Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster, Mercedes-Benz had withdrawn from top-level motorsport for three decades. It returned to the World Sportscar Championship in 1985 — initially as engine supplier to Sauber — winning the championship in 1989 and 1990 before withdrawing at the end of 1991. The company found renewed success in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft: the 190E Evo II took the 1991 constructors' championship, Klaus Ludwig won the 1992 drivers' title, and the W202 C-Class dominated both championships from 1994 to 1996, after which the DTM folded under rising costs.
Mercedes then targeted the FIA GT Championship. To oppose the McLaren F1 GTR, Porsche had built the 911 GT1 as a homologation special — modifying a 962 chassis with a 993 front fascia. AMG was tasked with building a comparable machine. It acquired McLaren F1 GTR chassis #11R from reigning champions Larbre Compétition as a development mule, replacing its BMW S70 engine with Mercedes' own M120-derived unit.
The CLK GTR's chassis was a carbon-fibre monocoque mated to an aluminium honeycomb frame, both fabricated by Lola Composites. The engine — designated LS600 or GT 112 — derived from the M120 found in the R129 SL-Class and W140 S-Class; bore and stroke were unchanged at 89 mm × 80.2 mm, but titanium connecting rods and a compression ratio raised to 12.0:1 lifted output to 441 kW (600 PS) at 7,000 rpm and 700 N·m at 3,900 rpm. Mounted amidships as a stressed member, it drove the rear wheels through a 6-speed sequential manual gearbox, giving a 0–100 km/h time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 330 km/h. Suspension front and rear comprised double wishbones with pull-rod-actuated coil springs and adjustable dampers.
The CLK GTR debuted at Hockenheimring in the 1997 FIA GT Hockenheim 4 Hours. Schneider qualified on pole and set the fastest lap but retired with brake failure; the sister car finished 27th. Intensive development over the summer break brought the first 1–2 finish at the Nürburgring 4 Hours, with Schneider and Ludwig winning. Three further 1–2 finishes followed, and victories at Sebring and Laguna Seca sealed the constructors' and drivers' championships in Mercedes' maiden season. AMG chose not to contest that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, judging the V12 better suited to sprint races; a dedicated endurance variant, the CLK LM, was developed for the following year.
The road-legal homologated version — the Straßenversion (German: street version) — was built at Affalterbach by AMG in collaboration with HWA over 1998–1999. Of 28 examples produced (2 prototypes, 20 coupés, 6 roadsters), 2 coupés left as SuperSport specification, and 2 cars (one coupé, one roadster) were built in right-hand drive for the 29th Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. The engine was stroked to 6,898 cc by Ilmor, raising output to 622 hp at 6,500 rpm and 731 N·m at 5,250 rpm. Racing journalist Paul Frère tested the car at Hockenheimring for Road & Track and called it "a real work of art." At launch, Guinness World Records listed it as the world's most expensive production car at US$1,547,620 — a record that stood until the Ferrari FXX-K in 2015.
Two factory SuperSport chassis used the larger 7,291 cc E73 M297 engine — shared with the Pagani Zonda — producing 664 PS at 6,500 rpm and 786 N·m at 5,250 rpm, reducing the 0–100 km/h sprint to 3.5 seconds. Three further chassis later received the E73 package with still-higher power figures.
Alongside the Porsche 911 GT1 and McLaren F1 GTR, the CLK GTR formed what publications called the "holy trinity" of Group GT1 — a combination widely regarded as the pinnacle of 1990s sportscar racing.
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