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A uncommon Mercedes-Benz racing automobile generally known as the Mona Lisa of vehicles has been bought by the corporate for a document £115 million.
The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, one among solely two of its variety, is a sister automobile to racing legend Sir Stirling Moss’s record-breaking open cockpit 300 SLR, which coated 992 miles in ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds on public roads.
The car was bought to a non-public collector, the basic automobile public sale firm RM Sotheby’s stated in an announcement, fetching €135 million (£114 milion), virtually triple the earlier document public sale value for a automobile, which was set in 2018 by a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that went for greater than $48 million (£37 million).
The invitation-only public sale came about on Could 5 on the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. RM Sotheby’s stated the car’s excessive value positioned it within the “high ten most respected objects ever bought at public sale in any amassing class”.
Its sale can be a reward for the persistence proven by the British knowledgeable Simon Kidston, who had lobbied the German firm’s board for 18 months to think about promoting the automobile “that might by no means be bought”. Kidston’s bid of €135 million secured the car for an unnamed collector.
“It had at all times been assumed that Mercedes would by no means half with one of many crown jewels of its firm assortment, thought-about the Mona Lisa of vehicles due to its rarity, racing pedigree, magnificence and unavailability,” Kidston stated.
The 300 SLR Coupé, recognisable for its uncommon traces and butterfly doorways, was modelled on the W196 R Grand Prix race automobile, which received two System 1 world championships in 1954 and 1955 with the Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio within the driver’s seat.
Named after its creator and chief engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the car was a improvement of the open two-seat sports-racing automobile constructed by Mercedes for the 1955 season and pushed by Grand Prix greats comparable to Moss, Fangio and Peter Collins.
Moss’s document drive on the 1955 Mille Miglia has been described as one of many best feats of motor racing, when he and his navigator Denis Jenkinson received the 1,000-mile endurance race in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, averaging 99mph.
Kidston stated that though the auctioned Coupé’s design shares styling cues with the well-known 300 SL “Gullwing” street automobile there was “virtually no concession to practicality, as none have been ever supposed to be bought to non-public purchasers”.
Neither 300 SLR Coupé was raced, although they have been used for observe.
A street take a look at collectively carried out by British journal Autocar and the Swiss periodical Automobil Revue in 1956 stated: “Keep in mind that this automobile shouldn’t be on the market, and on this type by no means might be: it’s a racing automobile tailored for street use with sure experimental targets in view . . . It needs to be mastered like a mettlesome horse.”
Commenting on the transaction, Kidston stated: “An extended-standing relationship with the Mercedes-Benz Museum helped, however even after 18 months of affected person lobbying we didn’t know if or how they’d contemplate letting the 300 SLR out of captivity till simply earlier than it occurred. For everybody concerned, and particularly the brand new proprietor whom we represented, this was a once-in-a-lifetime probability to purchase the Mona Lisa of vehicles.”
RM Sotheby’s stated the proceeds from the public sale could be used to ascertain a worldwide Mercedes-Benz Fund that might fund environmental science and decarbonisation analysis.
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