One to Buy: 1 of 20 delivery mileage 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR
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Powered by an epic BMW Motorsport V12, the McLaren F1 GTR instantly became the class of the GT1 field following its 1995 debut.
Unsurprisingly, rather than let their domestic rival benefit from its association with McLaren unchecked, both Porsche and Mercedes-Benz set about creating GT1 challengers. However, whereas the F1 GTR was closely derived from the base F1 which had been conceived purely for road use, Porsche and Mercedes developed their GT1 challengers by starting with purpose built racing cars that were then reverse engineered for street use.
When the BPR GT Championship evolved into the FIA GT Championship for 1997, the GT1 homologation requirement was upped from a single road-going variant to 25 which meant both Porsche and Mercedes were forced to built a commensurate number of the 911 GT1 and CLK GTR respectively.
Mercedes elected to offer the CLK GTR in both Coupe and Roadster configurations. Accordingly, just 20 Coupes were manufactured, number five of which is currently on the market at the Mechatronik showroom in Pleidelsheim, north of Stuttgart.
CLK GTR number five had its pre-delivery inspection carried out on April 29th 1999, after which it was delivered to its German first owner who registered on 29th September 2000. With just 55km on the odometer, the car returned to Mercedes for servicing in June 2012 when a new fuel tank, fuel filters and fuel pumps were installed.
Number five was sold to its second custodian in 2013 who has continued to preserve it in as-new condition. Today, this still delivery mileage CLK GTR is being offered fresh from a major Mechatronik service.
