The most expensive car in the world: Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR coupe sold for 135 million Euros

Irony of fate: one of the most monstrous gasoline supercars of the 20th century will leave the storeroom of the Mercedes-Benz factory museum in Stuttgart so that young scientists receive money to fight global warming. The auction, where the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe was sold, was held on May 5 in the museum itself with the participation of the famous auction house RM Sotheby’s, but only yesterday the press service of Mercedes-Benz shared the results of the auction: the buyer, whose name was not disclosed, paid for car 135 million euros. This is much more than the previous official record of 2018: then in the American Monterey at the RM Sotheby’s auction for $48,405 million (41,628,300 euros) a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO was sold.

The Ferrari 250 GTO was generally considered the most expensive car in the world for a long time: in the same 2018, Western media reported that WeatherTech CEO and a big Ferrari lover David McNeil bought  privately (not at auction) one of the 250 GTO copies for $ 70 million with resale potential in five years for 100 million, but the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe is by far the most expensive, history has not yet recorded larger purchases in the classic car segment.

Uhlenhaut Coupe refers to the creator of Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupe

The name Uhlenhaut Coupe refers to the creator of this car, racer and engineer Rudolf Uhlenhout, who led the development of racing Mercedes in the 30s and 50s. The Uhlenhaut Coupe is a variation of the 300 SLR racing roadster, an incredibly fast car for its time, the infamous 1955 Le Mans race: the car driven by French driver Pierre Levegh had an accident, took off over the track and demolished the podium with the audience. As a result of the disaster, in addition to the rider, 82 spectators died, more than a hundred were injured. Against this background of mourning, Mercedes-Benz decided to close the racing program, which explains why the coupe, which was created for long races, did not participate in any official competition.