Key Point’s
- An ultra -rare Mercedes just sold for $142 million at an invite-only auction.
- The 1955 race car is by far the most expensive car ever auctioned off.
- It’s also one of the most valuable items ever sold at auction, according to RM Sotheby’s.
A very rare 1955 Mercedes-Benz SLR coupe that had been kept in the German automaker’s collection was sold to a private owner for €135 million, the equivalent of $142 million.
That price makes it the most expensive car known to ever have been sold, according to Hagerty, a company that tracks collector car values.
Mercedes says it will use the proceeds from the sale to set up a scholarship fund to support education and research into environmental science and decarbonization.
The previous record sale price for a car was reportedly $70 million paid in 2018 for a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO
The Mercedes that was sold was one of only two 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe prototypes.
The 67-year-old cars were named for Mercedes’ chief engineer at the time, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, and are claimed to have a top speed of 186 mph It was sold at a closed invitation-only auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on May 5. The auction was held in cooperation with auto auction company RM Sotheby’s.
Check out more features and pictures of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupe;
