With only 502 examples ever made and hundreds of thousands of dollars selling price, getting yourself a legendary 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E Evolution II seems like a pipe dream. Dom Tucci of Tucci Hot Rods thought so too, so he did the next best thing – build a tribute that looks almost like the original. The clincher? He might have built a better one than the rare race car homologation special.
Based on a regular $500 Mercedes 190E, the forebear of the modern C-Class sedans, Tucci didn’t go for a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine for the tribute build. Instead, he used a 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 pulled from a Ford F-150 Raptor, capable of producing over 450 horsepower. That’s nearly twice the power of the original Cosworth-tuned mill. But as you can imagine, shoehorning a V6 into a tiny engine bay wasn’t a cinch.
Shoehorning An EcoBoost V6 Wasn’t A Cakewalk
According to Tucci, fitting the Raptor engine into the W201’s engine bay required extensive fabrication work. They had to build custom mounting points, while also reworking the plumbing for the turbochargers’ plumbing plus some TIG-welded piping. He also focused on the mechanical elements, replacing the factory steering box, brakes, HVAC system, and suspension components with something more contemporary.
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The genius behind this Evo II-inspired build goes beyond what’s under the hood.
But perhaps the biggest draw to this 190E Evo II tribute is the bodywork. Tucci made sure that their work keeps faith with the original car through hand-formed metalwork, with body kits, fender flares, a tall wing, and other aero parts designed to work as a stand in for the real thing. Even the wheels appear period correct despite not having an original 190 Evo II donor like HWA had with its insatiable 500-hp restomod creation.
Almost Period Correct Interior, Thanks To 3D-Printing
The story’s the same inside. Tucci employed a keen eye for detail to make the cabin look like it’s from the factory. The Dakota Digital instrument cluster is a modern touch, though Tucci altered it with original-style gauge bezels. The climate-control housing is also 3D-printed to look retro, while the radio also looks period correct despite having modern Bluetooth connectivity. That shifter knob doesn’t look factory, though, so that’s something to work on.
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The exterior comes with bullet marks and sheet metal panel styling.
Tucci didn’t mention the total price accrued by this build, though he said it was finished within a year of when they started. Dom’s modern techniques – laser cutting, 3D printing, and CNC – combined with the Tucci Hot Rods’ tradition of customer car building, Tucci made a stunning Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II tribute worthy of admiration.
H/T: The Drive
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