This is the unthinkably rare 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, chassis 0012, the very first of just 25 production cars built for the world. Mercedes-Benz AMG GmBH, commonly shortened to just AMG, was founded as AMG Motorenbau und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH in the year 1967 by two Mercedes engineers by the name of Erhard Melcher and Hans-Werner Aufrecht. The AMG division earned considerable respect after tuning and racing Mercedes’ reliable engines in the European Sports Car Championship throughout the early portion of it’s existence. By the mid to late 1990’s, AMG was tasked with developing a race car, and a road homologation variant for Mercedes-Benz to race in the FIA GT Championship, which was a sports car racing series coordinated by Stéphane Ratel Organisation at the command of the Fédération Internationale de L’Automobile. Mercedes-Benz and AMG designed, built, and tested the CLK GTR, a racecar designed to compete in the GT1 class for the FIA GT championship in approximately 4 months time, alongside 25 homologated road cars as well. The racing version of the CLK GTR took both the drivers and teams to championships in '97 and '98, winning 17 of the 22 races it entered. Not only was this the first example, but also 1 of only 2 examples of the 25 car production run to have been heavily modified by AMG’s sister company, H.W.A. GmbH. This car received super sport badging, and is considered the most exclusive and powerful CLK GTR ever built. This car was previously sold by @rmsothebys in Monterey, California in August of 2012.
How many made? Mercedes built 20 coupes (Chassis 01/25-20/25), followed by 5 roadsters (chassis 21/25-25/25), but an additional 6th Roadster, that wasn’t counted towards production, was built after production had ended. This is the first car built.
Engine: 7.3L 720bhp dual overhead cam naturally aspirated V12 - six speed sequential gearbox with paddle-shifting
Debut: April 1st, 1997
Top speed: Mercedes-Benz claims a 214mph top speed for the road going version of the CLK GTR
0-60mph: The road version of the CLK-GTR can do 0-60mph in about 3.6 seconds.
Photo credit: @rmsothebys
Research: @rarecarsonly