The appetite for resurrecting niche performance icons knows no bounds. We recently saw the reveal of the TWR Supercat, and there has also been the 928 by Nardone Automotive as well as the Kimera EVO38 and Maturo Stradale, two takes on Lancia’s glorious decade of sharp-edged bodywork and raw power. There are doubtless others.
The HWA EVO is a spirited resurrection of the classic Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 EVO II, a race car for the road borne out of the qualification requirements for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, the German touring car championship.
HWA EVO: a limited-edition supercar
This is Chassis 000, the first car in a planned production run by HWA, an engineering and racing specialist founded in 1998 by Hans Werner Aufrecht, formerly the co-founder of AMG back in 1967. Now that the latter is officially part of Mercedes, HWA has free reign to delve into its rich archive of performance machinery, which it maintains, rebuilds and, on this occasion, recreates.
Based in Affalterbach (just like Mercedes-AMG itself), HWA’s facility and skillset is perfectly tuned to making the EVO just as iconic as the original. The company will be going all-out on this first car to showcase the highest levels of specification and quality HWA can achieve. Previously cars produced at the facility include the 2004 Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM AMG and 2008 Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series, as well as several under-the-radar consultancy jobs that HWA isn’t able to talk about.
The origins of the 190E 2.5-16 EVO II from the early 1990s was Mercedes-Benz’s W201 series, better known to the rest of the world as the 190. Something of a departure for Mercedes at the time, the 190 was launched in 1982 as the company’s first small saloon. It was the result of an unprecedented eight-year development programme conducted at the height of Mercedes’ reputation for over-engineering.
The result was a solid platform for a radical performance version and HWA EVO takes this one step further. Every component has been modernised and upgraded, preserved within the signature mix of crisp, Bruno Sacco-penned lines and monstrously aggressive spoilers and flared wheelarches. Following the auction of Chassis 000, build spots will be allocated for a limited number of customer cars.
HWA EVO Chassis 000 will be auctioned at R.M. Sotheby’s 2024 Tegernsee Auction, RMSothebys.com
HWA EVO, from €714,000, plus local taxes, HWAag.com, HWAlegacy.com, @HWAag_official
