The 190 (W201) compact executive saloon was a car that revolutionised Mercedes-Benz. Sure, it didn’t look dramatically unusual – though it was inarguably handsome and well-proportioned. But what it did do was introduce the iconic three-pointed star to a whole new audience, taking on the BMW 3-Series as one of the world’s first compact executive cars. 

With its clearly defined shape and finely chiselled contours, the Bruno Sacco design was subtle but imposing, with the baby Benz having far more car park presence than others the same size (and length wise, it was both shorter and narrower than a Vauxhall Cavalier). 

It also ushered in new levels of safety thanks to its crash-channel body structure, while its aerodynamics were optimised to deliver class-leading economy and efficiency.

The 190 also had a revolutionary new chassis design, developed specifically for the new model, which proved a great success. The main feature was the multi-link independent rear suspension. Each of the rear wheels was located by five independent links for optimum wheel control, with lateral and longitudinal forces effectively balanced in all driving situations. 

This improved steering precision and ensured very well-behaved handling characteristics which carried the car through an impressively length 10-year production life. By the time it was replaced in late 1993, it still felt able and class-competitive thanks to being so over-engineered to begin with. 

The car we have here is an early pre-facelift example and is a really unusual specification as it's based on an entry level car with a carburettor-fed engine and manual gearbox, it has some high end features such as alloy wheels and black leather interior which would have been expensive additions when new.

The current owner acquired the Mercedes-Benz last year from an owner who’d had it since 2002. She parked the car up in 2008 and hadn't used it since. 

The car needed some fairly extensive recommissioning after a fairly long lay-up, but it's been put back to good running order by the vendor and it will be sold with a full 12-month MOT.

The Mercedes-Benz comes with quite a bit of service history both recently and historically. It has a stack of receipts from its recommissioning including a headlight, propshaft centre mounting, head gasket, rocker cover, exhaust gaskets, a complete new carburettor, radiator fan, distributor cap, rotor arm, brake discs, pads, a new master cylinder and a brand-new Yuasa battery. The recommissioning bills alone run into the thousands.

There is also a full file of service and repair invoices from the period between 2002 and 2008 when the previous owner had the car, along with both old and new V5s, a pile of old MOT certificates and a clear HPI history check.

Overall, the Arctic White paint looks very presentable and is mostly original, though it has seen some minor repairs in a couple of areas (notably next to the boot lid on one wing corner) and there are a few small marks and scuffs dotted around the car. There's also small amounts of rust on the off-side rear door frame and the trailing edge of both sills have been previously repaired, though the welding is very solid and extremely neat. The underside appears to be clean, strong and rot-free.

The original alloys are in presentable order and all the trim is present and correct. At some point, the car has had a new boot lid fitted as the inside of the panel is a different colour. It also has a boot spoiler and has been given a badge from a more powerful 190E, so it's quite possible that this was an improvement modification carried out in the car’s early years.

This car is very smart and subtle inside, with black leather trim, matching door cards and dark blue carpets. 

It's in good overall order with only a couple of very minor glitches, such as the interior door cards lifting slightly at the window seals – a very common fault on the W201 Series. The Mercedes also comes with its original first aid kit on the rear parcel shelf.

In-car entertainment comes courtesy of a 21st century Pioneer USB/CD player with good sound quality, and all of the dials and switches appear to work as they should.

As detailed by its rather comprehensive collection of recent bills, the 190 has had a lot of rectification work carried out lately including a full new carburettor and head gasket, as well as a complete service and general overhaul.

The braking system has also been completely renewed along with some suspension bushes, and the car will go to its new owner with a full MOT. It has covered 144,300 miles since new, and still holds excellent oil pressure. 

The manual transmission is easy to operate and the clutch fairly light, making it a relaxing and comfortable car to drive, though with just 89bhp, please don't expect race car performance. It’ll cruise happily at motorway speeds but is unlikely to win the traffic light Grand Prix.

In many respects, the 190 is one of the most seminal cars of the 1980s as by taking the game to arch-rival BMW it was responsible – in part – for creating the compact executive car market and all that came with it, including the exponential growth of German cars in the UK.

It’s a pleasant car to drive, if not especially quick, and an extremely handsome one with a decent history. In this colour scheme it’s also one of the best-looking 190s of its era, unadorned by the later plastic body sides fitted to fatten it up . 

It’s a beautifully engineered and extremely original car in a very rare and unusual specification.