[Greg in Oz]

Here are some pics of my 190E 2.3 Sportline 5-speed manual at our recent club concours. The 190E didn't take any awards but our 300TE won the class (which includes W201, W124 and pre '96 R129, W140 and W202).

For pics of the 300TE go to http://www.benzworld.org/forums/messages.asp?messno=56188&id=11&view=t

This first pic shows the underside of the 190E being prepared (it is my daily driver).

 

[Greg in Oz]

This next pic is of the engine bay. No, the judges don't like the colour changes, but I do. The 300TE is the serious concours entrant. I entered the 190E just for fun (and it is a good excuse for a thorough clean). For most of you with left hand drive, note the differences in the right hand drive version.

 

[Greg in Oz]

Upon arrival at the concours

 

[Greg in Oz]

A front view. Next to mine is the only other 190E entered for judging, a 2.3 16 valve.

 

[Greg in Oz]

And a rear view

 

[Greg in Oz]

A pic of my 190E next to our class winning 300TE. "His and Hers". Just one month separates them in age and the 190E was 333 cars ahead of the 300TE into Australia.

 

[Greg in Oz]

And our two cars from behind.

For more pics of the 300TE see
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/messages.asp?messno=56188&id=11&view=t

and for more of the 190E Sportline see
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/messages.asp?messno=49433&id=14&view=t

 

[Bruce R.]

Did they knock off points for rusty brake discs?

Just kidding.......... In street class here in the States we don't judge inside of the fender curl, or the casting seam of the wheels. In many cases waxing the inside of the fender wells makes it easier to keep them clean.
The car looks good.

 

[Greg in Oz]

Re: Did they knock off points for rusty brake discs?

Just kidding.......... In street class here in the States we don't judge inside of the fender curl, or the casting seam of the wheels. In many cases waxing the inside of the fender wells makes it easier to keep them clean.
The car looks good.

Those brake discs sure rust quickly when you get them wet. Fortunately they "self clean" driving to the concours (no, we cannot trailer the cars, they must drive into the concours under their own power).

The class we entered is not actually a street or daily driver class. It is the official concours class for W124, W201, early W140, early W202 and early R129 with full judging including undersides. It just so happens that being a class for "newish" cars many are regularly driven anyway. For those with daily drivers (minimum 8000km or 5000 miles annually) who don't want to put in as much effort (particularly underneath) we have a "road class" with less stringent judging.

 

[Bruce R.]

Here we call what you are doing "Show Class".

Daily drivers compete in the "Street Class", where we just look at the interior and exterior of the cars. The "Show Class" cars get an underside going over as well. [}]
Doesn't matter for me though, just like you, I pull the wheels and wash and wax the wheel wells, the inside of the wheels, and all the other places nobody ever really looks. [:I]
Cars that are trailered in, in the street class get penalized, show cars don't.
As a point of interest, I'm the Concours Chairman of the local section of the MBCA. [B)]

 

[Greg in Oz]

I use concours as a good excuse to give the cars a thorough clean in the areas you otherwi...

I use concours as a good excuse to give the cars a thorough clean in the areas you otherwise would not worry about. It is a good opportunity to inspect the condition of underbody areas as well. Once the difficult job of removing years of road grime (and baked-on brake dust from the wheels) from previous owners is done, I find it is not difficult to do if repeated yearly. I too, have done the job of chief organiser of our concours on a couple of occasions, a position we refer to as Concours Director.

 

[Bruce R.]

I agree, it's always easier to keep something clean rather then .....

to clean it after it's dirty.

 

[Greg in Oz]

More pics (other cars) and full results

For more pics of other cars at the concours see
http://www.mercedes-benzclubnsw.com.au/2003con.htm
and for full results with a couple more pics see
http://www.mercedes-benzclubnsw.com.au/concours1.htm

These pages are available along with others giving information about the Mercedes-Benz Club (NSW) Inc. based in Sydney, Australia from the club's home page at
http://www.mercedes-benzclubnsw.com.au/home.htm