Late 2003. Having travelled far and wide in the Sahara on trail bikes and in 4WDs, there is not much more to prove with these types of vehicles, not surprisingly, they work fine. With my Land Cruiser and XRL sold I had plans to get a normal car but could not resist something that, with a minimum of expense, would also make a functional desert car.

2WD exploration in the Sahara, dates from the WWI Light Car Patrols and as we know, the LRDG roamed all over the Libyan Desert in Chevrolet trucks. And these days the likes of the Plymouth Dakar Rally shows that 85% of old bangers can make it across the desert so, with a bit of work, a robust two-wheeler should do well in all but the sand seas.

I was looking for a well-known and plentiful, reliable, economical, tough, basic big diesel for around £500. I started with Citroen ZXs, lingered over Peugeot 405s and 205s - but was not convinced by FWD. Although I couldn't recognise one in the street, I considered Toyota sedans but, with their great reputation for reliability, they're expensive for an old car. I then discovered how cheap and prolific Mercedes 190s were - a Poor Man's Merc from the mid 1980s - and the usual web resources produced promising reports - high mileage's were common with no rust problems and great reliability.

Most diesel 190s seem to be up north where I eventually picked up a five-cylinder 2.5D with 228,000 miles for £800. Problems added up to only small oil leaks (common and not worth worrying about) and... that's it. Everything worked, the inside was amazing for the mileage, with a recent cheap respray and no rust. Engine oil pressure was good too, though the machine was much plainer than I imagined for a car with a classy image - it sure looked like a basic entry-level Merc inside.

On the way home the well-known chronic gear change manifested itself, and also an annoying for-aft wobble on slow changes as if the engine mounts were shagged. But ... What ...A ... Slug! (after an HJ61). I'm sure glad I didn't go for the 2-litre four. Still, it sits on 80+, brakes and corners very nicely with no slack in the steering or worrying noises. First mpg was 46 - pretty good for a quarter-million mile diesel.

First thing was to do a few long runs to try and find some more faults, but nothing except that wobble cropped up. So after a month I decided it was safe to take the plunge and rev up the shopping trolley.

Stage 1

With a Morocco new route research trip lined up for February, I set about fixing it up for a bit of stony off-roading. For the moment this added up to:

• Bigger tyres
• Taller suspension
• Bashplate
• new clutch

While I was in the Gilf over Christmas I left the car with Andy at Allisport in Gloucestershire with instructions to replace the oil-soaked plastic 'bashplate' with something with more of a clank to it. A month later AlliAndy had done a great job. How rare is is that you ask someone to make a custom fabrication and get exactly what you asked for. The plate was 1.5 metre long, covering the sump and gearbox, with a special cowling going up round the front to protect the bottom of the radiator - a weak point when road cars nosedive off dunes which they have to attack faster than a 4WD.

With the bash fitted still the car refused to blow up in my face so I set about sourcing some tyres. I didn't want off-road tyres, normal road tyres work fine in the desert at low pressures, but I wanted something a tad taller than normal 185/70 15s. Only a few tyre websites offer full details of dimensions, but Continental was one of them (or at least they replied to the enquiry fast): Their reinforced Vancos were 655mm tall over the standard 625mm. Once the suspension was raised they'd fit in - probably - and the width was only 20mm greater so hopefully would not foul shocks or body. My Tyres did five Conti Vanco Contact 195/70 R15 97T RF (reinforced) for 40 quid each, mail order.

Mercedian Desert Dealer Gerbert advised me that jacking up a 190 was easy - you just replaced the spring pads on top of the coil springs - they are available in various thicknesses. He usually does in on the way out in Morocco or Tunisia as its a tricky job. I was not so sure about stressing the original springs with thicker pads as I had a few trips lined up rather than just flogging it - one spring had recently been replaced. So I ordered a set of new springs from Coil Springs in Sheffield, recommended by Matt. My request was an educated guess: 20% heavier duty and about half an inch longer. I wasn't after a radical lift as I didn't want to stress the steering or final drive joints and didn't really know what I was doing. And anyway, the 20% HD would keep it high. (FYI, 190s are more typically lowered - apparently it looks mean and sparks nicely off speed humps...). I learned that, with independent suspension, an inch at the spring mounted half way along the swing arm adds up to double that at the wheel (basic geometry) so Coil Springs asked me for loaded and unloaded measurements and got on with it

Fitting them was indeed a nasty job, especially on the back where Coil's version was way too long and caused much aggro until I finally worked this out. They chopped them down a bit and sent them back quick. But even with spring compressors it took a few African solutions to 'explode' them into place and not without some blood and bruises. At the same time I slapped on standard new shocks. Apart from that replaced front spring it all looked like original 1987 gear. With the car jacked up I went round the block waiting for something to snap, and then nipped off up the road to Derbyshire

I'd booked in for some surgery at the new The Matt Savage Overland Research Establishment who was up for a bit of metal bashing with the help from his old mate, Barry. Various bits were ordered off Eurocar Parts or GSF including a clutch kit (who knows how old the current one was) a spare water pump, belts, hoses and filters. And, a bit of extravagance: a 5L tin of 'NATO Sand' paint from Anchor. I've always wanted a car this colour and the 190 is to be the new flagship of the Sahara Overland Group after all.

By a stroke of luck a guy in the barn next to Matt's was scraping his 190 and invited Matt and myself to pick it clean and dump it for him. An hour later we'd grabbed the top front shock bushes, rad, blower fan (it was an auto) lights, wheels and ash tray After just four days Barry emerged from his shed into a snowstorm with all boxes ticked: new clutch, respray, new upper shock bushes, fuel/brake line protection plate and an extra fan - and at a great price too. It would have taken me weeks to make a mess of the same job.

A week later I picked up the 190. blueprinted to FIM-approved Desert - Stage One spec. The height looked just as I'd envisaged it: a couple of inches at the front and double that at the back where the weight will go. Driving it with all the old wheels and other junk in the boot was just right - a bit firmer and higher but nothing weird. And, praise the Lord, that infernal for-aft wobbling was all but gone - was it the new clutch or prop grease - who knows? - we reckon it's the anti-radar paint.

January 2004

Read about the Morocco test run

Summer 2005 - The Epilogue