Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR

Background

Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster, Mercedes-Benz had withdrawn its factory-backed race team from all motorsport activities. It was not until 1985 that Mercedes reintroduced itself to motorsport, entering the 1985 World Sportscar Championship. Starting off as an engine supplier to Sauber, this partnership bloomed into a full-time factory-backed effort. Despite Mercedes winning the World Sportscar Championship twice in 1989 and 1990, they eventually withdrew at the end of 1991 following disappointing results.

However, Mercedes saw success elsewhere, with a burgeoning touring car program in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, where the 190 E and its Evolution I and II siblings were climbing up the ranks. The 1991 season would see the 190 E Evo II take the honours in the constructors' championship. Klaus Ludwig piloted the car to the 1992 drivers' championship, with the 190 E being replaced by the W202 C-Class following the conclusion of the 1993 season. The C-Class went on to dominate both drivers and constructors championships from 1994 to 1996; as a result of the domination the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/International Touring Car Championship folded in late 1996, with both remaining competitors Opel and Alfa Romeo withdrawing due to the rising costs.

Without a top series to compete in, Mercedes-Benz looked towards the BPR Global GT Series, which had recently become an FIA-sanctioned championship, the FIA GT Championship, where Mercedes-Benz saw an opportunity to go against manufacturers such as Porsche and McLaren. The McLaren F1 GTR was the dominant car in this series, and in order to defeat it fellow German marque Porsche built a dedicated racecar, the 911 GT1. It became the first of the manufacturer's "homologation specials", with Norbert Singer modifying a Porsche 962 chassis to accommodate the front fascia of a Porsche 993, leaving other things such as the suspension and engine largely intact. Only two units of the 993-based 911 GT1 were actually completed by the end of 1996. Seeing this, AMG was tasked by Mercedes-Benz with creating a car akin to the 911 GT1, an almost purebred racing machine with a resemblance to a road car. The CLK GTR was the result, sharing nothing mechanically except the headlights, rear taillights and grille with the road-going Mercedes-Benz CLK.

The CLK GTR was developed in a mere 128 days, this development time hastened by the purchase of McLaren F1 GTR chassis #11R from then-reigning FIA GT Championship champions Larbre Compétition. The car served as AMG's mule, the F1's bodywork was replaced by AMG's own, and the BMW S70 engine replaced by Mercedes' own powerplant, a M120 V12. The car was eventually restored to its original mechanical condition, and was auctioned off in Monaco in 2000 by RM Sotheby's.

Specifications

The chassis of the CLK GTR was a carbon-fibre monocoque mated to an aluminium honeycomb frame, constructed by Lola Composites, a division of Lola Cars. The bore and stroke were kept the same at 89 mm and 80.2 mm, however, the connecting rods were manufactured from titanium, and the compression ratio was increased from 10.0:1 to 12.0:1. These modifications boosted power to 600 PS at 7,000 rpm, and torque to 516 lbft at 3,900 rpm, allowing the car to reach a top speed of 205 mph. The engine (which also served as a stressed member) was mounted amidships behind the driver, with power being sent to the rear wheels via a 6-speed sequential manual transmission, giving the car a 0–62 mph time of 3.8 seconds. Several driving aids such as traction control, ABS, active suspension, drive by wire throttle control, were banned, with fore-aft brake bias the only aid allowed. The front and rear suspension were identical, consisting of double wishbones, with pull-rod actuated coil springs with adjustable shocks.

Racing history{{Anchor|Racing car}}

The CLK GTR debuted at Mercedes' home track, the Hockenheimring, at the 1997 FIA GT Hockenheim 4 Hours. Bernd Schneider qualified on pole and took the fastest lap, but had to retire due to braking problems. The sister No. 10 CLK GTR only mustered a 27th-place finish, also battling mechanical woes. Still, the pace of the car was promising, and after intense development over the summer break, Mercedes would score their first 1–2 finish at the 1997 FIA GT Nürburgring 4 Hours with Schneider and Klaus Ludwig taking the win.

