Car of the Week

This week's feature car is the Mercedes CLK-GTR and CLK-LM. The GTR competed very successfully in FIA GT racing against the Porsche GT and the BMW V-12-powered McClaren F-1 GT in the late '90s, and the sister car, CLK-GTR/LM, was built to meet rules specifications for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The biggest difference between the two cars was the engine: the CLK-GTR had a thundering 6.0 liter, normally aspirated, 4 cam/48 vlave V-8 that made nearly 700 HP, while the not-so-successful CLK-LM had a 5.0 liter version still making around 600 HP but with a lot less low-end torque which hurt its ability to power out of corners. The interesting thing about FIA GT racing back then was that all the cars had to have a street-legal counterpart that could not exceed $1,000,000(USD) and had to be available to the "general public." The street version as of 2003 was available with a 7.0 liter V-12 making over 700 HP and capable of speeds well over 200 MPH.

Feature Car: Mercedes CLK-GTR and CLK-LM