Mercedes-Benz sets car auction world record

The record price for a car sold at auction has been smashed, with a rare Mercedes-Benz setting the new benchmark at an invitation-only auction event in Germany.

Conducted by RM Sothebys at the Mercedes-Benz Museum on 5 May, the auction consisted of single lot, which was a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR coupe.

One of only two built for sports car racing but never actually used in competition, the car offered had been in the possession of Mercedes-Benz since it was built.

It was thought the manufacturer would never release either car for sale, but after what has been described as patient, persistent lobbying over the course of 18 months, Mercedes finally agreed to sell the second of the two 300 SLR coupes built.

Proceeds from the sale would be used to establish a ‘Mercedes-Benz Fund’ providing educational and research scholarships for young people in the areas of environmental science and decarbonisation.

The 300 SLR

The 300 SLR coupes had their origins in the Mercedes-Benz Formula One programme of the mid-1950s and were based heavily on the W196 GP car that was successful in 1954 and 1955.

One of Mercedes’ senior engineers, Fritz Nallinger, surmised the componentry that made up the W196 single-seater formula car could also be used as the basis for a two-seater sports car – the W196S - for events like the Mille Miglia, Le Mans 24 Hour and Targa Florio.

That componentry included a fuel injected straight eight engine, enlarged from 2.5 litres in the W196 to 3.0-litres and connected to a five-speed Porsche transaxle. The suspension, consisting of parallel wishbones and torsion bars up front, and swing axles at the rear, was also lifted from the W196, as were the inboard drum brakes.

Allegedly, Mercedes had conceived the 300 SLR as a coupe from the outset, but drivers who would be campaigning these cars for the factory preferred open vehicles, so the first six of eight 300 SLR chassis to be completed were roadsters. Only chassis #7 and #8 were built as coupes.

The conflicting demands of Mercedes’ grand prix and sports car programmes meant the latter didn’t enter competition until the third round of the 1955 FIA World Sports Car Championship – the Mille Miglia. In one of the factory 300 SLR roadsters, Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson won the event at a record speed, with team mate Juan Manuel Fangio making it a Mercedes 1-2.

The next round of the 1955 championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, would become the blackest day in motorsport history, when an accident involving one of the other 300 SLR roadsters resulted in the deaths of more than 80 spectators and Mercedes’ decision to withdraw from grand prix racing at the conclusion of the season.

In the immediate aftermath of Le Mans, production of the first 300 SLR coupe, chassis #7, was completed, with the second car, chassis #8, begun in December of 1955. It was initially planned that both cars would debut at that year’s Carrera Panamericana, but that event was cancelled, then Mercedes decided to end their sports car racing programme, too, even though Moss’s victories in  both the RAC Tourist Trophy and Targa Florio delivered the 1955 FIA World Sports Car Championship to Mercedes-Benz.

Rudi’s Rides

Mercedes decision to withdraw from sports car racing meant the two 300 SLR coupes were left in limbo before they’d ever turned a wheel in anger, but they weren’t abandoned.

Rudolf Uhlenhaut, head of the Daimler-Benz experimental department, made regular use of the first 300 SLR coupe prior to the cancellation of Mercedes’ factory racing programme, as had others, in transit and reconnaissance runs for the 1955 Tourist Trophy and Targa Florio.

Chassis #7 would essentially become Uhlenhaut’s ‘company car’ and he drove it all over Europe, racking up thousands of kilometres in the process. His regular time in both cars led to them being referred to as the ‘Uhlenhaut Coupes’.

Looking like a lower, sleeker version of the roadgoing 300 SL, the 300 SLR coupe featured similar gullwing doors (necessitated by the spaceframe chassis), but was far less practical as a road car, with fixed windows, a very cramped interior and virtually no luggage space. The cabin was deafeningly loud, too.

Each coupe was built to near-identical mechanical spec, with the only difference believed to be the gearing. Lightweight magnesium bodies of the same design were common to both, but a blue interior on chassis #7 and red trim for chassis #8 made it easy to pick the two cars apart.

From 1956, both cars were made available for automotive magazine road tests, which showed numbers like a top speed of 168mph (270km/h) and 0-100km/h acceleration in the region of 7.0 seconds.

In the 1960s, the Uhlenhaut coupes would be sent on PR missions overseas, and following restorations in the 1980s, both cars have come out occasionally since, loaned to museums or displayed at events like the Pebble Beach Concours and Goodwood Revival. 

World Record Price
While Mercedes-Benz will retain 300 SLR #7 in their collection, why they finally decided to release #8 to the open market is unclear beyond the fundraising initiative. Numerous attempts had been made to buy one or both cars in the past without success, but this time Mercedes relented.

Conducted by RM Sothebys and held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on 5 May, the auction was by invitation only, made up of a handful of Mercedes customers and international collectors “who share the corporate values of Mercedes-Benz”.

Bidding opened at 50 million Euros (AU$74 million approx.), which is higher than the final price of AU$67 million that RM Sothebys achieved for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO in 2018 - previously the world auction record.

Incrementally increasing to 70 million, 85 million, then 90 million Euros, bidding cracked 100 million Euros (AU$148 million approx.) before the hammer came down at 135 million Euros (AU$202 million approx.).

Obviously, this shattered the previous record price for a car sold at auction and, according to RM Sothebys, also puts the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupe amongst the ten most expensive items ever sold at auction.

The result has naturally attracted some criticism, mainly accusations of grotesque spending, along with speculation that the final price paid may be more of a donation to the Mercedes-Benz Fund than payment for the car itself.

These sort of “charity” auctions can skew the market and, arguably, lead to artificially inflated values for cars, but what can’t be argued is the final price paid and that one of the two 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupes is now in private hands for the very first time.

For more details, go to: rmsothebys.com