S Klub LA, a California tuning shop, showed a McLaren 750S at the 2026 SEMA Show wearing bodywork modeled on the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR. The donor supercar is priced around $360,000, while a genuine CLK GTR is worth more than $10 million. The result is a convincing silhouette from a car that is mechanically still a McLaren.
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Carscoops writer Brad Anderson was blunt on that point, calling it actually just a 750S with a fancy body kit. He also judged it a better route to the look than the old habit of dressing a Pontiac Fiero as a Ferrari, a comparison that captures the spirit of the build and the modest ambition behind it.
Bodywork from nose to tail
Carscoops detailed the changes on Nov. 6. The front gets quad headlights, a black grille, a low bumper, a black chin spoiler, wide fenders and white wheels inspired by aero discs. The roof is unchanged, and the car keeps its original McLaren door skins, which are larger and more flowing than the doors on the Mercedes it imitates, so the profile gives away the donor at a glance.
At the sides the rear quarter panels are stock 750S pieces with flared fenders added. The tail is new, with taillights inspired by the CLK, a large lip spoiler, a fixed carbon fiber wing and a carbon diffuser. The original car’s exhaust arrangement was not copied, so the McLaren’s four central pipes remain, now finished in chrome. Inside, the 750S cabin layout stays. Red leather covers the driver’s seat, steering wheel, dashboard and driver door panel, while the passenger side gets quilted white leather. Carscoops mentions no engine or performance changes.
The 750S underneath
The starting point is a serious machine. Motor1’s launch coverage lists a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 making 740 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque, with a 2.7-second run to 60 mph and a curb weight near 3,062 pounds for the coupe. The 2024 coupe started at $324,000, so the $360,000 figure Carscoops uses sits above launch pricing, which fits with options and market premiums.
Keeping the donor car intact is a deliberate choice. A body kit can be removed, and the carbon and leather work leaves the supercar’s mechanicals alone, which is a different proposition from cutting up a rare machine to chase a replica. For an owner worried about resale, that reversibility matters as much as the looks. S Klub LA has done this kind of thing before. Carscoops previously covered its widebody Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Speedster, and an earlier CLK GTR replica built from an E-Class drew attention in 2023.
The real CLK GTR it borrows from
The Mercedes in question was a homologation special. According to RM Sotheby’s listing for a 1998 example, 25 were built, 20 of them coupes, to qualify for the FIA GT Championship’s top GT1 class, with a mid-mounted 6.9-liter V12 behind the driver. That car, number 9 of the 25, sold for $4,515,000 at Monterey in 2018.
That auction result shows why the $10 million figure matters. Values have more than doubled since, per Carscoops, and a genuine example is out of reach for nearly everyone. A body kit on a 750S offers the shape for a fraction of the cost, while leaving a quick, modern supercar underneath.
SEMA is the annual specialty-equipment show in Las Vegas, and its halls are full of builds designed to make a point rather than to be sold as is. A CLK GTR lookalike fits that pattern, because the real car is a rare homologation machine that almost nobody sees in person. Putting its face on a current supercar gives the crowd a way to engage with a legend and gives the shop a talking point that photographs well.
The comparison with other replicas shows where this build sits. Many CLK GTR tributes start from far cheaper bases, which means the finished car resembles the original in photos but not in presence. A 750S has the proportions of a mid-engine exotic, so the conversion starts with the right stance and wide track. The compromises show up in details such as the roofline and doors, which Carscoops identifies as unchanged McLaren parts.
It also raises a question that kit builders often face: what counts as a replica. The original used a V12 and a carbon tub built to meet racing rules, while this car keeps a twin-turbo V8 and a McLaren monocoque. The design language is borrowed, the engineering is not, and S Klub LA does not claim otherwise. Anderson treats the car as a tribute worth a look rather than a rival to the original, and the SEMA setting makes that reading easy to accept. What remains unclear is whether S Klub LA will sell the conversion as a kit or keep it a one-off show car, and Carscoops does not say.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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