> An amazing number of these cars suffered through engine > transplants. I am not sure whether it was because they were > underpowered or parts were hard to get, but I have seen quite > a few with American engines stuffed in.
Probably mostly the typical 'there's no replacement for cubic displacement' mentality. ;^> My parents used to have a pair of these; my mother's was stock while my Dad (operating a foreign car repair shop in Detroit at the time) had balanced and blueprinted his and added a Judson supercharger. My mother and her sister had to be bailed out of jail after being clocked at something like 140mph in my Dad's car. My then-teenaged uncle recently revealed that while staying with us one summer he would sneak my Dad's 190SL out of the driveway at night and go race unsuspecting V8's with it. A 600A controller fed by floodeds ~might~ take a stock 190SL off the line, but I wouldn't expect it to stay ahead very long. No idea how easy one of these will be to stuff batteries into, but they are certainly a beautiful car. Too bad they have appreciated so much in value... I believe they were about $6k when new. Cheers, Roger.
