Only one in New Zealand

Only one in New Zealand

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Mustang-man

Original Poster:

255 posts

228 months

Tuesday 27th June 2006
quotequote all
Went and saw this today at Armstrong Prestige (lower Princess St near Turbo Shop);

Mercedes-Benz CLK AMG DTM. This is the only one in New Zealand, and i think there were only ever 100 made in the world?. Not going to be there forever though, so best see it while you can. www.forbesautos.com/reviews/2005/mercedes_benz/clk/feature.html






I know the sales manager there and if he wasn't so busy i would have asked him if i could open the bonnet/sit in it/go on a test drive/take it home etc. Those 20" wheels are huge though, and really suit the car.

If this really is one of 100, then it was definately worth seeing and taking pics of. The car has about 580 hp, but its a bit sad that i never heard it going.

Edited by Mustang-man on Wednesday 28th June 02:28

GravelBen

15,914 posts

237 months

Tuesday 27th June 2006
quotequote all
yeah went and had a look at that last sunday, but didn't think to take the camera.

It really is a most impressive piece of kit, I think the brake discs are bigger than my wheels , carbon fibre pretty much everything, etc...

Its one of 25 (I think) right-hand-drive version they made, so even rarer! Had a bit of a chat to the salesman who was there at the time, turns that ones not even for sale, it belongs to a customer whos letting them show it off. Value somewhere between $500k and $1m depending what someones prepared to sell one for

Bonnet was up when I was there (lightweight FRP bonnet too) and its an impressive looking high-tech 5.5 V8 in there, with a fairly meaty supercharger sitting between the banks. 580bhp and 800Nm! - over quadruple the torque of the Legacy. Wasn't allowed to sit in it because of it being a customer owned car, but had a good look. seats look like nicely leathered race buckets with full harnesses etc, smallish suede wheel with the whole flappy-paddle thing going on behind it. Its just an auto box with more manual override though as opposed to an SMG type thing. I think the story was that nobody had a manual box that could reliably take 800Nm and still be useable on the road.

If I had that sorta cash - well to be honest I'd probably invest most of it and buy a cheaper toy, but its quite impressive to see what a lotto win could buy you all the same.

robdickinson

31,343 posts

261 months

Tuesday 27th June 2006
quotequote all
If that bodykit was on a nova we'd be taking the piss.

What an ugly lump. bet it goes well though!

Esprit

6,370 posts

290 months

Tuesday 27th June 2006
quotequote all
I'm with Rob,

Not such a fan.

If it was more like a DTM car homologated for road use, I'd be in love, but it's a CLK with a big engine and a body kit IMHO.

Not to say I don't appreciate it, just that it's basically just another mercedes with a huuuuuuge engine.

Izza

571 posts

283 months

Wednesday 28th June 2006
quotequote all
is that a slushbox in the center console?


(says the man who has 2 autos )

robdickinson

31,343 posts

261 months

Wednesday 28th June 2006
quotequote all
Izza said:
is that a slushbox in the center console?


(says the man who has 2 autos )



What, merc do a manual? Who'd buy it...

Esprit

6,370 posts

290 months

Wednesday 28th June 2006
quotequote all
Izza said:
is that a slushbox in the center console?


(says the man who has 2 autos )


And a Manual up on blocks at the outlaws' place

*hint hint*

Oh and Izza... long time no see round here... welcome back, hopefully you start making yourself more of a regular round these parts

GravelBen

15,914 posts

237 months

Wednesday 28th June 2006
quotequote all
Esprit said:
...it's a CLK with a big engine and a body kit IMHO.


It's a bit more than that to be fair, pretty much everything inside apart from the seats and dash is made of carbon fibre, not sure if you can see it in those photos but theres a huge carbon brace across behind the seats (no back seats), for the first time in many years Mercedes have actually made an attempt at reducing weight. I think its still around 1600kg though, so not a lightweight by anyone other than Mercedes standards. Reports I've read on it seemed to suggest that the auto box when set to full manual will not change up unless you tell it to, ie it'll let you hit the rev-limiter if you don't change up (still won't let you change down if it thinks you'll break the engine though), and the also said it actually has good steering feel, believe it or not.

The cool thing though is that its quicker than the MacMerc SLR, for around half the price.

Kiwi Le

262 posts

274 months

Wednesday 28th June 2006
quotequote all
Needs to loose the wing & get a tow bar and make a great boat tow with those ft/lbs!

GravelBen

15,914 posts

237 months

Wednesday 28th June 2006
quotequote all
Kiwi Le said:
Needs to loose the wing & get a tow bar and make a great boat tow with those ft/lbs!


just imagine turing the TC off and laying a patch on the boatramp! would be great fun if vaping tyres is your thing.

brendonj

729 posts

246 months

Thursday 29th June 2006
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Hmm theres one here in London for sale for £250k so at NZD500k it could almost be considered a bargain!

Kiwi XTR2

2,693 posts

239 months

Thursday 29th June 2006
quotequote all
If there was a 1:1 exchange rate, at NZ$250k I would . . .










still not be remotely able to afford one.

Awaiting some frustrated engineer (or surveying student) to attempt to prove using quantum mechanics that due to the Merc's greater day-to-day practicality it would somehow be more economically efficient than the Westie.

v15ben

15,900 posts

248 months

Thursday 29th June 2006
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Kiwi XTR2 said:
somehow be more economically efficient than the Westie.[/small]


Surely not mate

Kiwi XTR2

2,693 posts

239 months

Thursday 29th June 2006
quotequote all
v15ben said:
Surely not mate
Cheers Ben

Yeah. Bangs-per-buck or spins-per-quid you can't beat a Westie.

Have you written a book, photo essay or website on your travels yet ? Loved the HK Sunday drive thread

v15ben

15,900 posts

248 months

Friday 30th June 2006
quotequote all
I wrote a travel journal kinda thing mate. It turned out to be 7 million trees worth of copy though so maybe the whole thing is a bit long to email! I did of course write a section for the Pukekohe trackday and Hong Kong drive. Sadly there weren't too many car related days except those! I can email you the Pukekohe write up if you want mate!

Writing aside, how is that Westy doing and say Hi to Phil from me

Esprit

6,370 posts

290 months

Friday 30th June 2006
quotequote all
you should write up some of your PH-related stuff on here, I'm sure we'd love to hear it

v15ben

15,900 posts

248 months

Friday 30th June 2006
quotequote all
Esprit said:
you should write up some of your PH-related stuff on here, I'm sure we'd love to hear it


I can post it up if you like. Just the Pukekohe trackday and Hong Kong drive as far as I can remember. I will post them up tomorrow

Esprit

6,370 posts

290 months

Saturday 1st July 2006
quotequote all
will look forward to reading it Ben

Kiwi XTR2

2,693 posts

239 months

Saturday 1st July 2006
quotequote all
Would love to read any of your stories Ben.

If you're ever back here the Westie has been completely re-wired, the brakes are sorted, ProShift flappy-paddles fitted (and the suicide seat is back in) so I can take you for a ride

v15ben

15,900 posts

248 months

Saturday 1st July 2006
quotequote all
Kiwi XTR2 said:

the suicide seat is back + take you for a ride