2000 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM Competition (chassis RS00-001)

When DTM came back in 2000, it came back simpler on paper and ferocious in the paddock: tube-frame silhouettes, 4.0-litre naturally aspirated V8s, rear drive, no driver aids. Mercedes-Benz fielded an eight-car CLK DTM army split across HWA works and satellite teams and walked the year — Bernd Schneider took the title. Independent coverage and auction research agree the total race-chassis count for that first-year Mercedes effort sits at eight. Chassis RS00-001 is not a customer touring car and not the later road-going CLK DTM AMG coupe run of 100. It is the HWA test and development car — Path C works scarcity with a chassis plate you can count on two hands.

What it did in period was homework. Public Bonhams materials say it never started a DTM race, but that AMG’s factory drivers — Schneider, Klaus Ludwig, Tomas Jäger, Marcel Fässler among them — spent time in it while the championship program was being shaken out. That is a different provenance stack from a race winner, and the score treats it that way. After HWA, Brazilian collector-racer Alcides Diniz took the car; it lived on his Capuava circuit and then scored a real result: second at the 2006 Mil Milhas at Interlagos with Tony Kanaan, Raul Boesel, and Pedro Lamy. Later European track-day life and a UK workshop refresh put it in the Goodwood orbit as a Festival of Speed invitee. Spares and a spare wheel set travel with the lot.

Score 91 — Ultra-rare. Production of eight clears Path C hard; specification is correct 2000 DTM HWA iron; provenance is works test plus later endurance podium; documentation is solid in secondary sources; market appearances of these chassis are exceptional; condition points reflect a maintained historic track tool, not a sealed time capsule. New marque for the Live board — Mercedes-Benz sits cleanly apart from the current Ultra set.

Status: Live catalog — Bonhams Goodwood Revival, 19 September 2026. Live-cap note: ingest should rotate DB4 Vantage Convertible (84) out first per board lock.

Watcher’s checklist

1. Confirm chassis RS00-001 vs any sister HWA race numbers.
2. Do not confuse with road CLK DTM AMG (≈100 coupes).
3. Inventory spares / wheels at inspection.
4. Separate period DTM test narrative from 2006 Mil Milhas and later track days.
5. Re-check Bonhams lot status before you act.