The rest of the season saw the CLK GTR take three more 1–2 finishes, and wins at the 1997 FIA GT Sebring 3 Hours and 1997 FIA GT Laguna Seca 3 Hours would secure Mercedes the constructors' and drivers' championship with Schneider in their maiden season. Mercedes opted not to enter that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, as AMG understood that the V12 in the CLK GTR was better tailored to the 4-hour sprints of the FIA GT Championship rather than the 24-hour gruel of the Circuit de la Sarthe. Instead, Mercedes and AMG decided to develop a bespoke car for next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, an evolution of the CLK GTR dubbed the CLK LM, LM for Le Mans.

Straßenversion{{Anchor|Road car}}

| 1998–1999 (28 produced) | 2 prototypes | 20 coupés | 6 roadsters 2-door roadster | Coupé: 631 PS, 731 Nm | Roadster: 612 PS, 775 Nm | SuperSport: 664 PS, 786 Nm 1100 mm (roadster) 1410 kg (roadster)

The road-legal homologated version of the CLK-GTR would simply gain the suffix Straßenversion, German for Street version. In a similar fashion to the Porsche 911 GT1 in 1996, only a singular road car was completed in 1997 and was shown in that year's Frankfurt Motor Show. The rest of the road cars were built at Affalterbach by AMG in collaboration with HWA over 1998, and production ceased in mid-1999. Of the 28 produced, 2 were prototypes, 6 were roadsters, and 20 were coupés, 2 of which left the factory in "SuperSport" specification. Two cars, one coupé and one roadster, also left the factory as right-hand drive for the 29th Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah.

Former racing driver and motoring journalist Paul Frère test drove the CLK GTR around the Hockenheimring. Writing for Road & Track magazine, he praised the car's tractability, despite its immense power. He also applauded the effort put in by Mercedes-Benz to make the car more user-friendly, including large amounts of soundproofing to reduce the mechanical noise from the transmission and engine, although critiqued the cramped cockpit space despite the large width of the car, and its driveability in city conditions, due to its non-synchronous transmission and large amount of torque available from low rpm. He ended his review describing the car as a "real work of art".

Specifications

The engine was stroked out to 6898 cc by Ilmor, resulting in a power and torque bump to 622 hp at 6,500 rpm and 731 Nm at 5,250 rpm. Sending this power to the rear wheels was a 6-speed sequential manual transmission with a four-plate carbon fibre clutch. This gave the GTR a 0–62 mph of 3.8 seconds, and a claimed top speed of over 320 km/h, depending on gearing. The 18-inch centrelocking wheels were fitted with 295/35ZR18 Bridgestone tyres at the front and 345/35ZR18 at the rear. Stopping power was provided by 6-piston calipers and carbon-composite rotors measuring 380 mm at the front and 335 mm at the rear.

The road car received several amenities such as ABS, air-conditioning and an audio system. Bins for luggage were located under each door, as was the control for the fire suppression system on the driver side. Owners had the option of fitting their seats with tartan, leather, or Alcantara, with four-point harnesses for safety.

Roadster

When the first production run of 20 CLK GTR coupés ended in 1999, one roadster was also produced and held onto by AMG until 2002, when it was purchased by Mark Johnston. Johnston attempted to sue DaimlerChrysler in 2006, claiming that when he had taken it for a test drive with a customer, the oil gauge lit up and the transmission promptly failed. The next five would be converted from coupés to roadsters based on existing GTR chassis by HWA, and were made available in 2006.

Modifications to the coupé included moving the engine intake from the roof to the sides, door-mounted mirrors, an integrated rollbar behind the seats, a revised front grille and rear wing which resembled the fixed rear wing of the race cars. Of the six roadsters built, one was painted black and sold in 2015 by Bonhams, and now resides at Dutton Garage in Melbourne. Another was painted dark silver with a purple interior, for the Sultan of Brunei, and was sold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya in 2009. The chassis is the only right-hand-drive example.

In November 2025, a CLK GTR Roadster (chassis no. 5) owned by Ryan Wedding was seized by Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of the Giant Slalom investigative.

