HWA Evo will take to track at Nurburgring 24 Hour

Multiple laps promised as the ultimate 190E gets its dynamic debut this weekend...

By Matt Bird / Friday, 13 June 2025 / Loading comments

The Mercedes 190E and the Nürburgring have plenty of history; back when the GP circuit opened in 1984, a grid of identical 2.3-16s were raced by 20 legendary drivers. The Nürburgring Race of Champions went down in motor racing lore as the event that really marked the arrival of Ayrton Senna; a relative newcomer 41 years ago, he beat nine F1 World Champions to finish first. The iconic 190E touring cars that followed also enjoyed Nürburgring success, including when the DTM supported the 24-hour event. What weekends they must have been.

So it feels very appropriate that HWA’s take on what the ultimate Mercedes 190E-shaped car could be will make its dynamic debut at the Nürburgring as part of this weekend’s 24 Hours. Both the car and the company have incredible histories with the track, and a captive audience seems pretty much guaranteed; those interested in the N24 will surely be intrigued by what the V6-engined Evo looks and sounds like in action.

Two cars, currently with Bosch for testing, will run the full Nordschelife on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so there should be ample opportunity to see the Evos in action. There will be something to see other than just the familiar black, too, as one car will be in Silver Thistle and the other in ‘a racing livery inspired by an iconic DTM race car.’

The latter shouldn’t require too much guesswork based on these renders - it’s meant to look like the black and silver Boss-liveried Evos from the early 1990s, the cars driven by the likes of Klaus Ludwig and Bernd Schneider and probably the most famous DTM Mercs ever. A very appropriate homage, for sure.

HWA’s CEO Martin Marx said: “With our long history of racing success and the remarkable role that our founder, Hans Werner Aufrecht, has played in the history of German motorsport, the Nürburgring feels like HWA’s second home. This is therefore the perfect occasion for us to show the HWA Evo to the public for the first time, with multiple dynamic laps of the Nordschleife itself.” When they aren’t on track, the Evos will be at HWA’s stand in the paddock area. Surely one more thing to tick off over N24 weekend.

That’s not all HWA has planned, either, as a press conference on Thursday promises ‘further exciting news about the future of the HWA Evo’. Given there’s 2026 on the side of one prototype and Marx talks of the Nürburgring as a second home, competition must be a consideration for the Evo. That’s in addition to a rumoured hypercar project as well; HWA lent a hand in getting the De Tomaso P72 to completion, so has its fair share of experience in that area. Exciting times ahead…