MERCEDES-BENZ

CLK GTR AMG: the wildest car ever made by the brand turns 25

The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR is one of the wildest cars ever made by the German brand and one of the rarest and most special vehicles created by the company. And that is saying a lot, especially if we consider that we are talking about a brand that has in its history true legends like the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL W198, to give an example.

But none of them can overshadow the CLK GTR of the end of the last century. Everything about this car is extraordinary, from its selling price (it entered the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive new car marketed to that date) to its history, not to mention its technical characteristics and performance. And with just 28 units built, it is an extremely valuable automobile today.

Unlike some of its rivals, such as the McLaren F1, which was born as a street car and later adapted as a racing car, the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR was conceived from the beginning as a racing car. And its development was carried out in record time, as from the moment AMG received the task of creating this car (on December 5, 1996) until the first test prototype was rolled out on the Spanish circuit of Jarama (in 26 March 1997) just 111 days have passed.

The speed of development was such that in just 16 days since taking over the project, AMG was already testing the V12 engine on power banks. And only two days later (on December 23, 1996) they started to manufacture the laminated carbon fiber and Kevlar monocoque chassis. Everything was produced in an extremely short space of time for what is usual in the industry, perhaps because they didn't start from scratch.

It turns out that few people mention it, but the existence and success of the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR is due - at least in part - to one of its main rivals, the McLaren F1 GTR. Because to speed up the process, Mercedes-Benz decided to acquire a unit of the F1 GTR from the Labre Competition team, with chassis number 11R. It was the basis of the car that was used in the first tests in Jarama, with a Mercedes-Benz engine and a specific body that ended up being destroyed after an accident.

On May 11, 1997, the competition CLK GTR already achieved its first good result in a race after taking second place in the British Empire Trophy held at Silverstone. That is, 157 days after AMG had started the project. But the best was yet to come. Because the regulations of the FIA ​​GT Championship stipulated that a minimum amount of street cars based on racing cars should be manufactured.

In fact, they should build at least 25 units for sale to the public. The first of these was manufactured in 1997 to receive FIA ​​approval, although that example was never sold and has remained in the hands of Mercedes-Benz ever since. It was between the winter of 1998 and the summer of 1999 in Europe that the brand assembled the rest of the cars at the AMG facility in Affalterbach.

Autonews