KW (Klassische Automobile GmbH & Co. KG) was established by Klaus Werner more than 40 years ago in Wuppertal, Germany. At this time the company was one of the first in Europe specialising in the sales of fine historic automobiles.
A t the beginning most of the cars being handled were interesting road going sportscars like a Jaguar E-Type, Shelby Cobra or Mercedes 300 SL.
Over the years, the focus was extended with the sales of rare racing cars with important international race history from the 1930s to the 1970s.
Although we always preferred to keep the cars in their original state, some of them needed to be fully restored to original specification. Especially in the beginning of developing our business in the early 1980s, we owned several pre-war cars, that had not been used for some decades.
With those projects we were able to establish a good relation to several of the best restoration workshops in the business and contribute to the preservation of automobile cultural assets by bringing those cars back to life.
Most of the cars that we handled over the years were built by the great and successful Italian manufacturers Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati – but we also were part time caretakers of other important cars like an Aston Martin DBR1, BMW V12 LM, Bugatti Type 57G, McLaren F1 GTR or Porsche 917. Amongst the cars sold are many Grand Prix, Le Mans and World Sportscar Championship winning chassis. Through the handling of this large spectrum, we were able to build up an extensive photographic and documentary archive and a vast knowledge.
Besides the sales business we have always focused on participating in historic race or concours events with our own original cars and by this, showing them in their natural environment to the passionate audience. In the 1980s and 1990s we have organised the Pre-War Sportscar Race at the Nurburging Oldtimer Grand Prix and still today compete in important events like the Le Mans Classic, Monaco Grand Prix Historique or Goodwood Revival.
Since 2015 the sons of Klaus, Maximilian and Moritz manage the business together with their father, continue the legacy and develop new projects for an interesting future.
Email: max@kw1978.com
Tel.: +49-151-27500038
Both sons of Klaus inherited the passion for historically significant classic cars. Right from the time they could sit upright in a car seat, they have joined their parents at the various events all over Europe. One of the earliest memories are of the common journey in the Alfa Romeo 8C Le Mans to a classic car race in Silverstone. The same car was used for the Coys Historic Festival, the summer holidays in England and the travel back to Germany.
Max therefore wanted to follow his father’s racing footsteps as early as possible. Already with 17 he was racing competitively in an Alfa Romeo GTA and the family’s Maserati 300S at the Nurburgring.
He studied economics in southern Germany and at the same time worked for one of the most renowned workshops for historic racing car restoration in Europe, where he was responsible for the project management of the race car preparation and the participation in important events. After his studies he worked for one of the leading auction houses in the classic car scene, before he finally took over the family business together with his brother Moritz in 2015.
Max is fluent in German, English and French.
Email: klaus@kw1978.com
Tel.: +49-202-752575
As the founder of one of the first dealerships in Germany and Europe for fine classic and racing cars, Klaus substantially influenced the collector’s scene and the market itself over last 40 years. Right from the beginning he always focussed on commissioning the most original cars – the majority with important racing history.
Through his work he was able to contribute to the completion of originality and documentation of several significant cars. The Alfa Romeo 8C Monza from our own collection, was revived by him with its original body from the 1930s and by thus making it one the most important cars of Enzo Ferrari’s early years. Maserati 300S chassis 3059 was recognised as the winner of the 1956 1000km at the Nurburgring driven by Stirling Moss, when it was in our possession.
Over several decades Klaus participated successfully in many historic racing events – nowadays he prefers the more relaxed pace at historic rallies or concours events.
Klaus is fluent in German and English.
Email: moritz@kw1978.com
Tel.: +49-89-96051624
Similar to his brother, Moritz was always surrounded by all the great cars from a very young age. Already in the early years KW was very close to the family home and therefore both brothers were able to join their father in visiting the company’s garages almost on a daily basis.
Through this, Moritz developed an early interest for automotive technology and hence studying industrial management in Aachen was a logical step for him. After graduating from university with a “Diplom” he started working for a big German car manufacturer in Munich for several years. In his last assignment he was responsible for the cost management of innovative bodywork concepts, when he finally decided to take over the family business with his brother Max in 2015 and use his corporate knowledge to further develop the commitment of the company to only maintain and sell the best historic and racing cars in the business.
Preferably both brothers like to participate at historic racing events as a team, lastly at the Goodwood Revival in an Autodelta Alfa GTA and a Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione.
Moritz is fluent in German, English and French.
