Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe sells at auction for $143 million

An ultra-unusual Mercedes-Benz race auto sold for $143 million earlier this month, earning it the most costly vehicle at any time offered.

RM Sotheby’s introduced it auctioned off a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe for 135 million euros, or about $143 million. The sale smashed the previous document for the most high priced car marketed at auction by extra than $95 million and topped the $70 million report for a vehicle bought privately.

The profitable bid was made by British automobile collector, advisor and supplier Simon Kidston on behalf of an unnamed shopper. Kidston lobbied the Mercedes-Benz board for 18 months to look at advertising the automobile.

The sale, to start with reported by Hagerty Insider, took position May possibly 5 in a secretive and very unusual auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Only picked collectors and Mercedes-Benz consumers were invited to go to.

The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe is one of only two established in 1955 and is regarded as a single of the most prized vehicles in vehicle record. It was created by Mercedes’ race office and named after its main engineer and designer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut.

The car or truck was based mostly on the company’s successful W 196 R Grand Prix vehicle, which gained two Globe Championships with driver Juan Manuel Fangio. The 300 SLR had a more substantial, 3.-liter motor and was ready to attain 180 mph, creating it one of the speediest highway-authorized vehicles at the time.

The Mercedes-Benz company owned both of those of the 300 SLR vehicles, and the Might 5 sale took lots of collectors by shock.

“It is really realistic to say that nobody at any time imagined that this vehicle would ever be available for sale, so for Mercedes-Benz to ask RM Sotheby’s to carry out the auction was an complete honor,” reported Peter Wallman, RM Sotheby’s chairman for the U.K. and EMEA.

Mercedes-Benz stated it will donate the proceeds to build a fund for scholarships and academic investigation into the atmosphere and decarbonization.

Prior to the sale, the most pricey auto bought at auction was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that went for $48.5 million at RM Sotheby’s in 2018. A 1963 Ferrari GTO sold privately in 2018 for $70 million.