Mercedes-Benz cheers the GT1 as a great showcase to promote its supercars against McLaren and Ferrari. The release in just a few months of the CLK GTR would prove that discussions with the FIA had lasted for a significant time. The GT1 is close to a prototype category for which the returns on investment are not a foregone conclusion and Chrysler, for example, did not venture there.
The GT1 regulations require a population of 25 road homologated cars. Mercedes-Benz gets the GT1 approval even before the production model is available but achieves afterward the compliance. Between 1998 and 2000, 25 coupes and 6 roadsters are built. These road cars that support the GT1 version are in their time the most expensive cars on the market: around $ 1M for the coupe and $ 1.5M for the roadster.
A CLK GTR roadster was sold for £ 1.5M including premium by Bonhams on June 26, 2015. A coupe dated 2000 is estimated € 1.8M for sale by Bonhams in Paris on February 4, lot 352.
unsold
This outstanding 2000 @MercedesBenz CLK GTR Coupé is offered in Paris on 4 Feb 2016: https://t.co/VxJXKuPT60 pic.twitter.com/tIo1yapVB7
— BONHAMS (@bonhams1793) December 30, 2015