Video: How to perfectly clean a DTM legend

08th September 2021

Laura Thomson

You know the feeling – having just cleaned your pride and joy, you step back to enjoy the sight of it shimmering in the sunlight. Weak knees and wet eyes ensue, and you swear you’ve never seen anything so beautiful in your life…

Okay, maybe not quite, but you get the gist. There’s just something about a gleaming motor, as clean as the day it rolled out the showroom. But perhaps even more enjoyable is watching someone else clean a classic, in painstaking, delicious detail.

Tune in to this nearly-NSFW short, courtesy of the Auto Finesse detailing academy, and watch as they treat a Mercedes 190E Cosworth to the ultimate valet. Starting with the wheels (whatever happened to washing from the top down?), the car is given a thorough going over, while James Batty, the company’s MD, explains the process. The car makes this video all the more special.

Just a handful of the Cosworth-powered models were built, born of Mercedes’s desire to take the 190E rallying, before switching to DTM upon the advent of Audi’s superior Quattro system. With the racing cars having to be based on a roadgoing model, a series production 190E Cosworth was launched at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Take 15 minutes and watch as the car is cleaned inside and out, with the team even going sofar to correct paint blemishes. And for fans wishing to replicate the clean on their own cars, Auto Finesse has listed all the products used in the description. It’s no quick shower, mind, but a labour of love that will be well worth the results.

Welcome to Goodwood Elevenses, a mid-morning helping of motoring-related amusement to help break up your day. Watch the last video: This crazy Opel Kadett revs to 11,000rpm