Hunting the 1997 MBZ CLK-GTR... | FerrariChat

Hunting the 1997 MBZ CLK-GTR...

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by kevin956, Dec 30, 2016.

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  1. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

    Jan 26, 2004
    495
    Pasadena, CA
    #1 kevin956, Dec 30, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    My understanding is that one 1997 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR racecar ended up in private hands. The V-12 car was built for the FIA-GT season in 1997 and won at Suzuka. It was chassis 0006.

    I saw the car in person at a Porsche Owners Club event at Auto Club Speedway (Fontana) in May 2006. More history and photos here: http://wp.me/p6R6hC-oz

    Here's the question - where is the car now? I'm not looking to stalk a current owner who wishes to remain private, but I haven't been able to find anything on the car's ownership or location of recent. Where did it go and where does it live?

    Any knowledge?
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  2. ARTNNYC

    ARTNNYC F1 Rookie
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    Jul 8, 2005
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    one of the coolest race cars ever created...and most beautiful
     
  3. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Jun 30, 2007
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    I saw it 2011/12 in a exhibit of supercars at the Petersen museum in LA. it was parked next to an MC12 :)

    not sure if it is part of the museum collection or was on loan.
     
  4. NürScud

    NürScud F1 Veteran

    Nov 3, 2012
    7,273
    Agree. I miss these years. I mean the fact that companies like Mercedes, made some really special street legal cars based on the racing car. The same did McLaren with the F1 GTR and Longnose!
     
  5. BartonWorkman

    BartonWorkman F1 Veteran
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    Nov 3, 2003
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    Barton Workman
    There are at least two or three road going CLK GTR (coupe and roadster) versions in Florida
    that I'm aware of.

    Racing versions one may imagine would be a bit more difficult to locate. A Google search for
    a CLK GTR registry comes up empty. A good place to start may be the Mercedes-Benz Museum
    in Stuttgart or any sort of Mercedes-Benz historian whom may be able to piece out that sort of
    information.

    Having photographed for Mercedes-Benz US at the 1997 Sebring FIA GT round, they brought
    five CLK GTRs with the intention of racing three to support to support Bernd Schneider and
    Klaus Ludwig's championship chances. They were phenomenal cars and the 97 FIA GT
    championship changed at Sebring then points leaders Lehto and Soper's Schnitzer McLaren
    BMW F-1 caught fire late in the race as Ludwig and Schneider went on to victory which was
    repeated at Laguna Seca the next week securing the championship for Mercedes-Benz.

    Many still point to the FIA GT cars to be the coolest cars to have ever raced at Sebring and
    its hard to argue. Pity that the category went away.

    BHW
     
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  6. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    Dec 15, 2007
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    Tom Tanner
    I was at the Sebring race in 1997 also. Great cars. Also went to the Homestead race in 1998 and it was a ghost town. Had the whole track to myself and the teams on Friday. My friend also from Chicago was the only other race fan I saw in the paddock area.
     
  7. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
    14,244
    It belongs to a fairly young guy out in California iirc. I saw a video many years ago interviewing him. He had an amazing collection.
     
  8. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

    Jan 26, 2004
    495
    Pasadena, CA
    Thanks. I saw it in 2006 in LA, so that might fit. I'll put a post in the SoCal subforum and see if anyone there would know.
     
  9. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
    14,244
    Good luck with the search. I'm curious as to what happened to it as well. There's a CLK LM in private hands (1 of the race versions and the only road one too) and a CLR in private hands. I've loved them all and used to keep track of them in addition to the McLaren F1 GTRs, but haven't had time the last 10 years...

    It's a very underappreciated car.
     
  10. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    Tom Tanner
    By the way, I remember the 1997 CLK's with V12 motors sounds a lot better than the 1998 CLK LM V8 cars. Nothing in 1997 sounded better that the McLaren GTR longtails in full race tune. They had a high pitch snooty british howl even though the engines were German BMW. I still have hearing loss from watching them go under the bridge at Laguna Seca :)
     
  11. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
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  12. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

    Jan 26, 2004
    495
    Pasadena, CA
    Yes, believe that the Zonda and CLK were there with the same owner. Looks like the same or similar Zonda, but not sure. Certainly could be - good spotting. I had forgotten about that garage. That house was for sale in 2011 but don't know who owned it or if it sold.

