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 as a consequence of reliability points.

Simply 4 examples are thought to have been inbuilt whole, and now considered one of them is up on the market.

In keeping with its itemizing on Piston Heads, the putting race automobile is out there through London-based dealership JM Efficiency and was used purely as a take a look at car throughout its motorsports profession. After that profession ended, the automobile was offered into non-public arms, initially to a buyer in Japan. It has been with its present proprietor within the U.Ok. since 2017. It is not clear when it was transformed for street automobile use.

Highway-legal 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK LM race automobile – Picture credit score: Piston Heads

The CLK LM is the successor to the rather more extensively identified 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 at the moment in non-public arms and should finally flip up on the market at some point. Till that occurs, anybody with a need for a road-legal CLK LM should 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 in a position to final 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.