The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR was intended to enter in the 1997 FIA GT Championship sportscar racing world championship series, known as BPR Global GT Series up to 1996. To be allowed to do so, 25 cars had to be built for the GT1 class. Porsche 911 GT1, McLaren F1, Ferrari F40 and others were already competing there, Nissan R390 GT1 and Toyota GT-One joined in later, at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans.
As the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/ITC had folded in late 1996, with both remaining competitors Opel and Alfa Romeo leaving due to the high costs of their 4WD designs, Mercedes had no top series to compete in. FIA gave a special permission to enter their new FIA GT championship in 1997 with a new sportscar even without the required 25 cars in existence yet. These had to be presented later, though.
Within 128 days, a car dedicated only to racing was developed. The CLK GTR was built around a carbon fiber monocoque, the V12 engine was mounted longitudinally behind the passenger compartment. The body panels, which reminded in some details (front grille, four headlamps) of the standard Mercedes CLK, were made of Kevlar.
The engine was a development of the 5.9 liter Mercedes-Benz M120 engine unit from the Mercedes-Benz S600 road cars, with power limited to approx. 600bhp by mandatory air restrictors. The rear wheels were driven through a 6-speed paddle-shift transmission.
The CLK GTR were entered in mid-1997 season, yet could secure both the FIA GT1 world championship titles for driver (Bernd Schneider) and tthin the top ten despite their late arrival. The main opposition were the Porsche 911 GT1 and McLaren F1 GTR, both of which were older designs.
For the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans race, an evolution version called Mercedes-Benz CLK LM was introduced, which was even lower, and had a V8 engine that was supposed to be lighter and more efficient. The car #35 driven by Bernd Schneider, Mark Webber and Klaus Ludwig scored the Pole position, yet in the race, both cars had to retire early due to oil pressure problems in the new, untested engine. This gave the Porsche 911 GT1-98 its only win in that year, as the Mercedes dominated all FIA GT races in 1998, winning world champion titles for Klaus Ludwig and teammate Ricardo Zonta alike.
For the 1999 season, no competitor showed up to the FIA GT1 category, which was canceled, similar to the DTM/ITC two years early. Once again, Mercedes crushed not only the competitors, but the competition itself, leaving itself without a playing field.
Yet, for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, an even more extreme car was developed, the Mercedes-Benz CLR, which would become a spectacular failure due to the amount of times it flipped over and somersaulted through the air.
Even after the FIA GT1 class was cancelled for 1999, Mercedes was obliged to finally deliver the required 25 cars in total. They were built by AMG at the Affalterbach factory between winter of 1998 and summer of 1999.
The road cars differed only slightly from the race car, and were not refined for typical road use standards which would have been very expensive, especially as many modifications were prohibited by the rules in the first place. Most cars were expected to be rarely-driven collector items anyway. Using it for stop-and-go cruising within a city, especially in hot weather, is certainly not what this car was made for – unlike some so-called supercars which never were intended for racing. From the otherwise unrelated standard production CLK, only the instrumentation, front grille and the four headlamps were used.
Ilmor Engineering provided the enhancements, bringing displacement from 5.9 liters to 6.8 and increasing the now unrestricted power to 720bhp and torque to 572 lb/ft. The factory claimed a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 200 mph.
Then recorded as the most expensive production car ever built, with a price of $1,573,000, it certainly deserved this title. It was considered the spiritual successor to the legendary Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing of the 1950s.
Technical Specification of the road carName Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR AMG/ CLK-GTR AMG Supersport
Top Speed 199 mph, Supersport: 215
Power 612 BHP / 456.4 kW @ 6800 RPM
720 BHP / 536.9 kW @ 6700 RPM – SuperSport
Torque 572 ft/lbf / 776 Nm
Engine 6898 cc V12
7291 cc V12 – SuperSport
Transmission Manual, Six Speed
Acceleration 0-60 mph: 3.4 s, 0-100: 5.7 s
1/4 Mile (1320 ft): 9.4 sec. @ 145 mph
Production 10/25 preview
Price US$1,573,000 (currently the world’s most expensive production car)
Year 1998-2002
December 5th, 2007 at 9:53 am
MAN THIS CAR IS TIGHT! I SO WANT ONE!
December 7th, 2007 at 6:11 am
Nice ride, but the SLR 722 is much nicer.
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:15 am
is it heck
January 21st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
love the car but i like the saleen s7 better
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
damn!datiz a dope ass car
March 6th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
well i like all the car excepted you guys
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 am
meeeemek
kacoooan 
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:22 am
very good
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
You can’t say you like the SLR 722 or the S7 better, these cars don’t compare at all. This was a track car for the road, and the power has been put to the ground extremely well, which is what matters. did you see the 1/4 mile time on this thing? Those cars don’t even match that, and they have more power! And the bhp per litre on this thing is insane for the year as well, especially considering it doesn’t have turbos. If it wasn’t for this, the SLR 722 probly wouldn’t be half as good as it is, so give it some credit. It is truly an amazing car, and I wish that I was lucky enough to get one
May 29th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Whats the top speed on the Clk-Gtr.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Top Speed 199 MPH,
Supersport: 215MPH
This is very cool.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
this car is something amazing
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:18 am
the best car in do road gett me people
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:18 am
sik sik sik sik sik sik car bang bang
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:19 am
pusyyy car
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:20 am
the best car in da road get me
August 14th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
my 1st gen eclipse will smoke dat motha fuckin P.O.S!!!
wot eva bitches likes dis piece can suck me ballz!
LOOK AT CARS YOU CAN AFFORD YOUS WINDOW SHOPPING BITCHES!
August 14th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
thats a NICE car!
September 1st, 2008 at 6:36 am
thats a nice car
September 8th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
i whant that car so bad
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:07 am
NICE CAR
October 6th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Speachless.but then i gotta get one in every color 3rd grade crayon box hater
November 18th, 2008 at 2:22 am
I want have a try!
February 5th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
YES YES MERCEDES BENZ YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE BEST VERY GOOD GOOD
June 28th, 2009 at 11:50 am
I WANT TO BUY THIS CAR
July 11th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Well i must saya it a real cruzer…
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
This car is the supreme, it blows all lambos out of the water and all ferari’s, the only thing it cant handle it the bugati vyron.. thsts a beast!! This car even beats the porche carrera gt, and porche is one of the best!! so all of those other lame saleens and stuf can not be commpared at all. The only farari that can compare mabey is the enzo, but thats even a long shot.
February 5th, 2010 at 7:32 am
Woow is perfect i like it