    Point Dume ? $44,500,000 | Pricey Pads
     
  13. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
    14,244
    The Zonda looks identical to me. I'll PM that photographer (aka speedracer38) and ask him about it and if he'd like to post here. He's seen a lot of these California collections so if there is anyone that knows, it may be him. I'll ask Erik, too. Erik (Peloton25) knows some of the bigger collections, too...not just the McLaren F1. :)
     
  14. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

    Jan 26, 2004
    495
    Pasadena, CA
    Thanks much. Some in the SoCal sub-forum think it may still be in LA, possibly in a Camarillo hangar. No recent sightings though...
     
  15. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

    Jan 26, 2004
    495
    Pasadena, CA
  16. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

    Jan 26, 2004
    495
    Pasadena, CA
  17. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

    Jan 26, 2004
    495
    Pasadena, CA
    Found this listing - it was sold in August 2000 at a Christie's auction for $1,051,000

    <I>The ex-Alessandro Nannini/Marcel Tiemann FIA GT1 Endurance Racing Factory Team Car</I> | Christie's

    The ex-Alessandro Nannini/Marcel Tiemann FIA GT1 Endurance Racing Factory Team Car
    1997 MERCEDES-BENZ CLK-GTR WORKS SPORTS RACING CAR
    Chassis No. 0006
    Mercedes racing silver with blue mirrors and Warsteiner D2 livery, black cockpit
    Engine:V12, dohc, four valves per cylinder, electronic fuel injection, 5,987cc, 600bhp (see text) at 7,000rpm, 770lb-ft at 3700rpm (with FIA air restrictors); Chassis: carbon-fiber monococque with integrated steel roll cage, carbon-fiber composite body; Gearbox: straight toothed six-speed manual sequential shift; Suspension: front and rear, double wishbone with adjustable shock absorbers, adjustable stabilizers and spring retainers, pull-rod actuated springs; Brakes: six-plunger aluminum fixed calipers, internally ventilated discs with carbon-fiber linings. Rack-and-pinion power steering. Left hand drive.

    Late in 1996 the German DTM (Deutches Touring Meisterschaft) series, then the most technically advanced and expensive racing series in the world, broke down after most of its manufacturer/entrants withdrew. Mercedes-Benz was faced with a decision: do we apply the budget allocated to the DTM to more 4-color advertisements for our production cars or risk it on a crash program to build a competitive racer for the increasingly attractive, but Porsche/BMW-dominated, FIA GT series? For most manufacturers that decision would be, in MBA-speak, a 'no brainer'. Advertising moves units and builds quarterly revenue and profit; racing only builds an image, takes years to pay off and doesn't help our performance bonuses or stock options' values.

    So Mercedes-Benz committed its massive DTM budget to the CLK-GTR. Mercedes chose its performance partner AMG to build the new car. AMG was formed in 1967 by Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher in Grossaspach (thus A-M-G) as a tuner of Mercedes-Benz cars perhaps still best known for the 'Hammer' built in 1988, the year AMG became M-B's sedan racing team. A formal cooperation agreement with M-B followed in 1990 making AMG the specialist branch of Merecedes, building the C36, E50, C43 and E55 with production of 5,000 examples in 1999, the year AMG became a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG. The first FIA GT race was at Hockenheim in April 1997. That gave AMG only a few months to conceive, design, build, test and prepare a three-car team with one spare.

    Intended to promote the soon-to-be-launched CLK coupe and convertible, AMG grabbed as much DTM technology as it could for the rules-constrained FIA GT series, looked at BMW's success with the V12-powered McLaren F1 GTR and chose the S-class 600-series 6-liter V12 engines. AMG laid out a conventional mid-engine rear-drive chassis with ground effects bodywork that slightly resembled the CLK and began bagging, vacuuming and cooking carbon fiber in a well-organized frenzy.
    The AMG Mercedes-Benz team was ready for Hockenheim on April 13, 1997, but barely, having completed the cars only the day before practice, 128 days after the go ahead. Drivers were 1995 DTM champion Bernd Schneider, 1994 DTM Champion Klaus Ludwig, Alexander Wurz, Alessandro Nannini and Marcel Tiemann, later joined at times by Roberto Moreno, Bernd Maylaender, Ralf Schumacher, Aguri Suzuki and Greg Moore. They lined up against factory teams from Porsche, BMW and Panoz, with strong private Porsche and BMW entries. The CLK-GTR's competition had seasons of experience and equally deep pockets. High stakes in the Drivers' and Teams' Championships dictated team tactics be employed from the beginning of the season, especially as AMG Mercedes would be starting much lower on the FIA GT learning curve, always sure to cause early-season dnfs. The team's lead drivers, DTM veterans Schneider, Ludwig and Nannini, started on an even footing but points accumulated would determine who would be favored if a chance for the Drivers' Championship developed.

