HWA Remasters Mercedes 190E, Pays Tribute to 190E 2.5-16 Evo II

There’s no doubt that the so-called “Rad Era” of the 80s and 90s is one of the hottest segments in the classic car space. As Generation X ages and builds disposable income, more and more attention is being paid to the cars and fantasy cars of their youth. Throw in racing homologation provenance and you have a recipe for a win. Such is the case of the DTM-spec Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evo II.

This final evolution of Mercedes’ 190 E (W201) was built with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (a.k.a. DTM) touring car series in mind. That’s the same series that birthed the E30 M3, and while the box-flared Bimmer achieved icon and unaffordable status many years ago, the 190 E 2.5-16 is only more recently rediscovered. Prices have shot up over the last few years, and it’s likely this attention that inspired the team at a company by the name of HWA to consider a reinvention of the car.

What is HWA? The acronym represents the initials of company founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht. The firm began business in motorsport back in 1999, managing motorsport campaigns for Mercedes- directly.

HWA is a German engineering and racing-specialist firm with deep ties to AMG and the motorsport wing of Mercedes-Benz, creating strong and authentic ties to the marque of the three-pointed star. In part as celebration of HWA’s now 25 years of success with Mercedes-AMG, HWA began to envision the EVO as a collaboration with the restoration firm Curated. HWA plans to build just 100 units of their HWA EVO, aiming for a serious and substantive augmentation that will cost a cool €714,000.

Each build will begin with a W201 chassis that is inspected by the HWA engineering team before replacing 75% of the car. This replacement includes removal of front and rear portions of the original steel chassis, replacing them with sub-frames manufactured in high-strength steel in order to improve rigidity. The A, B and C pillars are also replaced, resulting in a net result of doubling the car’s torsional stiffness – effectively elevating the W201 shell to modern supercar standards.

HWA also moves the front axle 50 mm forward in order to allow the car’s 3.0-liter biturbo V6 to sit lower in the chassis. The car’s 6-speed manual gearbox gets relocated to the rear, bestowing the car with a lower center of gravity and perfect 50:50 weight distribution.

The car also gets DTM-derived wishbones, machined wheel carriers, Brembo brakes (steel or ceramic), KW dampers (electric or manually adjustable), and H&R roll-bars. And all this top of the line component kit is expected, you’ll also be surprised to hear that HWA has worked with Bosch to develop ESP and ABS systems for the car, not to mention bespoke engine tuning.

Typical of the price and the remaster segment where the HWA EVO sits, carbon fiber bodywork is definitely part of the mix, dropping the car’s curb weight even further.

More Information: HWALegacy.com