Peter Egan's "Side Glances" and the 190E 2.6
 

I'm a big fan of Peter Egan, who has written the "Side Glances" column in Road and Track since 1983. I purchased a special hard cover edition of his columns 1983 - 1997. If you haven't read his column, purchase Road and Track and check him out. He loves working on cars, vintage racing, etc.

I'm over halfway through the book, and in the May 1993 issue, his column was titled "Ten Years, Ten Favorite Cars", where he listed his ten favorite cars of his first ten years testing cars for Road and Track.

One of his top ten (he didn't rank them) was the 190E 2.6. Following is what he wrote:

"I could have picked several other Mercedes models here, but I chose the 190E because it's the most affordable and it still manages to feel like a Mercedes. Which is to say, it grows on you. The more you drive it, the more you appreciate its rational engineering, excellent road feel, solid luxury, lack of gimmicks and structural integrity. I drove a 2.6 liter 6-cylinder 190E for a week, and for weeks afterward, every other test car felt as if its doors were made of tin." That's all he wrote.

Fwiw, the other cars he chose are: Ferrari Testarossa, Jaguar XJ6 (not the new one, but the last of the previous generation), Mazda Miata, Ford Mustang 5.0 LX, Alfa Romeo 164S, British Motor Heritage MGB, Ford Explorer 4WD, 1964 Corvette Roadster, 1973 Alfa Romeo GTV. He excuses himself for the last two cars because they are not post-1983 models, but he says they were low-mileage "almost-new" examples when he drove them.

The late Alan Clark thought very highly of the 190E 2.6. In his "Backfires" column in Thoroughbred and Classic Cars he stated that for a long journey it would be much more comfortable than a Rolls Royce. In his time he owned a 600 saloon.

That's right! He has written a lot of columns about his days working on foreign cars at that shop.

He has a special affection for English cars. He has written a lot of columns about the mishaps of restoring / working on / throwing money at his 72 MGB, his Jaguar E-type, and his vintage racer Lotus Seven.

i too like Peter Egan's writing style.

he takes seemingly mundane topics and makes something interesting out of them.

he makes you feel good to be a car guy - that's it's ok to be obsessed with such mechanical objects and not to feel guilty about spending too much time with them ...

I'm a huge fan of Peter Egan-just called a buddy of his, who promises to provide me with his phone number...I've been dying to talk to the guy, and now I have something to talk about (although lack of content never stopped me before:p )

Another cool thing about the hardcover is that it's more the size of a coffee table book than a typical hardcover, and it's beautifully bound.

I ordered it before X-Mas, and it wasn't cheap, about $50.00???

I was supposed to receive it before X-mas, and it never showed up. I was about to call the publisher to complain, when the book finally arrived early February.

To my surprise, Peter Egan signed my book, Best Wishes. It also is handwritten that my book is number 208 out of 250 copies of a special collectors' edition.

I wasn't expecting this. Maybe it was a way for them "to apologize" for taking nearly two months to get it to me.

Michael, if you get ahold of Peter, give him my regards... lol

See if you can get him to check out this forum and say hello.

Paul,

I'll do just that:)

Both volumes are available in paperback. $13.97 on amazon. :)

Agreed, one of my favorites. He wrote a great series on bug eye Sprites way back when. One of my favorite quotes from when he worked at a cycle magazine,

I saw Jesus so many time I started using him as a braking marker.

I didn't know that. he's a fine writer. Have you met him? Did you burn incense before? or after?

I met that guy once, at a resturant here in good ol' Evansville. Live thppppttt probably what 3 or 5 miles from here. Been by his house just to see what it looks like. Anyways, yeah I was waiting for a carry-out order at the bar at this place in Evansville and he came in and I didn't pay much attention (more hungry that anything else) and asks for a table. The barchick asks if he had a reservation, he said no, so she put him on the waiting list, asked for the name and he said "Egan". I recognized the name, but from "Cycle" magazine, (I never read R&T), but I kinda recognized him then, because of the sketch in his Cycle column. He got a table along the side, he and his wife, came over near me to order a drink (I think an Old Fashioned and a soda) and I asked if he was Peter Egan, said he was, I introduced myself and said I enjoy his articles in Cycle, and a few other pleasantries. Seemed like a nice guy.
Gilly