Mercedes CLK-LM -- The RAREST Mercedes Benz (part 1)

Mercedes CLK-LM (chassis number 002) In 1998, Mercedes decided to make an official comeback at the Le Mans 24 hour race after a 42-year absence following Pierre Levegh's Mercedes SLR crash. The engineers at AMG, which had become the racing division of Mercedes, were convinced that only a much more compact engine would allow upgraded aerodynamics. It would also be more reliable than the V12 engine (which powered its 1997 AMG CLK GTR). AMG decided to reintroduce the much more reliable and much lighter M119 90º 5-liter V8 engine, tested eight years earlier on the Sauber-Mercedes C11 Group C. Power was reduced from 730 HP to 600 HP in order to meet regulation requirements of the GT1 category. This car is not a modified CLK GTR. This is an entirely new car from the ground up. A brand new chassis and a completely reworked aerodynamic body housed the mythical V8 engine and so the CLK-LM was born. As with the CLK GTR in 1997, along with the four racing chassis, Mercedes AMG set out to build 25 street versions of the CLK-LM under the express obligation by the authorities at Le Mans to present at least one finished model before the first race on June 5, 1998. The Mercedes AMG factory produced two street versions (strassenversion in German) of the CLK-LM: chassis 001 and chassis 002. Chassis number 001 was destroyed in a crash-test in order to meet homologation requirements to be certified as a street-worthy car. Chassis 002 (seen here in this video) was unveiled at the Le Mans 24-hour race in June 1998. The racing versions of the CLK-LM did not finish the 1998 Le Mans race. However, for the remainder of the 1998 racing season, the Mercedes CLK-LM cars won every single FIA GT1 race with six 1-2 finishes, a unique feat in the history of the premier class GT1 category. Unfortunately, the GT1 category was canceled at the end of the 1998 racing season, putting an end to the reign of the CLK-LM. From the end of 1998 until 2013, this Mercedes CLK-LM chassis 002, the only street-legal version of the CLK-LM race car, was in a private Japanese collection. This car is unique and therefore the rarest Mercedes in the world.

Added 20 May 2026