HWA has released a teaser for its next road-car project, and the image appears to show a Mercedes-Benz W124-related shape. The company has not called the car an AMG Hammer, and it has not announced an engine, power figure, production run, price or reveal date. The Hammer connection is an informed reading of the silhouette and HWA’s history, not an official product confirmation.
A silhouette, not a specification sheet
The teaser is deliberately restrained. It shows only a dark side profile, a roof line, lighting details and the area around a rear spoiler. Those clues make the car look related to the W124 family, but they do not establish the body style or the dimensions. A single low-light image cannot confirm whether the project is a saloon, coupé or a new body built around an older design reference.
HWA’s accompanying message says that, after the HWA EVO, the company is revisiting another chapter of its engineering heritage and exploring how modern technology can give a familiar idea a new form. It does not mention the Hammer, a V8, carbon-fibre bodywork or any timetable. That distinction matters because low-volume performance projects often attract detailed speculation long before the engineering programme is public.
Why the AMG Hammer is the leading theory
Mercedes-Benz’s own AMG history identifies the 1986 AMG 300 E 5.0–6.0 as “The Hammer” and lists outputs of up to 385 hp. Mercedes-Benz Media also describes the 300 CE 6.0, introduced in 1988, as a car combining a high-performance V8, four-valve technology and the everyday shape of the W124. The nickname became especially well known in the United States, where it came to represent the pre-merger AMG era.
The historical figures need context. Different Hammer cars used different engine sizes and body styles. Mercedes-Benz cites 360 hp and 510 Nm for a 5.6-litre W124 and up to 385 hp and 566 Nm for the wider 6.0-litre coupé. Those numbers describe period cars. They do not tell us what HWA’s new project will use, if it is a Hammer at all.
The teaser’s roof and rear profile fit the W124 family, and the raised rear detail resembles the understated aerodynamic treatment associated with the old AMG cars. It is still not unique enough to identify the model. A W124-based 500 E interpretation, or another pre-merger AMG reference, would also fit the broad visual evidence.
HWA’s previous method
The HWA EVO gives a useful, but limited, indication of what the company means by a modern reinterpretation. In its official technical release, HWA says the EVO starts with a carefully selected Mercedes-Benz W201 donor. The chassis is extensively reworked with new subframes, structural reinforcements, bespoke suspension components and modern electronic control systems. The body is made from carbon fibre, and the company says roughly 75 per cent of the original car is replaced.
The EVO uses a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6, a six-speed manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive. HWA announced a 100-car production run and a price of €714,000 before local taxes. Those details show the scale of the company’s first road-car programme, but they are not a template that has been confirmed for the W124 teaser.
If the new car follows a similar philosophy, it could retain the visual language of a classic Mercedes while using a new structure, brakes, suspension, electronics and interior. That is an inference from HWA’s previous work. There is no official confirmation of carbon panels, a strengthened chassis or a modern AMG V8 for this project.
Hammer or 500 E?
The W124 badge alone leaves several possibilities open. The AMG Hammer was developed during the period when AMG operated as an independent tuner, while the Mercedes-Benz 500 E followed a different route and was assembled in cooperation with Porsche. AMG also offered customer conversions and later E 60 versions. All of these cars share enough visual DNA to make a dark teaser ambiguous.
For collectors, the distinction is more than a naming detail. A Hammer revival would point back to the independent AMG workshops, large-displacement V8 conversions and the American nickname that shaped the car’s reputation. A 500 E-inspired project would refer to a factory-developed Mercedes performance saloon with a separate production story. HWA has not selected one of those histories in public.
What HWA has not said
There is no confirmed launch date, price, production number or market availability. HWA has not published a power figure, engine type, transmission or performance target. It has also not said whether the car will be road legal in specific markets. Claims about a twin-turbo V8, a limited run or a price above the EVO are predictions and should remain labelled as such.
The confirmed news is narrower: HWA is preparing another project linked to Mercedes-AMG heritage, and the teaser appears to show a W124-related design. The AMG Hammer is the most obvious interpretation because Mercedes itself describes the W124 performance cars as a defining part of AMG history. The next official HWA release will have to settle the identity and explain how much of the classic car remains beneath the new engineering.
