Mercedes Racer Becomes World’s Most Expensive Car Sold

The previous record reportedly belonged to a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO.

Mercedes-Benz now holds the title for the most expensive car sold at auction.

A 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was sold for approximately $142 million at an RM Sotheby auction in Germany.

The previous record reportedly belonged to a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that sold for $48.4 million in 2018. 

The race-built car, named after its creator and chief engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut, is one of two prototypes in the world.

The 300 SLR was the world’s fastest road-going car when it was new and could reach up to 180 mph. 

The car’s foundation closely resembled that of the W196, another Uhlenhaut design that proved successful in F1 racing in 1954 and 1955. 

Weighing about 2,200 pounds, the 300 SLR features a 3.0-liter, front-mounted, straight-eight engine that connects to twin exhausts that exit through side-mounted gills halfway across the car’s length.

Uhlenhaut kept the other prototype and is rumored to have used it to travel roughly 143 miles in under an hour on the Autobahn.


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