Unsuitable for learner drivers and rally drivers
09/03/2014
It is probably no surprise that Mercedes Benz was not so keen on learner drivers. What is more surprising is the fact that the manual gearboxes were treated rather neglected.
This was also evident in the handbrake, which Mercedes Benz did not have. It was replaced by a foot-operated parking brake, which did a similar job to a manually operated mechanical brake, but was completely different in terms of operation. The brake was locked by pressing an additional pedal located on the left-hand side and was then released by pulling a button to the left of the steering wheel.
This arrangement had several disadvantages. It made handbrake turns almost impossible, and if you had to stop on a slope and start again without rolling backwards, you first had to take the car out of gear before pressing the foot parking brake, because otherwise you could not release the clutch pedal. However, since driving school taught that you had to start off with the handbrake, this was a rather cumbersome procedure. In addition, these vehicles were not suitable as private driving school vehicles, as the passenger could not operate the foot parking brake from his position.
Incidentally, the Mercedes Benz 190 E had a completely normal handbrake, for whatever reason. In addition to Mercedes, Citroën and BMW also used this special arrangement for selected models.
