A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé sold for £115.1 million ($142,769,250) at a Sotheby's auction in May 2022, making it the most expensive used car ever sold and earning a place in the Guinness World Records.
Rarity and design
The car is one of the rarest on the road, with Mercedes-Benz having only ever constructed two prototype chassis. The model was named after its creator and chief engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, who was credited as the mastermind behind Mercedes’ dominant Grand Prix cars of the 1930s.
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was originally designed to compete on the track, with Stirling Moss winning the famous Mille Miglia. Despite that success, an updated model was put into production by Uhlenhaut, inspired by the Mercedes F1 W196 R Grand Prix car. The new model was fitted with a straight eight engine instead of a straight six, and was initially expected to tackle the Carrera Panamericana race in Mexico until the race was cancelled by the government.
From racing to road use
After the 1955 Le Mans disaster, which killed driver Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators, Mercedes pulled out of motorsport, leaving the latest 300 SLR racing prototype still on the testing bed. Unfazed, Uhlenhaut took one of the two prototypes and repurposed the model as a company car, once clocking up to 186 mph — an eye-popping figure in the 1950s.
Powered by a 3-litre straight-8 engine, the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé can produce up to 310 horsepower. Today, the model serves as an excellent timepiece of a bygone era and a reminder of Mercedes’ success in Formula One and sportscar racing before their mid-1950s departure.
Auction details and purpose
Mercedes-Benz had owned the car but decided to sell it in 2022 to serve as seed capital funding for a new global initiative, beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship. The sale was exclusive, with only selected Mercedes-Benz customers and international collectors of cars and art personally invited to join. The model was part of the non-public vehicle collection belonging to Mercedes-Benz Classic, with the auction held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
