Apollo Automobil establishes technical partnership with legendary motorsport and development specialist, HWA AG, for the final dynamic development of IE.
Partnership gives Apollo access to HWA’s globally renowned engineering expertise, technologies and world-class facilities.
HWA’s 20+ years of experience and FIA GT1 era history with the race and road car development will make certain that the IE will properly carry on the torch as the only modern day GT1 inspired car.
HWA is the most successful team ever in DTM history.
Partnership leverages strong synergies and further strengthens the story and historical significance of the IE project.
Full PDF Version of Press Release
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12 June 2018, Germany,
Apollo Automobil, the European hyper-car manufacturer, proudly announces the formation of a strategic technical partnership with legendary motorsport and development specialist, HWA AG, for the final dynamic development phase of Apollo’s latest project, the Apollo “IE” Intensa Emozione.
The IE is Apollo’s statement car, that represents the ethos of the brand. The IE’s philosophy is to pay homage to the glory days of the GT1 era. A time when cars were more analog and engaging. The IE is a modern day hyper-car that captures the lost emotion and fading spirit of the cars we grew up loving. A car with a soul, a car that provides the most emotional and organic driving experience in the segment today. As a result, we found it only fitting to collaborate with HWA on the final development of the car to ensure the pinnacle of performance and safety.
HWA AG was founded in 1998 as a spin-off from AMG, which was established in 1967 by Hans Werner Aufrecht. The Company has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since April 2007. Amongst others HWA AG was established and was responsible for the legendary Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR racing car development and extensive motorsport projects. HWA produced all road-going examples of the famous GT1 car. A look at the statistics shows that HWA is also the most successful team in DTM history.
The scope of this partnership will focus on development areas such as safety, reliability, powertrain calibration, thermal dynamics, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD) work to assist Apollo with its ‘Race to Road’ strategy that involves the application of learnings from the race track into the development of the dual purpose nature of the Apollo IE. This partnership gives Apollo access to HWA’s globally renowned engineering expertise, technologies and world-class facilities.
Apollo Chairman, Norman Choi, feels that “in the spirit of staying true to the ethos of Apollo and to the philosophy of the IE, in its efforts to pay homage to the old GT1 days, we have created a strategic technical partnership for the final development of the IE. I have admired HWA and their accomplishments for many years and wanted to leverage the strong synergies between our teams and utilize the 20+ years of experience and competencies of HWA to make certain that the IE will properly carry on the torch as the only modern day GT1 inspired car. It will really add to the story and history of the IE.”
“We are extremely proud to announce this partnership. We feel honored to be working with Apollo and confident that they have a bright future ahead, along with HWA.” – Ulrich Fritz, CEO HWA AG.
“When working on a project for such a long period of time it is difficult sometimes to articulate the scope of the project itself. I feel that this partnership will further depict how serious we are about being a true player in the segment for the long-term and the IE is just the first step. HWA’s legacy going back over 20 years has a strong reputation and offers engineering competencies that align well with our brand and vision for the future.” – Apollo General Manager & CMO, Ryan Berris.
HWA joins the world-class collective of partners that have helped make the IE a reality. The development program will carry on until later this year. Production of the IE is strictly limited to ten units with first customer deliveries expected to commence in 2019.
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Notes to Editors:
A selection of high resolution images by Hide Ishiura accompanying this release are available to download from the Apollo Automobil media site – apollo-automobil.com/press/
Contacts
Email: media@apollo-automobil.com
Media
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Website: www.apollo-automobil.com
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About Apollo Automobil:
Tracing our roots back to 2004, we are a group of pure car enthusiasts, some of us engineers, some artisans, designers and mechanics. We came together because of something that we share – the passion for automotive art, the longing for the connection between driver and car and the desire to provide a bespoke and emotional driving experience.
Over the last decades of automotive history, car manufacturers have gone to great lengths in applying technological advancements to improve both the performance and comfort of cars. However, somewhere along the way something was left behind.
All the automation that is meant to make the driver’s job “easier” has taken something fundamental away. Something that made up the roots that created the passion, drive and automotive culture and history that we have all learned to love. That pure, raw, emotional connection that binds driver and car.
Just like the Greek God Apollo, we see ourselves as a beacon of light in today’s market. We are here to take you on a ride that is filled with nostalgia and sensory overload without sacrificing performance or speed and still pushing forward with a modern, intensively striking design language that symbolizes the brand. We are here to fill that void separating car and driver. We are here to bring you home to be at one with the car.
Visit us: apollo-automobil.com
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About HWA AG:
Top performance and determination to win – that is the philosophy of HWA AG. The team has been active in international motorsport for nearly five decades and is one of the most successful teams of all time. As a sought-after development partner, HWA AG bundles its expertise for more victories on the racetrack.
HWA AG has existed in its current form since 1998. Hans Werner Aufrecht founded AMG, the customisation specialist for the Mercedes-Benz brand, in 1967. At the end of 1998, Aufrecht sold the original AMG Motorenbau- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH to Daimler AG. As part of this sale, the motor racing business units, today’s Mercedes-AMG DTM team and parts of the vehicles/vehicle components unit were spun off and transferred to HWA AG. At the end of 2006, the company was converted from a limited liability company to a stock corporation; HWA AG was floated on the stock market in April 2007.
Today, HWA AG’s motor racing segment is responsible for the popular DTM touring car racing series. On behalf of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, HWA AG takes on all activities as a full-service provider, including the development and construction of Mercedes-Benz DTM racing cars and the operation of the racing team. The vehicles/vehicle components business unit includes the development and production of vehicles and components for automotive manufacturers in the premium segment. HWA AG has further expertise in the development, manufacture and servicing of Formula 3 racing engines. The GT3 racing version of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG was developed and produced by HWA AG in close cooperation with Mercedes-AMG. The follow-up project, the Mercedes-AMG GT3, has been delivered to customer teams all over the world since December 2015. Since December 2017, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 has been delivered.
Visit: hwaag.com
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