German aftermarket performance and motorsport specialist HWA AG has released the first ‘official’ images of its impending Mercedes-Benz 190E Evo II restomod. Created with automotive restoration firm Curated, the final design was the result of over 12,000 hours—or 500 consecutive days—of labor, and it looks...just like a 190E Evo II.
We jest, there are some notable changes.
Starting out front, the famous Silver Arrow logo has been ditched, and the grille it was attached to has now been darkened and slightly refreshed in design. Similarly, the headlight covers have been given a shadowy hue, beneath which sits a revamped light cluster consisting of two individual sections per corner.
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The splitter itself is a new, straighter design and loses the connecting wires that were a hallmark of the original, while the cooling vents have also been given a makeover to look slightly less cluttered. The cleaner appearance seems to be the general philosophy behind the HWA Evo and continues at the rear. If we had to guess, we’d say a solid 6,000 of those 12,000 hours went into clicking ‘delete’ on Photoshop.
The original Merc badges have been dropped and replaced with HWA derivatives, while the taillights now take on a much more modern (LED?) design that flows horizontally, as opposed to vertically on the original. The HWA Evo has also lost a few of the original fissures and curved lines, making for a much more linear approach all around and contributing heavily to that cleaner look.
Mechanically, HWA remains tight-lipped on exact powertrain figures, but has stated its Evo will be “produced using state-of-the-art technology in terms of powertrain, performance, brakes, aerodynamics, and safety.” Roughly translated, that means we should see a healthy increase over the original car’s 232hp and 245Nm of torque, drawn from its 2.5-liter in-line-four. Another 9,000 hours of discussions should yield a set of definitive figures.
HWA says just 100 will be made, with each set to begin at an eye-watering €714,000 (around P43.7 million) before taxes . Given just 100 of these cars will ever be built, coupled with the seemingly high demand for restomods of this nature at present, we think HWA will have no shortage of suitors.
We certainly would...if money wasn’t an object.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
