I bought this 1987 190E 2.3-16 in early 2010 from my friend and fellow Mercedes-Benz enthusiast, Jeff Wong. It was the third of four 190E 2.3-16s that I bought from him. I kept this one because of the rare tilt-up sunroof – only available in US models during the last three months of 1987.
Leistung Autohaus fully stripped the car and sent it as a shell rolling on donor suspension to a body shop for paint on May 16, 2011. There, the body shop shaved the washer squirters and antenna, and painted it with a color change from smoke silver to astral silver. After it was painted, I stored the car in Jeff’s warehouse until the end of 2019. During that time, Leistung Autohaus and Jeff, along with many other w201 friends, helped me source and acquire most of the parts needed to restore the car.
I moved the car to Jeff’s warehouse to Leistung Autohaus, on December 31, 2019, and from January 1, 2020, through November 2022, Leistung Autohaus fully rebuilt the car. It was returned to me on November 19, 2022, when final, small, details were addressed.