19 January 2023
On May 5, 2022, at an invite-only auction in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, ten uber-rich collectors bid as RM Sotheby’s auctioned a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Gullwing Coupé, with starting bids of about £43m.
The motor car sold for £116m, and it is thought that Simon Kidston bought it on behalf of an unnamed client.
The £116m car is one of two prototypes by Mercedes’s head of racing, Rudi Uhlenhaut. The delineation was based on the W196 Grand Prix car successfully driven by Fangio.
The intention was to race in International road races, but following the 1955 Le Mans tragedy, Mercedes withdrew from motorsport, meaning neither car ever raced.
Mercedes claim that Rudi Uhlenhaut used it as his company car.
It is the most expensive motor car sold at auction, almost double the previous record for a vehicle; a Ferrari 250 GTO purchased in 2018 for £52m
No one thought that Mercedes would ever sell the 300 SLR, the vast sum received will be used to create a fund for environmental scholarships.
