DTM AMG Mercedes HWA official show car
The infamous Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, or DTM, became a victim of its own success. European fans were captivated by the roaring racing cars, dressed up as the Mercedes, Alfa Romeo or Opel they could buy in their local showroom, and with big names like Klaus Ludwig, Alessandro Nannini, Nicola Larini and Keke Rosberg behind the wheel, the series had growing international appeal. In 1996, the Internationa Touring Car Series (ITC) was formed from the DTM, with the aim of bringing the championship outside Germany and Europe. Bad financial management, and less appeal outside Europe, led to the demise of what up until then was probably the greatest touring car series of all time.
German fans were saddened by the loss of their greatest racing series, and manufacturers rued the disappearance of an unbeatable platform for marketing, so it was inevitable that the DTM would reappear. It did so in 2000, under the new name of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, which ensured the survival of the famous DTM-abbreviation. Mercedes-Benz was keen to enter this new championship with its C208 CLK, the desirable coupé based on its immensely successful C-Class, the successor of the 190 that became famous as a DTM-machine.
Sponsored by the most German-sounding telecommunications giant that ever existed – D2 Mannesmann – the AMG Mercedes team was run by HWA Racelab, the company owned by – and named after – AMG-founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht. For its sponsor, HWA produced a very limited number of showcars, one of which we are pleased to offer for sale. Being a showcar, this car comes without an engine, and the nature of the chassis makes it impossible to install one. Still, the car is built to the exact DTM specification, meaning that it consists of a monocoque not unlike the ones you find in Formule One, around which a tube frame has been build to hold the CLK body. Save for the carbon doors, the body is made out of steel.
The car is an exact duplicate of the machine that Mercedes-legend and ex-Formula One driver Bernd Schneider drove to the championship, beating a field consisting of many DTM-legends like Klaus Ludwig, Kris Nissen, Uwe Alzen, Manuel Reuter and Roland Asch, to name a few, but also ex-F1 stars like Stefano Modena and Pedro Lamy. This car has a wonderful pedigree and the opportunity to own such a machine is a rare one.
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