One of a kind CLK LM road car for sale...
Apr 17, 2012 | 10:55 PM
#1
Thread Starter
| McLaren Fanatic
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,578
From: California, USA
One of a kind CLK LM road car for sale...
From a collection in Japan along with the owner's CLK GTR as well. 
>8^)
ER
New to Classic Driver: Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and LM road cars
The motor racing homologation process is a wonderful thing, and over the years has been responsible for some glorious, limited-run specials. None more so than the mid-engined CLK GTR and LM Mercedes of the late 90s; and an example of each is now for sale via West Coast-based specialist David M. Gizzi of Euro-Classics.
While McLaren took a road car and made it into a racing car (the F1, which won Le Mans in 1995 in only relatively modified form), Mercedes, via its AMG tuning division, turned a race-car chassis and powertrain into a road car. This was purely so it could compete in a production-related class in international motor racing.
The ‘CLK’ nomenclature tipped another nod towards genuine road car status but, with a 600bhp+ V12 (or V8 for the LM version, below), ground-effect bodywork and a high-tech chassis, the handful of road cars built were barely disguised track machines.
And all the more exciting for that.
The factory first raced the V12 version, the CLK GTR, switching to the tried-and-tested M119 6.0-litre V8 in 1998, with a view to winning at Le Mans with what should have been a more robust engine over 24 hours. Things did not work out quite as the Stuttgart company planned: the pole-sitting cars retiring after just a few hours. However, once back on shorter-distance FIA GT circuits, the CLK LMs won every single race, including several 1-2s.
Of the road cars, just a handful were ever made (some 20 V12 GTR coupés, five V12 GTR roadsters and two V8-powered CLK LMs, one of which was written off in crash-testing), so the sight of two road-going mid-engined CLKs side by side is something of a coup.
Far rarer than a McLaren F1, the CLK GTR (above) and CLK LM road cars are significant models in the history of Mercedes. In factory-fresh condition, each with under 600km on the clock, either represents one of the few opportunities to buy a hand-built Mercedes that can trace its lineage back to legendary models such as the two 1955 300 SLR ‘Uhlenhaut Coupés’, considered by many (should one ever be offered for sale) as among the most valuable cars in the world.
For further details, contact David M. Gizzi on +1 831 626 6050, email salesinfo@euro-classics.com, or visit Euro-Classics.
Source: ClassicDriver.de
The motor racing homologation process is a wonderful thing, and over the years has been responsible for some glorious, limited-run specials. None more so than the mid-engined CLK GTR and LM Mercedes of the late 90s; and an example of each is now for sale via West Coast-based specialist David M. Gizzi of Euro-Classics.
While McLaren took a road car and made it into a racing car (the F1, which won Le Mans in 1995 in only relatively modified form), Mercedes, via its AMG tuning division, turned a race-car chassis and powertrain into a road car. This was purely so it could compete in a production-related class in international motor racing.
The ‘CLK’ nomenclature tipped another nod towards genuine road car status but, with a 600bhp+ V12 (or V8 for the LM version, below), ground-effect bodywork and a high-tech chassis, the handful of road cars built were barely disguised track machines.
And all the more exciting for that.
The factory first raced the V12 version, the CLK GTR, switching to the tried-and-tested M119 6.0-litre V8 in 1998, with a view to winning at Le Mans with what should have been a more robust engine over 24 hours. Things did not work out quite as the Stuttgart company planned: the pole-sitting cars retiring after just a few hours. However, once back on shorter-distance FIA GT circuits, the CLK LMs won every single race, including several 1-2s.
Of the road cars, just a handful were ever made (some 20 V12 GTR coupés, five V12 GTR roadsters and two V8-powered CLK LMs, one of which was written off in crash-testing), so the sight of two road-going mid-engined CLKs side by side is something of a coup.
Far rarer than a McLaren F1, the CLK GTR (above) and CLK LM road cars are significant models in the history of Mercedes. In factory-fresh condition, each with under 600km on the clock, either represents one of the few opportunities to buy a hand-built Mercedes that can trace its lineage back to legendary models such as the two 1955 300 SLR ‘Uhlenhaut Coupés’, considered by many (should one ever be offered for sale) as among the most valuable cars in the world.
For further details, contact David M. Gizzi on +1 831 626 6050, email salesinfo@euro-classics.com, or visit Euro-Classics.
Source: ClassicDriver.de
ER