    The AMG Mercedes team's accomplishment fully justified Mercedes-Benz's decision to fund the FIA GT effort. The cars showed their speed early, with Schneider taking pole at the season opening Hockenheim race. AMG Mercedes quickly overcame the expected early season teething discomfort and the CLK-GTRs bit soundly into the race results, Schneider/Wurz barely losing the second round at Silverstone when torrential rains red-flagged the 4-hour race in 3 hours 20 minutes, costing Schneider the lap on which he passed the Kox/Ravaglia McLaren-BMW F1 GTR for the lead!

    Nannini then qualified 2nd in Helsinki but finished 16th after a gearbox change during the race while Schneider/Wurz recovered from a crash with a McLaren to regain 8th at the checker. At this point in the season, JJ Lehto and Steve Soper led the best placed AMG Mercedes drivers in the Drivers' Championship by 18 points while Team BMW led AMG Mercedes by 28 points, a huge deficit for a first year car and team.

    At the Nürburgring on June 29 the CLK-GTR really showed its form as Bernd Schneider swept pole, fastest race lap and the race win, barely a minute ahead of teammates Nannini and Tiemann. During the race, after an accident slowed the third CLK-GTR, AMG Mercedes moved Klaus Ludwig into Schneider's car, giving him equal race points to Schneider and keeping all three AMG team leaders in contention for the Drivers' Championship. At Spa-Francorchamps on July 20 the Ardennes circuit's characteristic intermittent rain interrupted the CLK-GTR's progress after Nannini, who qualified 2nd to JJ Lehto's factory McLaren F1 GTR, led early before retiring and Schneider was unable to catch Lehto's McLaren. The Ludwig/Ralf Schumacher CLK-GTR finished 5th, 2 laps down.
    At Zeltweg in Austria a week later Ludwig returned the driver-swap favor, giving Schneider a turn in his leading, and eventually winning, CLK-GTR. The consistent and quick Nannini/Tiemann pairing finished a close 2nd even without second gear in the race's closing stages, building up their Drivers' Championship points without team tactics. Another driver-sharing deal at Suzuka on August 24 put Schneider into the winning Nannini/Tiemann car during the race. The Ludwig/Maylaender CLK-GTR took the pole. Back in Great Britain on September 14 Schneider again swept pole, fastest lap and the race win partnered by Wurz, a result necessitated by the officials' decision to stop mid-race car swapping, less than a minute ahead of the other front row qualifier, the Nannini/Tiemann CLK-GTR.

    AMG Mercedes domination was challenged by JJ Lehto's win in the McLaren 1 minute 24 seconds ahead of Nannini/Tiemann's CLK-GTR at Mugello on September 28, even though the three CLK-GTRs swept the top three qualifying positions. Schneider/Wurz were caught up in an incident involving other cars; Ludwig/Maylaender finished 9th after mechanical problems. Three weeks later the FIA GT series made its way to the US for the final two races.

    At Sebring, Nannini crashed, but Schneider and Ludwig, now sharing the #11 Mercedes, overcame rain to win the race. This result put the Drivers' Championship on the line among Schneider and McLaren drivers JJ Lehto and Steve Soper at the season finale at Laguna Seca on October 26. The race win by Schneider/Ludwig's CLK-GTR capped the season, taking both the Drivers' and Teams' Championships for the AMG Mercedes team. Ludwig finished fourth in the Drivers' Classification with the consistent, and frequently brilliant, Nannini and Tiemann in a tie for 5th.

    In retrospect, 1997 was a vintage year in GT racing. The caliber of the cars (Mercedes CLK-GTR, Porsche 911 GT1, McLaren F1 GTR and Panoz), teams (AMG, Porsche, BMW, Gulf-Davidoff, Konrad, Roock, Schnitzer, Dams and David Price), drivers and venues (on three Continents) is unmatched in recent history. Three major manufacturers faced off with factory teams, and no secrets were made of their involvement, intentions or the extent of the resources that would be deployed in their campaigns to win. Yet the cars are, because of the FIA GT rules applied this season, largely the result of artful construction with minimal exotic technology. The season, often with only 7 days between races, and 4-hour races required strong, simple and reliable cars. The many cars which recovered from racing accidents to achieve strong results demonstrates that the designers and constructors succeeded in achieving these goals.