SuperSport

Two chassis would also leave the AMG factory in SuperSport specification. The original 6898 cc E69 engine was superseded with the larger, more powerful 7291 cc E73 M297. This same engine was also found in the Pagani Zonda and Mercedes-Benz R129, albeit now producing 664 PS at 6,500 rpm and 786 Nm at 5,250 rpm.

Visual changes included a speedometer that was etched to 400 km/h and a redesigned front splitter.

Legacy

At the time of manufacture, Guinness World Records named the CLK Straßenversion and its siblings the world's most expensive production car, retailing for US$1,547,620 ($ in 2021). This record stood until the introduction of the Ferrari FXX-K in 2015.

Along with its GT1 siblings, the Porsche 911 GT1 and McLaren F1 GTR, the trio were known as the "holy trinity" of Group GT1, and formed what several publications deemed a "golden era" or "pinnacle" of 90s sportscar racing.

Racing results

Complete FIA GT Championship results

Bold – Pole position Italics – Fastest lap |}

References

References

1. de Boer, René. (8 May 2014). "DTM: Mercedes-Benz-team HWA neemt maatregelen na desastreuze seizoensstart". Autosport.nl.
2. Lyons, Pete. (1997). "AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR".
3. (16 June 2008). "Light and powerful: The GT 112 engine of the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR for the FIA-GT series developed some 600 hp (441 kW).". [[Mercedes-Benz]].
4. (November 1998). "Driving the Championship winning CLK-GTR".
5. (5 April 2019). "Motorsport History Caption". [[Mercedes-Benz]].
6. (3 January 2020). "28 of the Wildest Homologation Specials Ever Built".
7. "18 brilliant homologation specials".
8. Miles, Ben. (8 April 2020). "Why you're wrong about the Mercedes‑Benz CLK GTR". [[Goodwood Festival of Speed]].
9. Warner, Robin. (31 July 2019). "Walk through 125 years of Mercedes motorsport history".
10. Ernst, Kurt. (11 June 2015). "Six decades on, a look back at the tragedy of the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans".
11. "DTM {{!}} A Success Story". [[Mercedes-AMG]].
12. Oagana, Alex. (3 March 2014). "A Short History of The Mercedes-Benz C-Class in DTM". [[autoevolution]].
13. Newbold, James. (30 May 2020). "DTM made the "same mistakes" as ITC – 1996 champion Reuter". [[motorsport.com]].
14. Alaniz, Anthony. (28 April 2022). "McLaren F1, Porsche 911 GT1, Mercedes CLK GTR Compared In Detailed Video". [[motor1]].
15. Goodwin, Graham. (24 May 2020). "All The GT1s: Every Make & Model". Daily Sportscar.
16. Radu, Vlad. (21 January 2022). "The Evolution of the Street Legal 911 GT1, the Most Outrageous Porsche of the '90s". [[autoevolution]].
17. Pulman, Ben. (2 May 2019). "Porsche 956/962: all but perfect".
18. Riegsinger, Johannes. (31 January 2022). "Porsche-Hyper-Flunder der 1990er-Jahre". [[Autozeitung]].
19. Petroelje, Nathan. (4 October 2019). "The "uplifting" tale of Mercedes' troubled CLK race car program". [[Hagerty (insurance).
20. (28 June 2021). "Mercedes Benz CLK GTR AMG specs & photos – 1998, 1999". [[autoevolution]].
21. Sugaris, Djordje. (14 December 2020). "Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR – The Glorious Return to Top Tier Racing". Sportscar Digest.
22. Houghton, Grace. (21 July 2021). "Mercedes-Benz' CLK GTR captures the barely-tamed spirit of '90s endurance racing". [[Hagerty (insurance).
23. Perkins, Chris. (18 August 2017). "Mercedes Developed Its Championship-Winning CLK GTR in 128 Days".
24. Petrány, Máté. (21 February 2013). "The Original Prototype For The Mercedes CLK-GTR Was A McLaren F1 GTR". [[Jalopnik]].
25. Anderson, Brad. (29 December 2019). "These Seven McLaren F1 Stories Will Leave You Stunned". Car Scoops.
26. (26 May 2021). "奔驰超跑回归之作: 再看Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR AMG". 車誌.
