From the SLR McLaren to the AMG GT, Mercedes has made some superb high-performance sports cars. And it’s about to set the bar higher again with its forthcoming F1-derived hypercar. But long before it ever dreamt of such an idea, it produced the CLK GTR.
Created to race at Le Mans and homologated by regulation for road use (and limited public consumption), the CLK GTR was a mid-engined, twelve-cylinder supercar in the grandest of style.
It was nominally styled to resemble the road-going CLK coupe, but was closer in execution to a Le Mans Prototype. In the middle of its lightweight chassis sat a naturally aspirated 6.9-liter V12, sending 604 horsepower and 572 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox. That was enough to send it rocketing to 62 in 3.8 seconds and on to a top speed quoted at 214 miles per hour – blindingly fast, especially by late-’90s standards.
The rulebook mandated that the manufacturer produce 25 and make them available for consumption, and Mercedes-AMG exceeded that mandate. In addition to the two factory prototypes and seven racers, it made 20 coupes (and another six roadsters). The $1.5-million sticker price made it the most expensive production car ever offered up to that point.
One of those fixed-roof examples is offered for sale by Autohaus GmbH in the West German city of Recklinghausen – a good four hour’s drive northwards from the factory in Affalterbach where it was made 18 years ago. The price? A handsome €2.45 million, which works out to about $2.7 million at current exchange rates, or the better part of double the original list price. It’s also a good $400k more than Benz is said to be charging for its effective successor, all of which just goes to show (enjoyment aside) what an incredible investment these rare supercars can be… that is, assuming someone actually pays that much for it.
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