Our Winner For May Is arnoldp!! Congratulations Arnold!
Username: arnoldp
First Name: Arnold
Location: Santa Clarita, CA
Here's the essay...
My car is a 1987 190e. It was originally sold as new through Beverly Hills Motoring Accessories in Beverly Hills, CA. It was first sold as a new car in 1988. BHMA was one of Southern California’s Authorized AMG dealers during those times. I remember going there and seeing the car in their showroom. I also vividly remember the recurring dreams of owning the car. The dream of owning that car, parked in my garage with the license plate AMG 3.2. Unfortunately, I could not afford it at that time.
Let’s fast-forward five years. 1993. I was working the graveyard shift, browsing the LA Times Auto Classified add. Not particularly to find and buy a car, but to keep myself well informed of the current prices of the vehicles I would like to own. Then I saw IT. The add reads “MERCEDES 190E AMG 3.2, 555-1212”. That’s it! That one-liner made my heart beat faster. Come 8:30 am the following morning, I called the number. I talked to the owner and she verified my suspicion. It was the same car I’ve been salivating for in the last 5 years. Apparently the car was given to this girl as a high school graduation present. Now that she had graduated from college, her dad gave her an SL500. Needless to say she sold me the car for a price no one can refuse. I bought the car that very same day. When I was trying to get the personalized plates of my dreams, it was already taken. I had to settle for 3.0 AMG.
What’s in the car? What’s so special about the car? Well, it was not a true production AMG car, but AMG, USA did all the modification on it. First, they placed a 300E engine in it. Full AMG Exhaust, Full AMG Body kit, Full AMG Suspension and Full AMG Brake kit. The car up to this point only has 123,000 miles on it. It used to be only a Sunday 5-mile car until my daily driver got totaled (a 1984 Porsche 944). The car, I must say still runs strong and continues to be reliable even as a daily driver. I’m now in the market for a Porsche 911, so I can restore my 190e and make it my Sunday 5-mile car again. I have always been a w201 enthusiast, and I will always be a w201 enthusiast. Here are some pictures.
