This 1955 Mercedes sold for 135 million euros at auction

This is an absolute world record for a car at auction.

A 1955 Mercedes Coupé 300 SLR Uhlenhaut, of which only two exist, was sold on May 5 for 135 million euros, RM Sotheby's announced on Thursday.

The event takes place at a confidential auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

This car was sold for almost triple the previous record held since 2018 by a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold in 2018 by RM Sotheby's for more than 48 million dollars (45 million euros).

In the most remarkable car auction ever conducted, RM Sotheby's in association with @MercedesBenz, has sold one of the two famous 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupés to a private collector for €135,000,000.

Making it the most valuable car in the world ever sold at auction in any category.

pic.twitter.com/jutWeCgjq7

— rmsothebys (@rmsothebys) May 19, 2022

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In the top 10

In addition, the Mercedes "300 SLR is now in the top 10 of the most expensive objects ever sold at auction," said RM Sotheby's in a press release.

Oliver Barker, President of Sotheby's Europe, said he felt "an absolute thrill to have hit the auction hammer for this masterpiece of design and engineering, now to be measured against the greatest works of never-sold art.

In fact, according to a ranking established by AFP, the absolute record is held by Leonardo da Vinci's

, sold in November 2017 for 450.3 million dollars by Christie's in New York.

Next is

by Andy Warhol, which fetched $195 million on May 9, becoming the most expensive 20th-century work of art ever sold at public auction.

According to this ranking, the Mercedes qualified as “the most beautiful car in the world” ranks 6th or 7th.

It will be presented at exceptional events

The car, which was owned, like the second example, by Mercedes-Benz, was sold to a private collector.

Proceeds from the sale "will be used to establish an international 'Mercedes-Benz fund' for research fellowships and training for young people in environmental science and decarbonization", according to RM Sotheby's.

The private buyer of the Coupé 300 SLR Uhlenhaut has agreed to present his vehicle to the public during exceptional events, while the other copy will remain the property of Mercedes-Benz, which will continue to exhibit it in its museum in Stuttgart.

A car inspired by the W196 R Grand Prix

The 300 SLR, recognizable by its unusual line and its gullwing doors, was created by engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut, based on a racing car, the W196 R Grand Prix, which won two Formula 1 world championships. in 1954 and in 1955 with the Argentine pilot Juan Manuel Fangio.

But the Mercedes-Benz manufacturer was marked by the terrible accident of its car in June 1955 at the 24 hours of Le Mans, which killed its French driver Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators, and kept him away from motor racing for years.

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