Legendary Mercedes driven by five-time F1 champion sold for £42.7MILLION – more than double previous record
AN ICONIC Mercedes Formula One car has made history by doubling the record for the most expensive Grand Prix car ever sold.
The striking silver Mercedes W196 R Stromlinienwage, chassis number 00009/54, was sold for a staggering £42.7million (€52.92m) by an unnamed buyer.
One of only four complete versions ever built, it is only one of the most famous racing cars ever made having been driven by five-time F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio and British icon Sir Stirling Moss.
Boasting a top speed of 186mph, the remarkable machine that typifies the “Silver Arrows” nickname claimed victory on its debut in 1955 at the Buenos Aires Grand Prix, but with a cigar shaped open-wheel design.
It won five more races that season to win both the driver’s and constructors’ championship.
The car was sold by RM Sotheby’s on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
The previous record for the most expensive grand prix car sold also belongs to a Fangio-driven Mercedes, the 1954 Mercedes W196 which sold at Goodwood, England for £19.6m ($29.6m) in 2013.
However, it pales in comparison to the most expensive sports car ever sold.
That title belongs to 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, which was sold in May 2022 for £113m ($140m).
The W196 R was donated to the IMS by Mercedes in 1965, and was held for almost 60 years before being auctioned off to raise funds for the museum’s restoration efforts.
IMS curator, Jason Vansickle, said: “It’s a beautiful car, it’s a very historic car, it’s just a little bit outside our scope window.
“We’ve been fortunate to be stewards of this vehicle for nearly 60 years and it has been a great piece in the museum but with this auction and the proceeds raised, it really will allow us… to be better in the future.”
Mercedes withdrew from the motorsport in 1955 following a Le Mans 24 Hours disaster which tragically killed 84 people.
They eventually returned in 2010, where they have since won eight constructors titles and seven drivers titles – six with Lewis Hamilton and one with Nico Rosberg.