Built to celebrate Bernd Schneider's DTM championship win in 2003, the Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG offered customers an experience as close as one could get to a championship winning DTM car—but certified for road use.

Overseen by AMG, construction of this limited production model was charged to HWA AG, the firm responsible for Schneider’s all-conquering 2003 racer.

The differences between the CLK DTM and CLK 55 AMG were far more than just skin deep.

At its heart was a 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 producing 582 horsepower, which was mated to Mercedes-Benz’s Speedshift 5G-Tronic automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

Its performance credentials remain highly impressive even by modern standards, with a 0–62 mph time of just four seconds and a top speed of 200 mph.

Renowned for its brutal power delivery, the CLK DTM’s surfeit of torque meant that smoking the rear tires under hard acceleration was a regular occurrence well into third gear, making for a truly hair-raising driving exp...