Mercedes-Benz W201 (190) The Complete Story

by Taylor, James

• ISBN13: 9781785007330
• ISBN10: 1785007335
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2020-11-24
• Publisher: The Crowood Press UK

Summary

The Mercedes-Benz W201 was a compact saloon designed to address both concerns about fuel economy generated by the first oil crisis in the 1970s and competition for sales from the BMW 3 Series. 

Many doubted that Mercedes could deliver a compact car whilst retaining their traditional qualities. But the W201 soon won them over, for here was a car that was a real Mercedes in the tradition of the time - it was just smaller. With around 200 photographs, this book features the reasons behind the need to build a new compact saloon in the 1980s and the styling, engineering and specification changes introduced over the lifetime of the model. Full technical specifications, including paint and interior trim choices are given. A chapter on the special US variants along with production tables and vehicle number sequences and, finally a chapter on buying an owning a 201-series Mercedes.   

Author Biography

After graduating from Oxford and pursuing further academic studies at Reading, James Taylor spent 12 years working in central government. However, the lure of writing about cars – which he was doing in his spare time – proved too great and he decided to turn it into a career. James has now written well over 100 books in all, and among them have been several definitive one-make or one-model titles. He has written for enthusiast magazines in several countries, has translated books from foreign languages, and even delivers effective writing training in both the public and private sectors. He spent the best part of ten years as the editor of Land Rover Enthusiast magazine and has always counted the products of the old Rover Company and of Land Rover as his favourite subject. He also co-organised the “15 Years of Rover V8” event at Donington in 1982.