Once upon a time, hip-hop artist Drake set his sights on a racecar for the road, the Mercedes CLK GTR, and set in motion a wild sequence of events. Curated, a vintage supercar specialist in Miami, Florida, was helping Drake realize his dream of owning the extremely rare 1-of-20 Mercedes CLK GTR. In the process, a breakthrough deal was locked down on an even rarer 1-of-6 Mercedes CLK GTR Roadster and a 1-of-20 Lamborghini Reventon from an Abu Dhabi Royal’s personal car collection.
As Curated co-founder John Temerian relates in their video on the cars, Drake changed his mind about the $12 million CLK GTR Roadster when the deal was already in motion. This only means that the ultimate version of one of the ‘90s greatest supercars has another chance of finding the right home.
This $12 million Mercedes CLK GTR Roadster is one of the most valuable Mercedes in the world
Considering the rarity of the CLK GTR coupe and roadster series, prices on them are stratospheric. In total, 20 units of the CLK GTR Coupe and six units of the CLK GTR Roadster were produced as homologation specials for the CLK GTR racecar. In fact, initially, only one roadster was built in the initial run of coupes between 1998 and 1999, with five more being added in 2002 with the leftover chassis.
Strangely enough, the street versions were more powerful due to regulations on racecars. Of the lot, the later roadster versions were the most powerful — the 6.9-liter V12 was up to 612+ horsepower. This makes the CLK GTR Roadster versions the most valuable, commanding over $12 million in this deal.
The Sheikh of Abu Dhabi’s car collection is worth over $100 million
The Mercedes CLK GTR Roadster that would have been Drake’s came from literal automotive royalty: the SBH Royal Auto Gallery, a personal collection worth over $100 million owned by the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi himself.
Many collectors had tried to buy the car from Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s collection unsuccessfully before the Curated co-founder managed to get the deal for Drake going on one condition — they buy a $1+ million, limited-edition Lamborghini Reventon first. Ultimately, Curated ended up with both cars, not Drake.
Drake’s $11 million car collection would have doubled in value
If the deal with Drake had gone through, the value of the CLK GTR Roadster would have overshadowed his estimated $11 million car collection. While a high-roller himself, Drake’s car collection is pretty diverse, spanning everything from a Bugatti Veyron Sang Noir to a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and limousines like the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman, to name a few. The super-rare CLK GTR would have been the crowning glory. Now, that chance goes to someone else thanks to Curated.
