You probably weren’t alone in overlooking or underestimating the HWA Evo. Barely a week passes these days without another backdate of some description being announced, and at a cursory glance, the 190 homage could look something like that. It would be fair to say as well that a homologation special of a small Mercedes saloon isn’t quite the global icon that a Porsche or Ferrari sports car is, and - dare it be uttered - the E30 M3 might be the more revered classic DTM racer. Might be.
Whatever the truth of that, it doesn’t take very long at HWA’s Affalterbach HQ - or just a little bit longer learning about the company - to establish the Evo is some way from what’s typically expected from a new car that looks a bit like an old one. This is Hans Werner Aufrecht’s company, after all; he’s literally the ‘A’ in AMG. So when Mercedes bought the company wholesale, Herr Aufrecht wanted to continue with awesome race cars and mad Mercedes Benzes, he founded HWA in the late '90s. What AMG was, before it was hybrid SUVs and badly bodykitted A-Classes, HWA still is: a super successful race team, and builders of some extraordinary limited-run road cars. This isn’t a few dedicated individuals re-engineering in a shed; it’s a globally renowned (in the right circles) motorsport outfit, with a sprawling factory bursting with expertise, decades of history - and a mission with the Evo to get those skills better known.
No team has won more in DTM than HWA. Those glorious (and extremely fast) GT3 Benzes that have been built with the 6.2 in are HWA’s work. They’re helping DeTomaso with the P72. None of that is directly associated with the Evo, yet it demonstrates the sort of attention to detail and expertise that’s going into this project. Race teams making road cars don’t just sweat every detail - they obsess over it. And the results tend to be very special indeed.
That company ethos is exemplified by CTO Gordian Von Schöning. He fizzes around the factory tour like it’s the first time anyone’s been allowed into HWA, pointing out every detail from how they’ve changed the centre cap dish on the optional wheel from last year to the C-pillar vent like an original. “We want to create a project everyone can be proud of, that everyone feels responsible for, our own product,” he says. For too long, they’ve lived in the shadow of their (literal) Affalterbach neighbours. Timeframe and price have gone over initial estimates because everyone involved— nobody more than von Schöning— wants to make the Evo the very best it can be.
Because not many people are aware of HWA, what it does, and what it’s capable of - Gordian says that on more than one occasion - it was assumed AMG owned the company, so there couldn’t be a collaboration with other OEMs. The Evo is part of the strategy to spread the word, but as an opening gambit, it must be the very best. “We have to do it the right way to promote the company because nobody knows the brand,” he adds, so early solutions that were maybe okay have been redone to the highest standard. Apparently, the stakeholders don’t love that approach, but HWA knows no other way. So the oil pump comprises 70 pieces, for example.
Seeing 190s being prepped for an Evo overhaul demonstrates just how little is carried over. If you want to see why they don’t like the ‘restomod’ term, you need to say the bare frame that’ll be used - a shell implies too much Mercedes in there. (What you see here will be stripped down even further.) HWA has engineered a floor, a roof, subframes, essentially a whole new chassis for the Evo; each will get an HWA VIN, and investment is being made now for future cars and collaborations. “We can make it a longer wheelbase, wider tracks for the next car” adds Gordian, in case any further confirmation of their future ambition was required. They have a tonne of proprietary bits, including electronics, that can be used again or sold to third parties. The Evo is the beginning of something much bigger, not some flash-in-the-pan cash-in on a broader trend.
Indeed, the fact that Bosch is a supplier on the project demonstrates just what an undertaking the Evo is. Two cars are being tested by Bosch for a year, at a cost of many millions, to hone the ABS and driver assists for every condition and every drive mode. Pretty much as any large OEM would, albeit with fewer cars and for a bit less time. This isn’t a case of picking some nice off-the-shelf bits and hoping it all works together; HWA is re-engineering here, from the ground up, with help from the best in the business. It says a lot that Bosch is involved, really - they don’t help develop every reimagination. And those details perhaps get lost when thinking about whether the wheels or the lights look quite right.
The engine is a surprisingly familiar Mercedes M276 V6. But it’s really only the block and the heads that will make it to the Evo, HWA putting in their own pistons, conrods, and turbos to deliver the experience they’re after. And something like 500hp. “We don’t want it to be comparable”, Gordi says, suggesting he’s fond of some lag, some turbo excitement, and some drama when it comes to the driving experience. Even if Euro 6E - told you it was a proper new car - makes the sound hard to get right. “This is an emotional project, we want to make an emotional car”, he adds.
That extends to the gearbox, Merc’s turbo V6 allied to a Dana Graziano six-speed manual. The same manual, in fact, as found in the original Lamborghini Gallardo and Audi R8. So that’s surely another box ticked for emotion. The steering wheel has deliberately been designed for minimal distraction from the task at hand. Let’s just hope buyer personalisation can extend to a nicer gearknob than is currently installed.
It’s easy to be confident about that, because the fit and finish of prototypes is deeply impressive. The way the carbon melds with the original bodywork, the way the engine sits a long way back (the weight distribution will favour the rear), and even silly stuff like the way the boot floor is sculpted all point to countless hours spent sweating the small stuff. Of course, we’re long past the time of anything being hastily assembled, and it’s easy to be impressed in a dedicated production facility, but they’re really pouring everything into making the best car they can. Gordian even concedes that not having a motorsport rulebook is hard, because the freedom of a road car project means it’s hard to know where to stop.
This finessing and obsessing will go until September, when final production specs will be locked in. Discussions remain ongoing, for example, with three tyre manufacturers about the right rubber, whether right-hand drive will be offered, and just how track-focused the Affalterbach package needs to be. Because there is a hope to race these Evos one day, and who better to provide support for that endeavour than the people who’ve had a hand in some of the greatest Mercedes race cars ever?
Whatever HWA decides the final Evo will come out like, it’s hard to imagine the 100 customers being anything but overawed. This car is receiving the level of investment a conventional new model would, only it’s a 500hp, manual rear-drive saloon that looks like a superhero-spec 190E and is being built by a race team. With more models to follow. Those that don’t know HWA for the moment are sure to soon.
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