$54 Million Mercedes W 196 R Among the Priciest Cars Ever Auctioned | Carscoops

      A vintage Mercedes Grand Prix racecar fetched $54 million at auction last weekend.

      This exceptional closed-wheel single-seater was piloted by legends Fangio and Stirling Moss.

      Mercedes gifted the car to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1965.

      While the Mercedes-AMG One hypercar carries a price tag of $2.72 million, which is unattainable for most car enthusiasts, one Mercedes collector could have acquired 20 of them for the sum he spent on a classic Benz racer last weekend.

      During a special RM Sotheby’s auction held at the Mercedes Benz museum on Saturday, an extraordinarily rare W 196 R Stromlinienwagen was sold for €51.2 million, equivalent to $53.9 million at the time. This sale sets the record for the highest price ever paid for a grand prix car, and it ranks as the most expensive car ever sold, following the sale of another Mercedes, a 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, which went for $143 million in 2022.

      The W 196 R, in its Stromlinienwagen or 'streamlined' version, resembles a sports car endurance racer more than a traditional grand prix car due to its closed-wheel design. It was created to comply with a new 2.5-liter displacement limit established for 1954. Legendary drivers such as Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio took turns driving it, with Fangio achieving three wins, although the open-wheel version of the W 196 R experienced even greater success.

      A decade later, Daimler-Benz donated the car to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which chose to auction it this year to enhance its collection of over 55,000 racing artifacts and more than 150 vehicles.

      “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has been privileged to care for and showcase the W 196 R, but the amount it has raised today will significantly contribute to our endowment and long-term sustainability, as well as the restoration and expansion of our collection,” stated Joe Hale, President of The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

      For many years, classic Ferraris such as the 250 GTO were the most valuable cars among collectors, but the GTO (one rare example reportedly sold for $51.7 million in 2023) has now fallen to third place. Can you envision a future where special editions of new-era classics like the McLaren F1 surpass all these models?