Mercedes has only ever produced 26 units of its legendary CLR GTR racecar, and RM Sotheby’s will attempt to sell two of them – a coupe and a roadster – later this month. Estimations suggest the winning bidder might end up parting with U.S. $22 million or so.
The CLK GTR series was developed for the participation in the GT1 category of the FIA GT championship of the 1990s. The regulations demanded a small-batch homologation run. Rather than basing the racecar on an existing street-legal supercar, Mercedes went the challenging route of designing a racer from the ground up and later modifying it slightly for public road use.
Compared to its track-only parent, the ’civilian’ CLK model offers a minimally more comfortable interior with air conditioning and even an audio system on board. It also has a larger 6.9-liter V12 under the hood instead of the track version’s six-liter mill. The power is identical between the two at 600 PS (592 hp / 441 kW).
