Mercedes-benz 300SLR sells for £115m
Uhlenhaut coupé becomes the world’s most expensive car
One of just two coupés built on the Mercedes-benz W196 racing chassis that dominated Formula 1 and sports-car racing in the Fifties has been sold to a private buyer at auction for €135m (£115m), setting an automotive world-record price.
The invite-only sale, managed by RM Sotheby’s and held in secret at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart on 5 May, was attended by just seven potential buyers and saw bidding start at €50m. Dealer Simon Kidston, who tabled the successful bid on behalf of a client believed to be a well-known collector, received a round of applause as the hammer fell.
Named after its creator, motor sport boss Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the straight-eight Mercedes was one of two coupés based on the W196R that Fangio drove to F1 championship success in 1954 and ’55 and the 300SLR in which Stirling Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia.
Few believed that such prized cars from the Mercedes collection would ever become available. Marque historian Karl Ludvigsen told Hagerty, ‘The reason for a high price would simply be that they are [virtually] never sold [by Mercedes]. ‘Some have found private owners, like the W154 that ran at Indy postwar and a W196 controversially sold after it had been loaned to a museum, but it is extremely rare for one to reach the market.’
Industry insiders have suggested that the sale could signal Mercedesbenz distancing itself from its combustion-engined heritage, as part of the company’s planned transition to an Ev-only range.
The auction proceeds will fund an environmental science scholarship programme; the sister Uhlenhaut coupé remains in the museum... for now.