eBay Find of the Day: 2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster... in Arkansas?
Thu, 09 May 2013
The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR was built as a race car for the FIA GT Championship series in 1997. To meet homologation requirements, a total of 26 road-going vehicles were built in the following years. The rarest were the open-roof roadster models, of which only six were made. While 24 of the street-legal cars were fitted with a 6.9-liter V12, good for more than 600 horsepower, two were upgraded to "CLK GTR Super Sport" configuration with a 7.3-liter V12 rated at 655 horsepower. Performance was spectacular, with a 0-60 sprint of about 3.7 seconds and a top speed of just over 200 miles per hour.
The original sticker price for the CLK GTR Super Sport, more than a decade ago, was $1,547,620 – dissuading most of us from buying one. But if you missed out last time, we just found a clean example that has apparently been sitting inside a showroom in Arkansas waiting for a new owner. It is reportedly the only roadster currently in the United States. Federalized and street legal, its odometer shows only 70 delivery miles (are we the only ones who consider it a shame nobody has ever enjoyed wringing it out?). Fresh off an extensive factory service, this museum piece boasts a Buy it Now price of $1,995,980. So much for depreciation, eh?
By Michael Harley