JOHN FITZPATRICK

I was surprised to see Mercedes had sold one of the most precious cars from its collection. The sum realised underlined the power of provenance

Amazing to see that a 1955 Mercedes-benz SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was sold earlier this year by Mercedes Benz via RM Sotheby’s to a private collector for a record price of €135million. The SLR was one of just two such cars ever built and the second car remains the property of Mercedes-benz and is on display in the museum in Stuttgart. As I described in a previous column, I was fortunate enough to drive an open version of this car at the Mercedes test track and it was an amazing experience. At the time it was believed to be the most valuable in the world. Maybe it still is. I remember talking to Stirling Moss about it and he said he put his trust completely in his navigator on the 1955 Mille Miglia, Denis Jenkinson, and did as he was told, which must have been scary at the time to say the least. I did wonder why Mercedes decided to sell the Uhlenhaut Coupé. I’m sure the company doesn’t need the money and I wonder if it will now be lost from public gaze forever. But Mercedes has said that the sale was intended as both a publicity exercise and as a way of raising money towards a fund helping young students develop sustainable technologies. It was also keen to find a buyer willing to display the car to the public. The authenticity and provenance of some of the historic vehicles that appear at various events around the world these days has me wondering as well. One of my responsibilities when I worked at Silverstone was the Historic Festival – now known as the Silverstone Classic – and I often found myself in the middle of discussions about the provenance of some of the ‘historic’ cars there. Of course, if you are buying or selling one you want to be sure of what you have, but to argue about cars that appear on the track for the pleasure of the owners driving them and the paying public was beyond me. Very few of the drivers were capable of driving them on the limit anyway so comparisons were pretty meaningless. And I am fairly sure that most of the cars wouldn’t pass muster anyway if the rules were strictly applied. Most drivers and owners are always looking for improvements to gain the racer’s edge. I can appreciate the fun of driving the older cars and I was lucky enough to be invited by the owners to drive and race them, but the risk of an accident or fire would be too much for me as an owner. I remember very well my first historic race, at Silverstone. I was invited by an old friend of mine to drive his Costin Lister Jaguar, while he was driving his D-type. There were several very valuable cars in the race, ranging from Jaguars to Ferraris and Maseratis, and I qualified on the front row. I didn’t make a very good start and found myself in sixth or seventh place. I set about making up ground in my usual spirited fashion and made gentle contact with one or two cars on my way up to the front. I upset the clerk of the course and was black-flagged before receiving a severe telling-off. At the time was a bit of an ‘after you sir’ sport but I was pleased to see it become more competitive as time went on. In fact, there were some very capable drivers there who went on to do well in modern racing. I think progressing from historic to modern competition is a lot easier and more rewarding than the other way around. Looking back I suppose my biggest mistake was not investing in one of the cars which today would have been a nice pension fund.

‘To argue about cars that appear on track for the pleasure of owners driving them was beyond me’

John Fitzpatrick began his racing career in the British Saloon Car Championship, winning it in 1966. He was European GT Champion in 1972 and 1974, and became a team owner in 1981.