A STREAMLINED Mercedes raced by Formula One greats Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955 set a record for a grand prix car on Saturday, selling at auction for €51.155 million (£43.5 million).
This 1955 W196 R ‘Streamliner’ now sits among the most valuable race cars ever sold, just behind the record-shattering 1955 Mercedes 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, which fetched €135 million ($142 million USD) in 2022.
The sleek, silver W196 R Stromlinienwagen, one of only four complete examples in existence, was sold by RM Sotheby's at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).
This was the first time a Streamliner-bodied W 196 R had ever been offered for private sale. This car, chassis 00009/54, is one of the world’s most historically significant racing cars, and was donated to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1965 by the then Daimler-Benz AG.
The car had a price estimate of more than €50 million and, while the bidding rapidly reached €40 million in €5-million increments, it eased off before a final hammer price of €46.5 million. - February 3, 2025
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