injected gas engine, or followed by a “D” to designate a diesel engine) however there was one exemption. In the very early 1990s, Mercedes marketed a stripped-down, entry-level version of the W201 called 180E on the Australian market that was powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine.
W201 manufacturing ended in 1993 after regarding 1.87 million devices were developed. The car passed the torch to the initial C-Class, which was called W202 internally as well as ended up being the first small Mercedes used as a station wagon. While the 190 was thought about a cheap, robust, and non reusable cars and truck for many years, it’s slowly however definitely coming to be popular by fanatics around the world as well as values are as a result increasing. Several were driven right into the ground so finding a tidy, well-kept instance has come to be simpler said than done.