A vintage Mercedes is now the most expensive car in the world.
The silver sports car from 1955 with the type designation 300 SLR, designed by the legendary Mercedes engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut (1906 - 1989) and known to those in the know as the "Uhlenhaut Coupé", was sold in camera by the auction house Sotheby's for a record sum of 135 million euros auctioned.
Mercedes informed the FAZ in advance on Thursday.
The announcement was made as part of an event on the Côte d'Azur, for which the Stuttgart car manufacturer rented the former villa of fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, among other things.
Sebastian Balzter
Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.
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Gustave parts
Business correspondent in Stuttgart.
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Previously, a Ferrari 250 GTO held the record, which was auctioned for $48 million in 2018.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper first reported three weeks ago on the plan to auction off one of the two Uhlenhaut coupes.
They are the only two examples of the car that was designed for the 1956 racing season but was never used in motorsport.
The second copy will continue to be exhibited in the museum.
Buyer unknown
Mercedes closed its museum in Stuttgart for a day for the auction at the beginning of May. According to FAZ information, the handpicked group of approved bidders included industrialists from other European countries, one bidder was on site, the others were connected digitally.
Mercedes board member Renata Jungo Brüngger did not want to reveal who the buyer is in an interview with the FAZ.
The highly symbolic sale was apparently quite controversial internally.
Jungo Brüngger admitted that there were different opinions about the sale within the group.
According to the group, the buyer has agreed to make the car available to the public on special occasions.
Jungo Brüngger emphasized that all interested parties had a heart for Mercedes.
"That's why saying goodbye is less difficult."
The money is to flow into a fund with which Mercedes intends to award 1,000 scholarships a year to students and schoolchildren.
The group wants to support young people who want to implement projects in the field of sustainability or environmental protection and don't have the money for it, said Jungo Brüngger.