In 1998, Mercedes-Benz constructed the CLK LM to tackle the FIA GT Championship within the premier GT1 class, in addition to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It dominated the sequence, although it failed to complete at Le Mans on account of reliability points.
Simply 4 examples are thought to have been in-built whole, and now one among them is up on the market.
Based on its itemizing on Piston Heads, the putting race automobile is offered by way of London-based dealership JM Efficiency and was used purely as a check automobile throughout its motorsports profession. After that profession ended, the automobile was offered into personal arms, initially to a buyer in Japan. It has been with its present proprietor within the U.Okay. since 2017, who went via the method of creating it highway authorized.
Street-legal 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK LM race automobile – Picture credit score: Piston Heads
The CLK LM is the successor to the way more extensively recognized Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR constructed a 12 months prior. Whereas that automobile required 25 road-going homologation specials to be constructed, the CLK LM wanted only one.
That sole CLK LM homologation is presently in personal arms and will ultimately flip up on the market in the future. Till that occurs, anybody with a want for a road-legal CLK LM can buy this automobile from JM Efficiency. No value is talked about within the itemizing.
For the CLK LM, Mercedes swapped out the CLK GTR’s V-12 engine in favor of a V-8 deemed to be higher capable of final when racing across the clock at Le Mans. The mid-mounted engine is a 5.0-liter unit rated at near 600 hp. It is paired with a 6-speed sequential transmission and spins the rear wheels solely.
With the following season of the GT Championship adopting a prototype class for its premier class, Mercedes ended the CLK LM program, changing it with the CLR prototype. That automobile had a disastrous outing on the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, with aerodynamic points inflicting a number of high-speed flips.
