Fangio Mercedes sets new auction record

At the fall of the hammer, the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 single seater sold for a staggering for 17.5 million pounds (AU$28,720,000) to a phone bidder who, at the moment, remains unidentified. With buyer's premium, the total price comes to _19,600,500 (AU$32,549,074), which means the W196R is now the world record holder for the most expensive car ever sold at auction, almost doubling the previous record of _10,086,400 set by a Ferrari in 2011.

Robert Brooks, Bonhams Chairman, said: "It was a personal privilege to preside over the sale of the Mercedes-Benz W196, which is not only one of the most significant motor cars of the 20th century, but also the most important historic Grand Prix racing car ever offered for sale."

The 2½-litre straight-8 W196 - chassis number '00006/54' - was the actual car in which Fangio won both the 1954 German and Swiss Grand Prix races. These victories were the first to be achieved in succession by the Mercedes-Benz factory F1 team in its post-war racing comeback.

Chassis '00006' also has special significance as the first open-wheeled 'slipper'-bodied post-war Mercedes-Benz to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix race.

The car's innovative design also marked the successful introduction to Formula 1 of the following technologies:
_ Fuel-injection
_ Mercedes-Benz all-independent suspension
_ Multi-tubular 'spaceframe' lightweight chassis design
_ All-round inboard-mounted brakes
_ The in-line or 'straight-8' engine 'lay-down' configuration to minimise the car's overall height
_ Power take-off from the centre of the engine's long 8-cylinder crankshaft to minimise vibration

In 1954, Mercedes-Benz - who had previously dominated Grand Prix racing in 1908, 1914 and from 1934-39 - returned to racing, but missed the first two World Championship rounds in Argentina and Belgium, making their debut in the French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux.

Their new-for-1954 'W196' cars (running unsupercharged 2 ½ litre engines, as per FIA rules introduced for that season) ran there in enveloping-bodied 'Stromlinienwagen' form, with Juan Manuel Fangio and team-mate Karl Kling finishing first and second in both qualifying and the race.

At the following British Grand Prix at Silverstone, positioning the enclosed W196 cars on the twisty British track proved difficult, leading Fangio to request an open-wheeled variant of the W196 for the following German Grand Prix on the twisty 14.2-mile Nurburgring Nordschliefe road circuit. Mercedes-Benz's response was the new chassis '00005' and '00006', both built to Fangio's recommendation.

In chassis '00006' - the Bonhams record setter - Fangio won the German Grand Prix. The Argentine champion then repeated the feat in the following Swiss Grand Prix on the daunting Bremgarten forest circuit at Berne, powering '00006' to win by 58.7 seconds from Argentine compatriot Jose Froilan Gonzalez's out-classed Ferrari. This Swiss victory was Fangio's third in four Grand Prix races, and assured him of his second Drivers' World Championship title in 1954.

While all the hype was deservedly centred on the Mercedes W196R, Bonhams also set a new world record highest price for a Maserati at the Goodwood FoS auction, with a 1955 300S Sports-Racing Spider selling for _4,033,500. The previous record was _2,251,520 set in 2012.

The auction as a whole realised _36,072,464 (AU$59,899,769) to become the highest-grossing auction of motor cars ever held in Europe. The sale took place before a packed audience of more than 1,000 people, with bidders from 32 countries taking part.

Images: Bonhams and Mercedes-Benz media