The HWA Evo Is A Full-Blown Restomod, Honouring Mercedes’ Legendary DTM-derived Super-Saloon

The name Hans Werner Aufrecht might ring everyone’s bell immediately, but it should. Simply put, Hans Werner Aufrecht is the ‘A’ in AMG, a company closely associated with, and wholly owned by Mercedes-Benz. Since the takeover, Hans Werner Aufrecht has shifted focus to his new engineering firm called HWA Ag. Founded in 1999, HWA develops high-performance parts for road cars, as well as engineering full-fledged racing cars for clients and partners. Now though, HWA has set their targets on something very different, and very cool; the legendary Mercedes-Benz 190 E Evo II. The sinister-looking restomod takes the concept of the 190 E Evo II and turns it up to eleven, or possibly twelve, or thirteen even!

Hans Werner aufrecht

Hans Werner Aufrecht started AMG together with Erhard Melcher back in 1967, with the name being short for Aufrecht, Melcher, Großaspach (Aufrecht’s birthplace). Despite being an independent engineering firm at heart, AMG quickly made a name for itself by mostly modifying Mercedes cars. One of the most famous cars coming out of the AMG workshop is Die Rote Sau, or Red Pig. This barge-like race car was based on the Mercedes 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, at the time probably one of the unlikeliest platforms to take racing. Nevertheless, it came in second overall and first in class in the 1971 Spa Francorchamps 24 Hours.

Nowadays, AMG is completely integrated into the Mercedes-Benz concern, and positioned as the high-performance decision of the company. DaimlerChrysler took a stake in AMG in 1999, and by 2005 took complete ownership of AMG. The AMG line within Mercedes’ portfolio of luxury cars spans everything from the compact A-class, all the way to the bonkers G-class and often involves a huge spike in horsepower thanks to bigger engines and/or turbo-charging, high-performance parts and more aggressive aero kits.

HWA Ag has been closely related to Mercedes’ as well, as it’s what Aufrecht knows best. The engineering firm has been involved in the development of the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Straßenversion, had a multi-year stint with Formula E and has ventured into Formula 3 too.

Deutsche Tourenwagen meisterschaft

Aufrecht’s legacy also spans extensive racing experience, including preparing cars for the legendary Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, or DTM racing series. DTM started out in 1984 with cars prepared by privateer racing teams under FIA Group A regulations. This means that a specific road-legal car had to be selected (or built) as the base car, with limitations in modifications on power, weight, technology and cost. The result is a field of cars that closely resembled what you and I could buy in a showroom back in the day.

DTM started out in Germany and a few neighbouring countries, but quickly gained in popularity and expanded to the rest of Europe and other parts of the world as well. The series is known for its intense racing with fierce battles from start to finish. After the first couple of years, it attracted the attention of mainstream car manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo, Audi, Ford, BMW and of course; Mercedes! Fielding an AMG-prepped W201 E-class in 1988, the partnership proved rather fruitful.

Mercedes and AMG were up against stiff competition from the likes of the BMW E30 M3 and the Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti. Despite winning races in earlier seasons it wouldn’t be until 1992 for Mercedes and AMG to claim their first-ever Driver’s Championship in DTM, with Klaus Ludwig as the pilot. Mercedes repeated that in 1994, 1996 and 1997, albeit with a car based on the Mercedes C-class. The 190 E Evo II racing car though, would go down in history as one of DTM’s finest, with a road-going homologation car to match!

During the 1990s, following the takeover of AMG by Mercedes, Hans Werner Aufrecht started racing Mercedes cars under his own HWA Team. He founded HWA Ag in 1999 and has continued to produce high-end performance components and prepare racing cars as he did under the AMG brand. Among his accolades with HWA Ag and the HWA Racing Team are 11 team championships and 8 driver’s titles in DTM, between 2000 and 2018.

from 190 e evo II to HWA evo

As mentioned, the HWA Evo restomod is based on the Mercedes Benz 190 E Evo II, a car that was an extensively modified version of the otherwise rather mundane W201 E-class. The original car was introduced in 1990 and had an AMG-tuned 2.5-litre 16-valve inline four-cylinder engine producing 235bhp. Back then, AMG prepped all of Mercedes’ petrol engines for customers, including that of the 190 E series. Prior to the Evo II, Mercedes built the 190 E Evo I as a homologation special to compete in DTM.

The 190 E Evo II was fitted with a more aggressive body kit to enhance aerodynamic performance, including that big adjustable wing on the back. Performance-wise, the 190 E Evo II could hit 249kph, or 155mph. Just 502 cars were built, all but two in Blauschwarz blue/black metallic paint. The remaining two were painted Astral Silver, which makes them the rarest of all Evo models. Petrolicious made a fabulous movie on the legendary car a couple of years back;

The HWA Evo basically takes off where the 190 E Evo II ends and reinterprets the 1990s classic in the form of a pure-bread restomod. At a glance, it doesn’t look all that different but the devil is in the details. It starts with a donor 190 E, which is then completely gutted and upgraded. The chassis is reinforced, where possible carbon fibre body panels are used, and all the mechanics are upgraded, massively! The result is a very sinister-looking machine, ready to throw down the gauntlet at any moment.

The size of the engine is increased to 3.0 litres, and it’s given a pair of turbos, upping the power to 450bhp. With it, the HWA Evo has a regulated top speed of 270kph. If that’s not enough for you, there are optional packages to remove the limiter and hit 300kph. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and breaths through a stainless steel exhaust system. The HWA Evo rides on DTM-approved double-wishbone suspension all around, has high-performance brakes to stop on a dime, and so on. The forged alloy 6-spoke wheels are 19 and 20 inches in diameter, and there’s a lift kit installed to get you over speed bumps without ripping off the front splitter by accident.

On the inside, you get classic Recaro seats, a 4-point racing harness, an integrated roll cage and modern amenities such as climate control, Bluetooth connectivity, and a high-end audio system. The instrument cluster has digital gauges, and there are multiple driving modes available to the driver. If you want, the roll cage can be exposed and you can select from a wide range of trim materials and colours to make it fully bespoke to you. The options list also includes special paint colours, DTM-inspired forged wheels, a power upgrade of 50bhp, an 85L fuel tank (the standard one is 55L), non-road-legal exhausts, and so on. But the coolest option of all, has to be the 1:8 scale model you can have made of your 1 in 100 HWA Evo.

From the outside, the menacing look of the original 190 E Evo II has been enhanced. The wheel arches are widened, the front bumper is a bit more pronounced and the massive rear wing is now a single carbon fibre piece. The roof wing is also still there, and modern head- and taillights are installed yet with a very 1990s look to fit the overall style of the car.

Naturally, such extensive and bespoke modifications come at a significant price. Minus the donor car, HWA charges EUR 714,000 for one of their 100 Evos to be built. And that’s without taxes, so under the Dutch regime of 21% VAT you would hit +860k in euros without even driving a single mile. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a ton of money for sure. Money well spent though, as you get the absolute best of the best with HWA. Classic looks with modern tech, and undoubtedly hair-raising performance!

For more information, please visit HWAag.com.

Editorial Note: The images portrayed, and information used for this article are sourced from and used with permission of HWA Ag, or from our archives, unless stated otherwise.