Chasing nostalgia in FCPEuro's Mercedes 190E restomod racer. 📸: deerfella
For me, civilization peaked around 1989. It wasn’t the pent-up creative energy behind the teetering Berlin Wall or even the release of The Beastie Boys’ “Disintegration” that set a high-water mark. Back then, for my money, touring car racing reached its zenith.
“Builds are an authentic way to excite people and keep it about the parts,” says Nate Vincent, one of the masterminds behind the build. Vincent is a self-proclaimed touring car maniac who oversaw the ideation and construction of the project.He’s worshipped at that touring car altar for a lifetime, even racing in the modern TCR Series.
From that blank slate, a decision was made to ditch the car’s faithful 2.6-liter Mercedes inline-six. Instead of sourcing the period- and chassis-correct 16-valve inline-four for the car, the FCP crew went for that engine’s modern descendant, the turbocharged 2.0-liter M133 inline-four. At one point, the FCP team raided its parts department and lined up twenty different ball joints, side by side, tearing each one brand-new from the packaging, swapping them in and out until the right fit was found. The car’s steering rack is borrowed from an E46 BMW 3-series—a familiar and proven quantity—and the brakes were pulled off a modern C63 AMG. The transmission is an SLK's six-speed, which Vincent says will mate to nearly any Mercedes engine, past or present.
There’s no key to hand over here. Instead, I throw on a helmet and hump over the roll cage’s door bars, then slump into the deep bucket seat where a five-point harness awaits. I press a series of button presses on the Cartek panel—ECU, IGNITION, FUEL PUMP 1, FUEL PUMP 2—and we’re ready to roll. Finally, I poke the “START” button.
Into Lime Rock’s arcing first turn, backing the car down from the long straight that precedes, you have to shove every ounce of leg you’ve got at the brake pedal. Initially, I’m worried the wheels might lock up if I ask too much, so I approach the turn again and again with abundant caution. After a few sessions, it’s clear that I wasn’t asking nearly enough of the brakes up front – maybe only 60 or 70 percent of their total power.
That rubber compound and the extra travel and compliance from the chassis allows the 190 to ease up to that happy buzzy floating moment when both outside tires are at their limit and the car is screaming JUST LIKE THAT through every conceivable means – the steering, pedals, and seat of your pants.During my last stint in the car, I come to grips with the car, finding where my limited talent meets its vast capability.
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