A streamlined Mercedes raced by the Formula One greats Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955 set a record for a grand prix car on Saturday, selling at auction for €51.15m (£42.7m).
The sleek, silver W196 R Stromlinienwagen, one of only four complete examples in existence, was sold by RM Sotheby’s at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).
The car had a price estimate of more than €50m and the bidding rapidly reached €40m in €5m increments but eased off before a final hammer figure of €46.5m. The final price includes the buyers’ premium. The buyer was not immediately named.
The costliest car ever sold at auction was a 1955 Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé that changed hands for €135m in May 2022.
The most expensive grand prix car previously sold at auction was another ex-Fangio Mercedes W196 from 1954, which fetched $29.6m at Goodwood, England, in 2013.
The IMS car was the first W196 R to become available for private ownership with the streamlined body fitted.
The car was driven to victory by the five times world champion Fangio at the non-championship Buenos Aires grand prix in 1955, but with a more conventional cigar-shaped body on the same chassis, and fully open wheels.
His team-mate Moss then raced it with the wider, streamlined body extending over the wheels at the season-ending Italian grand prix at Monza, retiring after setting the fastest lap at an average speed of 134mph.
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That grand prix marked the end of an era for the Mercedes stable’s Silver Arrows, as the firm withdrew from factory-sponsored motorsport in 1955 after a Le Mans 24 Hours disaster that killed 84 people. Mercedes returned to Formula One as an engine provider in 1994 and with its own works team from 2010.
The car sold on Saturday, chassis number 00009/54, had been donated to the IMS by Mercedes in 1965 and was auctioned to raise funds for the museum’s restoration efforts and acquisitions with more of a US focus.
“It’s a beautiful car, it’s a very historic car, it’s just a little bit outside our scope window,” said the curator Jason Vansickle. “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.”
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