HWA Evo: ‘Please don’t call it a restomod’

The biggest surprise about HWA’s first self-branded car is that it isn’t based on a Mercedes E-Class. HWA is the eponymous company established by Hans Werner Aufrecht when he sold AMG to Mercedes in 1998. And when most of us think about pre-acquisition road-going AMGs we’re likely to summon memories of the monstrous ‘Hammer’ versions of the W124 E-Class. So would that not have been a more obvious place to start? 

“No, because the Hammer never raced,” explains HWA CEO Martin Marx when PH was invited to an exclusive preview of the new car in Affalterbach earlier this week. “We wanted a car from our motorsport history, from our racing DNA, and the 190E Evo is still one of the most successful touring cars of all time.”

Hence HWA’s very obvious homage to the 190E Evo II which served as the basis for the most successful DTM versions of the baby Benz. The Evo II’s place in the pantheon of Merc’s most special models is already assured with values to match. Last year a barely-used 3,300-mile example sold for an astonishing $544,000 at auction in the States. Which, given that only 502 Evo IIs were made among more than 1.9m 190Es, gives obvious impetus for HWA’s new version. There is no shortage of potential donor cars – apparently more than 50,000 are still in use in Germany. But the giddy heights of Evo II prices mean HWA is confident it will find buyers willing to pay €714,000 before tax for its car – which translates to £725,000 including VAT at current exchange rates. That’s a price that puts even Prodrive’s P25 Imprezo-mod into the shade.

Yet, with all due respect to the Scooby, the HWA Evo is a much more serious bit of re-engineering. Yes, it looks like an Evo II, and shares bits of its body with the 190E, but almost every part has been substantially changed. That point was made by the chance to see HWA’s ‘concept demonstrator’ parked next to its inspiration at the company’s Affalterbach HQ. The new Evo is both substantially wider – a 300mm increase in body width at the back – but also sits on a visibly longer wheelbase, the front axle having been moved 50mm further forward and the rear back by 30mm. Up close the bodywork gives the game away, with no join between bodykit and panel as there was on the original Mercedes. The HWA’s exterior is pretty much all-new and almost entirely made out of carbon fibre. The only original metalwork visible from outside the car are the C-pillars and side roof rails. Bumpers, wings, bonnet, tailgate and the double deck rear wing are all made from carbon. 

Even more radical changes have been made beneath the surface. An original 190E shell will sit at the heart of every HWA Evo, but only the centre section is being used. The entire front end ahead of the bulkhead is replaced with a newly built steel and aluminum structure, one constructed using the same materials and techniques that HWA uses for the AMG GT race cars it also builds. The rear gets a similarly serious reworking with another all-new section, this needing to accommodate what will be a rear-mounted six-speed transaxle gearbox with the shifted location enabling a perfect 50:50 weight distribution. Double wishbone suspension at each corner replaces the original combination of front struts and a multi-link at the back, but with billet-milled wheel carriers and bearings that are apparently the same as the ones used in Merc’s hugely heavy factory-armoured cars.

Doing all the structural work to both ends of the car would be pointless without also upgrading the original centre section, with this being done with welded reinforcement. “We want to have more structural strength, but we don’t want to have an exposed roll cage in the car,” explains HWA’s Chief Technology Officer, Gordian Von Schöning, “because that would be too intrusive.” The bonded carbon fibre panels will also help to increase torsional stiffness, as will a fully bonded rear screen (one that requires HWA to commission bespoke glasswork.) Other mechanical changes include hydraulically assisted rack and pinion steering (the original 190E had a recirculating ball), it powered by a hydraulic pump within the rear transaxle. Brakes will use six-pot Brembo calipers at the front, four-pots at the rear, with steel discs standard and carbon-ceramics an option. Buyers will also be able to upgrade from passive to active dampers. 

Design is the work of Edgar Chu, a veteran of Mercedes and Nissan who has already led the styling of numerous race cars for HWA. Keeping the character of the original Evo II while accommodating the sizeable stretch in dimensions and the need for enhanced cooling was a tough challenge, but one he seems to have pulled off with the car’s basic form; he’s rightly proud of the integration of the vents for front and rear wheelarches which look functional rather than just show-offish. HWA put an original Evo II in a wind tunnel and were impressed to discover the rear wing and front splitter do produce downforce in road guise – the parts were only there for homologation reasons. But the new Evo has been given the benefit of computer-honed aerodynamics to deliver high-speed stability. Von Schöning says that numbers aren’t finalised, but the target is to make around 80kg of net aerodynamic downforce at 125mph.

