Building a unicorn

Building a unicorn

‍

Cars inspire dreams. For many enthusiasts, this love of cars starts with an interest in racing games and social media, and as we grow older, these dreams become milestones and goals for us to pursue. But some cars are just too far out of reach. The average Joe quickly accepts that the only way to drive these cars is through a video game. That wasn't enough for Johan Ackermann. 

‍

Johan Ackermann is a car guy; I think that's rather obvious. He has a passion for cars and a love for cats, but he offers a specific set of skills that assist his drive to produce some of the most incredible vehicles from the comfort of his own backyard. So to see just how he achieves such impressive results on his builds, we went to his workshop to meet the man in charge and get up close and personal with his ELK GTR. 

‍

Johan is a skilled man with years of metalworking experience in the aeronautical industry. Over the years, he has perfected his craft, and his competence reflects his skill in his personal builds. He spent his time working on aircraft and fabricating various components to fit his client's needs. During his time working with lightweight materials, he eventually caught the eye of Tony Viana and the BMW Motorsports team. Tony requested a custom front bumper for his 3 Series race car, and after successfully completing it, Johan joined the team and became a BMW test driver in Welkom for five years. 

‍

It was here that he further honed his skills as a driver behind the wheel of iconic BMWs and Rolls-Royces. Clearly, he possessed skills on and off the track; designing car parts and working on cars seemed to be his forte, and what began as a bumper on a race car had developed into a one-man show capable of building serious machines in full view of his kitchen window. 

‍

Johan's automotive excitement stems from the same place many of us first fell in love with cars. Racing games. Despite Johan's BMW past, he became a fan of the Mercedes-Benz Le Mans racers that he lapped time and time again on his racing sim. Although Johan freely admits to BMW being the better track-focused performance brand, his heart lies in iconic Mercedes race cars. In fact, he loved these extravagant cars so much that he came up with the idea to make his own Group C (Sauber) C9. 

‍

Johan, like anyone else, had doubts about his ability to complete the project when he first started. This new task was unlike anything he had ever done before, but he had an image in his mind, determination knocking on the door, and he began building his very own car.

Needless to say, there were a few teething issues, and this project provided Johan with learning opportunities that would ultimately benefit him in subsequent builds. As you're sure to see, he doesn't do any job half-heartedly. In fact, the Grand Tour picked up on his first project, the C9, for its expert execution, and you've probably already seen it making waves a while back. His next project was the V12 BMW LMR, which further projected his skills. Later, with a C11, he returned to the Mercedes world.

‍

Up to this point, Johan had only worked with fibreglass for the vehicle shape, but he needed more of a challenge. Cue the Mercedes-CLK GTR, one of the most intricate cars ever made. It looked wild, and it was quick—so much so that it was known for getting airborne at high speeds. Johan wanted to put his metalworking skills to the test, and he has now almost completed the metal outer shell of his ELK GTR.

‍

The CLK GTR is a unicorn in the motoring world; it is a car that looks good from any angle and is so rare that you are lucky to ever see one in person. It is a product of Mercedes-Benz's desire to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and in the process, it put the world in a chokehold due to its sheer size and extravagance. As for a road-going production car, there were only 28 units of this car ever made, including six roadster variations and two prototypes, and it came in at a brutal price of around $1.5 million. With such a steep price, it was the talk of the town in 1998. Just for reference, $1.5 million could have bought you two McLaren F1s or five Ferrari 512 TRs. Today, the Merc-CLK GTR can set you back upwards of $10 million. 

‍

You may have noticed that we refer to this car as the ELK GTR. Johan doesn't want to be known for building exact replicas, but rather inspired vehicles with the original look while still offering an element of usability and driveability. So he used a 1997 W210 Mercedes-Benz E-Class as the base for this build, hence the ELK name and badges. Aside from the chassis, this car couldn't be further removed from the E-Class it started its life as. Firstly, the roof has been shaped to offer a more dynamic and streamlined look; the doors have been widened and shaped to fit the lines of the ELK; the front bumper, hood, and fenders are all custom; and the tail is a fabricated masterpiece in its own right. To ensure Johan can make the most of his build once it is complete, the rear wing is detachable to access the boot, which offers substantial boot space. 

‍

On the inside, he is determined to make the standard E-Class interior into one that matches the racer look of the exterior. He plans to black out the trim pieces to create a more ominous environment for the driver and passenger. Johan also decided that a rear-mounted V12 would be ideal; so, out with the rear seat bench and the V12 from the S-Class would soon occupy its position. 

‍

Naturally, a sporty car needs a lively soundtrack, and after scouring YouTube for some time, the ELK builder discovered that the M120 V12 from a 1994 W140 would suit the car. Once it is straight-piped, it will create a noise that is almost unmatched by any other road car, especially in SA. The W140 S-Class wasn't a slouch either, with a whopping 300kW from its 6.0-litre V12, weighing just under 2 tonnes. The ELK GTR, on the other hand, is expected to weigh around 1.8 tonnes, and with a ram air intake from the roof scoop, straight-piped exhaust, and two throttle bodies, it's sure to be rather quick too. 

‍

So what's left to do until the ELK GTR is ready to make noise on our roads? Well, the exterior is nearly complete with a few touch-ups to finish, and the interior is all there but needs some reupholstering to be in line with Johan's vision. The engine is ready to go, but it isn’t in the car yet. Johan did express that getting the motor into the car is only the first part of the problem, and we can only imagine the rinse-and-repeat exercises he is about to embark on to get his ELK waxed. 

‍

He loves to drive, and his projects in the past have hit the open road down to George, and this shows that these cars are built to be enjoyed and not necessarily raced. They might look like track weapons, and they are fast cars, no doubt, but the point behind Johan's builds is enjoyment. So far, all of his projects have been roadworthy, and he enjoys driving them to events to witness the reactions of onlookers when they see the car on the road. 

‍

We are counting down the days until we get to experience this car first-hand at our track, but this isn’t the end for Johan and his projects. He has already expressed his interest in sinking his teeth into another CLK GTR build; this time around, he plans on creating a Roadster variation. Originally, the CLK GTR was only produced in a limited run, and only six of these were of the Roadster variety. So, naturally, he is itching to have another crack at this car and implement his learnings into another phenomenal project. 

‍

Johan is a special man, equipped with experience and skill unlike any other. It takes a lot of money and numerous clever minds to create a car like the CLK GTR, but he did it on his own in his backyard workshop and has achieved so much with so little compared to an OEM. And to think that a project like this only takes him about two years to complete—we here at TopGear SA wouldn’t even know where to start. It takes imagination, skill, and kid-like love to make your very own dreams come true, and to see his work in the flesh is nothing short of damn impressive.