- Wednesday, December 26, 1984 - North Shore News

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YOUR COMPLETE
AUTO GUIDE

985-2131

Driving an almost nerfect car

I KNEW it was going to be a treat picking up a new
190E 2.3 at
dealership and I was not disappointed. After show-
ing a short film on the development of this new car,
the congenial salesman, Les Paton, introduced me
dials,

Mercedes-Benz

to all the buttons,
vehicle.
Although costing

thousands of dollars less than
ius big brothers the $31,500
190E gives the kind of quality
that Mercedes-Benz has built
Ils impressive reputation on

Taking no less than 10
vears to develop. the car
shows this thoughttulness

throughout Uneannily quiet,
itis hard to know the engine
is running at idle, except tor
the tachometer) Although it
is Obviously a car for the
wealthy. there is no ostenta
tion anywhere In tact,
everything about the car has
an understated excellence in

quahity
Of course, the real test is
how the machine behaves

under a variety of road con-
ditions With the weather we
have had lately, | was able to
drive the car on dry, wet, and
icy pavement Although the
190 is a tour door sedan, it
corners more like a sports cat

inside

the Marine Drive

and switches on the

Story and Photo

By ELLSWORTH DICKSON

due to its ght weight com-
bined with an advanced
-multi-link independent rear
suspension There are dise
brakes all around

The seats provide excellent
lateral support on fast cor-
ners and more or tess hold
your bodys in place

leaving the automatic
transmission in TD pro
vides adequate acceleration,
but is not exactly  neck-
snapping However, shitting
the automatic manually
livens things up considerably,
especially above 3,000 RPM
when vou start to feel the real
power of the 2.3 litre engine,
which beasts 120 HP

The 190b has many luxury

and convenience accessories

See page 13

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