You Can Jump The Queue For The Stunning HWA Evo Mercedes 190E Restomod

Back in January, we worked ourselves up into a frenzy of excitement over the HWA Evo, a Mercedes 190E-based restomod inspired by the uber-rare, big-winged 190E Evo II homologation special from the 1990s. Now, we’re getting worked up all over again, because the very first build slot is heading up for auction.

In case you’d somehow forgotten, the Evo comes from HWA, a long-time motorsport partner of Mercedes that also had a hand in the production of the CLK GTR road car and the AMG-powered Pagani Huayra R. Serious credentials then.

To create the Evo, it begins with a common-or-garden 190E saloon, strips it to its bare shell, and clothes it in an all-new, all-carbon body that resembles the original 190E Evo 2, only even more swole. It then slots in a modern, race-prepped 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 pushing 444bhp and 406 lb ft, a serious departure from the original Evo 2’s 232bhp, normally aspirated four-pot.

It all comes together in something that plugs directly into our collective ’90s automotive nostalgia, and should prove to be an utter riot. Just 100 lucky customers will get the chance to experience it, but you could be one of them – provided you’ve got lots and lots of money hanging around.

The first build slot is coming up for auction on 27 July with RM Sotheby’s, at its sale on the shores of Lake Tegernsee, a popular retreat in southern Germany.

The estimated sale price is between £600k and £750k, although it’s not clear if that’s just for the build slot – Sotheby’s says it’s “the opportunity to acquire” the car that’s coming up for sale, suggesting that you might have to front up the cost of the actual car too. That’s another £600k or so, before taxes.

Nonetheless, with the other 99 build slots likely already accounted for and a chance to jump the queue, we’re sure it’ll be a hotly contested sale. Time to think about how many of those internal organs you actually need…