Details are where the assessment of any car like the HWA Evo will get more subjective. I liked the concept’s wheels, 19-inch at the front, 20-inch at the rear, which look like upsized and dished versions of the original car’s 17-inch alloys. But I’m not a fan of the new LED headlights or taillights, nor the show concept’s black double bar radiator grille. But as the owner of a 190E 2.5-16 – yep, it’s still in the garage – I’m far from being an impartial observer. Von Schöning confirms that a chrome grille surround will be offered as an option, and although HWA won’t sell the car wearing a Mercedes star buyers may also choose to add an original style ‘gunsight’ star to the front of the bonnet. 

The concept doesn’t have a finished interior at the moment – hence the tinted windows – but Chu says the plan is to keep the basic architecture of the original car rather than try a radical ahistorical transformation. HWA says there will be Recaro seats and a digital instrument pack, although with the plan being for this to offer the option of a rendered version of the original Evo II’s stylish analogue clocks. It will also feature standard air conditioning, but with the carbon roof panel meaning it won’t have a sunroof. Unlike the original Evo II, which was available exclusively in blue-black, buyers will have effectively free choice of colour, with HWA planning to offer the chance for some schemes inspired by famous 190E rally cars.

Which brings us to the biggest anachronistic change of all, the arrival of V6 power in the form of the 3.0-litre M276 biturbo engine as used in the previous generation AMG E43. On the surface, this is the biggest chin-scratcher of all given both that the original Evo II’s rev-happy Cosworth-designed 16-valve four-cylinder was always one of its defining features, but also because Mercedes only started to use V6 power well after the 190E had gone out of production.

“This is a really cool engine, a really great engine,” Von Schöning says, “we had performance targets which meant we could not use another four-cylinder, and the V6 is short enough to mean we have this in a front-mid configuration ahead of the axle. The 60-degree angle means it is also low, which benefits the centre of gravity. Of course, we thought about using a V8, but that would have been really heavy on the front axle – we would have maybe had the same power but more weight.”

The other appeal of the M276 for HWA is the untapped potential of the base engines, which are delivered brand new and then disassembled with components rebalanced before it is rebuilt and bench tested. The engine gets dry sump lubrication, a new induction system and a bespoke HWA ECU. Sadly the rev limiter doesn’t rise as far as the 7,700rpm of the original Evo II – just over 7,000rpm is apparently the target – but it does mean that it will make a peak of 443hp in its standard guise and 493hp with the optional Affalterbach Pack. “But I will be honest, those numbers are very conservative,” says Von Schöning. There will also be two different final drive ratios offered, these giving targeted top speeds of either 168mph or 186mph. Stability and traction control will also be standard, with drive reaching the rear wheels through a plate-type limited-slip differential. 

The point HWA was keenest to emphasise during my time in Affalterbach is the scale of the effort invested in this new direction. “Please don’t call it a restomod,” asks CEO Martin Marx, “this is not an old car that we have modified, it is essentially an all-new car. I can promise you that we have treated this project as seriously as everything else we do here.” This in a facility packed with race cars, race engines and many, many trophies from numerous race victories.

HWA sees road cars as being an increasing part of its future – the company’s smallness allowing it to operate in places that bigger and less wieldy operations like AMG no longer can. Alongside its motorsport activities, HWA is already working on road car projects for other manufacturers, including engineering and production of the forthcoming De Tomaso P72 hypercar. It also does custom work and one-offs for wealthy clients, several having already asked to have original Evo IIs restored alongside orders placed for new cars. 

But there will also be more limited-run projects like this one, both Marx and Von Schöning hinting the next is likely to be Hammer-inspired. Despite the seriousness of its price tag, the Evo already looks to be a success, with three-quarters of the limited-to-100 production run now having names against them. If you’ve got three-quarters of a million spare and a love of classic ‘90s DTM don’t wait too long before reaching out.