The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR holds a special place in the marque’s long and illustrious history and will be fondly remembered for decades to come.
Premiering in the 1997 FIA Grand Touring Championship, the CLK GTR wasn’t born out of years of development and testing and instead, as this documentary shows, actually went from paper to the racetrack in just 128 days.
In a world where it isn’t uncommon for production vehicles to launch three of four years after being unveiled as concepts, a 128 day turnaround isn’t something to be dismissed. It exemplifies just how determined Mercedes-AMG was to create a world-beating race car. It did just that.
After a successful 1997 season where it claimed pole position in its first race, the CLK GTR went on to dominate the 1998 championship, claiming victories at all 10 races and easily walking away with the championship.
To meet homologation standards, Mercedes ultimately had to build 25 road-going CLK GTRs and it did just that. Alongside the Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion, we think it is one of the most remarkable road-going race cars ever designed.