    Through it all, one car on the AMG Mercedes team showed its combination of performance and reliability with consistent speed and finishes: the Nannini/Tiemann #10. Its record speaks for itself.

    Presented here, 0006 is in perfect race-ready condition in its 'Silver Arrow' color scheme with Warsteiner-D2 livery and blue door mirrors. It is one of only four such V12-powered CLK-GTRs built. At 2400 pounds, its 680bhp (officially, FIA regulations stipulated only 600bhp!) V12 gives 3.5 pounds/horsepower. It should be noted that during the entire 1997 season not one CLK-GTR failed to finish a race because of engine problems.

    Sources estimate these factory team cars cost nearly $3 million each to build (not including amortization of development costs). The 21 'street' CLK-GTRs which had to be built to homologate the four race cars sold for a factory price of DM3.2 million each, a price capped by FIA GT regulations and bearing no relation at all to their true cost. Offered here today at a small fraction of its original cost, the potential saving on this factory team CLK-GTR could buy a barn full of S-class Mercedes.

    The car is offered complete with a factory set of wheels, spare front hose and rear body section; these items can be collected from the vendor in England. Mercedes-Benz factory prepared Works cars are rarely ever available and now that AMG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler, it can be expected that the remaining CLK-GTRs, in long-standing tradition, will be retained by the factory. This is one of just four factory-built V12 CLK-GTRs and the first ever to be publicly offered for sale at auction. It is a proven winning modern 'Silver Arrow'.
     
  18. Peloton25

    Peloton25 F1 Veteran

    Jan 24, 2004
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    Erik
    No, the Zonda Monza in that garage and yellow Zonda C12 S (not pictured) were both owned by a different Malibu collector. He has since sold the Monza but still has the other one and last I heard is developing an electric vehicle drivetrain for it.

    Back to the original topic, I asked a friend to try and find out whether CLK GTR #006 is still with the owner who had it in 2006. He said he last saw the car about 4 years ago in his garage. I know the owner has sold off a number of things including some very important cars over the past few years so its not clear if that is one he has held onto. I saw it once in 2003, and it was entered into Gooding's Pebble Beach auction in 2005 but failed to sell at that time.

    1997 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR Works Sports Racing Car | Gooding & Company

    I'll report back if I hear anything.

    >8^)
    ER
     
  19. Peloton25

    Peloton25 F1 Veteran

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    #20 Peloton25, Jan 3, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  20. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
    14,244
    ^^Thanks for posting that. I've never seen one in that livery. I'm thinking that may actually be a road car with a race livery and race rear wing. I know such an example existed a while back that replicated the #12 CLK GTR with the naked woman (not like that one pictured in the Brazil one). It also had a race rear wing, but was otherwise a road car with the road wheels and interior bits.
     
  21. Peloton25

    Peloton25 F1 Veteran

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    Wouldn't the mirrors on the A-pillar and fuel filler on the B-pillar a good indication that Brazil car is a racing version? Also the interior shot in the link I posted looks the part.

    >8^)
    ER
     
  22. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
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    I know at least chassis 01 (formerly Don Wallace's) had A-pillar mirrors whereas the rest mainly had fender mounted with the built-in turn signals. I thought they all had the fuel filler and other access areas in the B-pillars, but the cover is different on that one.

    Edit: I opened your link now as I only looked at your attached photos and the interior looks the part like you say. I don't think that's a street converted one anymore like the other one. :)
     
  23. kevfla

    kevfla Formula 3

    Nov 20, 2003
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    gone 4 good
    Where did his two cars wind-up? Did they have to be exported back to Germany? Or did Don Wallace end up with one?
     
  24. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
    14,244
    Hey Kevin,

    Don's was sold and is now in California. It's the same CLK-GTR in photos earlier in this thread with the black wheels.

    I'm not sure where Gerd's ended up and haven't kept track of the whereabouts of those for quite some time. The silver CLK GTR that was at Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale is the only other one in FL I'm aware of. That one is chassis #17 and used to be red...supposedly suffered damage in the middle east and then was rebuilt. I can't remember Gerd's chassis number off the top of my head...#4 comes to mind.

    His white 911 GT1 was gorgeous. I was fortunate to see that, his CLK-GTR, and F50 at the Mt. Dora car show many years back. He posted his GT1 for sale in DuPont Registry back then for only $800k...
     

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