27. Perkins, Chris. (6 July 2018). "The Mercedes CLK GTR Was Homologated Six Days Before its First Race".
28. Glon, Ronan. (2 February 2015). "Classic: Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR". Winding Road.
29. (24 August 2018). "1998 Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR". [[RM Sotheby's]].
30. Catchpole, Henry. (July 2021). "The Ones Wild".
31. (6 January 2009). "Mercedes-CLK-GTR Roadster". [[HWA Team.
32. (6 January 2009). "Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR Coupe 7,3 Ltr.". [[HWA Team.
33. (1 September 1997). "Plenty To See At the Frankfurt Motor Show". [[Automotive News]] Europe.
34. Jurnecka, Rory. (31 July 2018). "1998 Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR Added to RM Sotheby's Monterey Auction".
35. Lee, Kristen. (27 August 2015). "Listen to the Roar of this Mercedes CLK GTR AMG Super Sport".
36. Jones, Edward. (31 October 2017). "Mercedes CLK GTR: A True Supercar Unicorn".
37. Zurschmeide, Jeff. (October 2015). "1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster".
38. Frère, Paul. (22 February 2016). "Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR: A Race Car You Can Drive on the Street".
39. (6 January 2009). "Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR 6,9 Ltr.". [[Hans Werner Aufrecht.
40. (17 April 2021). "CLK GTR User's Guide". DK Engineering.
41. Eason, Kevin. (9 August 1999). "Pounds 1m for the car you may never drive". [[The Times]].
42. (14 June 2006). "Mercedes Benz and DaimlerChrysler Sued for Failing to Fix World's Most Expensive 'Broken' Production Car". [[PR Newswire]].
43. (16 June 2006). "Supercar leaves sour taste". [[Herald Sun]].
44. Florea, Ciprian. (8 July 2022). "World's Rarest and Most Mysterious Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Hits the Track". [[autoevolution]].
45. Gilbertson, Sholto. "1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster Chassis no.WDB2973971Y000008". [[Bonhams]].
46. Smith, Kevin. (October 2003). "CLK GTR: back, just for a few".
47. Golden, Conner. (29 May 2015). "Rare 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster to be Auctioned at Goodwood".
48. Thompson, Chris. (17 January 2020). "The only black Mercedes CLK GTR Roadster is in Melbourne".
49. (28 October 2009). "2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster {{!}} Automobiles of London". [[RM Sotheby's]].
50. Fitzgerald, Jack. (26 November 2025). "FBI Seizes Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster in Search for Former Olympian".
51. Daigle, Thomas. (3 December 2025). "The inside story of the $13M Mercedes linked to Ryan Wedding and seized by the FBI". [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
52. Karanja, Earl. (2 August 2013). "2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster to be Auctioned at Monterey 2013". GT Spirit.
53. Sergeev, Angel. (17 April 2019). "Modern-Day CLK GTR Rendered As The One Supercar To Rule Them All". [[motor1]].
54. "2000 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR". Girado.
55. (26 June 2015). "Bonhams: 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster Offered at Bonhams Festival of Speed". [[Bonhams]].
56. Wilkins, Adam. (18 March 2017). "Gallery: GT1 endurance racers take to Goodwood". [[Goodwood Festival of Speed]].
57. "The GT1 Era". DK Engineering.
58. Miles, Ben. (25 April 2020). "Video: This FIA GT footage proves the '90s were better". [[Goodwood Festival of Speed]].
59. Enright, Andy. (8 July 2021). "The three-way car test of your dreams: McLaren F1 v 911 GT1 v CLK GTR".
60. Anthony, Paul. "1998 FIA GT Championship, winner standings, and races – Motorsport Database".
61. "1997 FIA GT Championship, winner standings, and races – Motorsport Database".