There’s exciting news for those in the fortunate position of collecting vintage race cars. RM Sotheby’s is auctioning off one of only eight 2000 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM race cars. AMG built this limited production run of German saloon racers for the DTM season in 2000. The car being auctioned is RS00-05, used by the HWA team and driven by Marcel Fassler.
The car’s family history is one of eight split up at birth among three different racing teams. Works HWA team received four cars, the Semi-Works Persson team got two of them, and the last two were issued to the Roseberg team. This HWA team car wears its Warsteiner beer livery, and the not-street-legal drivetrain.
Under its hood beats a 4.0-liter V8 heart producing a regulation-limited 500 horsepower supported by a six-speed Xtrac sequential manual transmission. As far as the car’s motorsport record, this Mercedes CLK DTM never won a race but does have six podium finishes under its fan belt and finished fourth overall at the end of the 2000 season championship standings.
After it was retired from racing Mercedes-Benz used the car as a promotional tool before being sold to Czech car collector Antonio Charouz. Since the car has been in private ownership, it has received a new clutch, gearbox, and water pump. Not bad for a race car that’s clocked less than 2,200 miles on its odometer.
The auction for this Mercedes CLK DTM race car is set for February 1, 2023, in Paris, by RM Sotheby’s. It is a solid running part of motorsport history, from its configuration to its beer brand race livery.
In other automotive news, check out the Bertone GB110 Supercar.
