Mercedes-Benz Sport Coupé · CLK GTR
W297
A GT1 race car, homologated for the road.
- Production
- 1999
- Built
- 26
- Body
- Coupé
- Chassis
- W297
The W297 was the road-going Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR — a homologation special built to satisfy GT1 racing rules, and one of the most extreme street cars the firm has ever sold.
Its mid-mounted 6.9-liter V12 and carbon-fibre monocoque bore direct relationship to the CLK GTR race program that won the FIA GT Championship in 1997 and 1998 — the road car took the racer’s suspension and sequential gearbox largely intact, and shared only its headlights, tail lights and grille with the CLK you could buy in a showroom. Comfort was not the brief, though ABS, air conditioning, a stereo and a choice of tartan, leather or Alcantara trim were all fitted. Two cars left Affalterbach in SuperSport specification with the 7.3-liter M297 later found in the Pagani Zonda.
One car was finished for the 1997 Frankfurt show; AMG and HWA built the rest at Affalterbach through 1998 and stopped in mid-1999. Twenty coupés and six roadsters reached customers, 28 cars counting the two prototypes — the old chassis records put the 297 series at 35 examples in all, the balance being race and development cars. Each was effectively a race car with number plates.
Every model.
2 model designations for 1999 — engines, chassis codes and production figures for the W297.
| Model | Lata modelowe | Zbudowano | Podwozie | Silnik | Skrzynia biegów | Razem |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLK GTR Coupé | 1999 | 1999–1999 | 297.397 | 297 | 20 | |
| CLK GTR Roadster | 1999 | 1999–1999 | 297 | 297 | 6 |
* Opublikowana liczba produkcji obejmuje każdą serię tego modelu; źródło nie rozbija jej dalej.
Year by year.
The short homologation story of the carbon-monocoque CLK GTR road car.
- 1997
- Mercedes-AMG unveiled the first CLK GTR Straßenversion at the Frankfurt motor show after developing the FIA GT1 racer in 128 days.
- 1998
- Customer road cars entered production with a carbon-fibre monocoque, sequential six-speed transmission and a 6.9-litre M120-derived V12; air conditioning, upholstery and luggage space were the principal concessions to road use.
- Guinness listed the CLK GTR as the world’s most expensive production car.
- 1999
- The original homologation run concluded with 20 production coupés, plus prototypes; six roadsters were subsequently completed from CLK GTR chassis, with individual build and registration provenance documented car by car.
