Bruno Sacco’s long and angular W124 design is the main clue in HWA’s teaser, published on 23 October 2026, for its planned Mercedes-Benz Clase E W124 AMG ‘Hammer’ restomod. The three-box sedan silhouette shows widened rear arches and a spoiler, while modern-looking lighting includes LED-style elements.
The project follows the HWA Evo, the company’s reinterpretation of the Mercedes-Benz 190E Evolution II for the 21st century. The Evo uses a turbocharged V6 rather than the original car’s four-cylinder drivetrain. A different approach to performance-car heritage was Nissan’s Sentra Spec-V Concept, covered by RUSSPAIN.COM as a one-off show car rather than a restomod.
The engine is the primary unanswered question. HWA used a turbocharged V6 in the HWA Evo, while the original Hammer was defined by its large, naturally aspirated V8. The Hammer emerged in 1986 as an AMG-developed conversion of the W124-based Mercedes-Benz 300E, pairing the sedan body with extensively reworked powertrain components and a revised chassis. It was a specialist customer conversion, not a conventional factory model, and helped establish AMG’s reputation for high-performance cars in the 1980s.
Hammer specifications varied across customer conversions. Period versions included an approximately 5.5-liter V8 rated at about 355 hp SAE and roughly 388 lb-ft of torque, while AMG later developed a 6.0-liter version with in-house four-valve-per-cylinder cylinder heads. Reported output figures varied by market and specification, with some accounts citing more than 360 hp. Contemporary accounts put top speed near 285 km/h, depending on version and measurement standard. That history points towards an eight-cylinder engine for the new project, but HWA has not announced its engine or output. Transmission, production volume, price and delivery timing also remain undisclosed.
In its Instagram post, HWA said it was revisiting “another chapter of our engineering legacy” after the HWA Evo. The company described an approach that remains faithful to the original while exploring modern technology. The teaser’s LED-style lighting adds a contemporary touch, set against the W124’s angular profile and the Hammer’s more aggressive stance.
