The MIGHTY Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 EVO II – the ‘AMG’ Mercedes before AMG Mercedes’ – turns 30

The Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 EVO II, Mercedes’ DTM homologation special from 1990, turns 30, built in-house by Mercedes, not AMG.

It’s hard to think of Mercedes now without thinking of the AMG performance models, but there was a time when AMG was an independent company and Mercedes made its performance cars in-house.

Mercedes bought-in to AMG in 1999 – and took control in 2005 – and the first ‘factory’ AMG was the mid-nineties C36, but prior to that Mercedes effectively previewed what was to come with the 1990 Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 EVO II. Which makes it almost exactly 30 years old this month as it was revealed at the 1990 Geneva Motor Show.

Built as a DTM Homologation Special, the 190 E 2.5-16 EVO II came with a, by today’s standards, modest 229bhp, but back then that was more than twice as much as a regular 190, even if it’s only the sort of power you’ll now find in a diesel C-Class.

It also came with a bonkers body kit including, what Mercedes call a ‘Mighty’, rear wing for added downforce, stiff suspension and 17″ wheels (think 22″ these days as a relative measure).

Mercedes needed to build 500 EVO IIs for homologation (although they actually built 502), and all were finished in blue-black and looked properly brilliant.

But my, how things have changed in 30 years.