Would you struggle to pick between the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR coupe or roadster? You don’t have to, thanks to RM Sotheby’s.
The auction house is set to auction off hard- and open-top versions of the racing-derived supercar before this month’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. The vehicles aren’t being sold as a set, but if you want to add both to your collection, here’s your chance.
Mercedes and motorsports partner AMG (this was before the former had bought the latter) designed and developed the CLK GTR in the mid-1990s to compete in the brand-new FIA GT Championship. It’s fair to say that the V-12-powered beast was a success, claiming the team championship in the competition’s first two years. Because of this, the muscular racer is considered part of the revered “GT1 Trinity,” alongside the also-spectacular McLaren F1 and Porsche 911 GT1. FIA homologation rules also meant that Mercedes had to build a road-going version of the vehicle. Only 28 street-legal “Strassenversion” examples would be built between 1998 and 1999, with the production run consisting of 20 coupés, six roadsters, and two prototypes. At the time of its release, it was the world’s most expensive production car, with a price tag of nearly $2.6 million.
The car on offer is the seventh guide to move off the line. It’s done in Mercedes brand name dashing variety Iridium Silver Metallic over a blue-dark plaid texture managed inside. It’s not quite so brutish as the opposition vehicle it depends on, yet its mid-mounted, normally suctioned V-12 actually siphons out 622 ponies and 539 ft lbs of wind. The plant is mounted to a six-speed manual that sends capacity to the back hub. In spite of not being a race vehicle, the street form can in any case rocket from zero to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds and has a maximum velocity of 199 mph. RM Sotheby’s anticipates that it should sell for between $8 million and $9 million.
The roadster was the third model constructed. It’s additionally completed in silver, however its inside is shrouded in dark and dim calfskin. Its V-12, which is likewise mated to a manual, isn’t generally so strong as the one in the car, however it actually creates a decent 592 hp and 516 ft lbs of force. As well as being the more elite of the two CLK GTRs, it likewise has only 106 miles on the odometer, which makes sense of why it’s supposed to sell for between $10.5 million and $13 million.
Naturally, the centerpieces of RM Sotheby’s Las Vegas Grand Prix sales event, scheduled for Friday, November 17, are the CLK GTRs. Even if the cars are being auctioned as separate lots, you are still able to place a bid on both of them. But if you want to take them both home, get ready to shell out more than $20 million.
