No, not a classic Ferrari – rumor has it that a Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow race car has just been traded in for a nine-figure sum
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While classic Ferraris are probably what comes to mind when you picture the world’s most expensive cars, you’d be wrong to omit Mercedes-Benz from your mental catalog of uber– expensive machinery. In fact, a racing car from the German brand has just been privately sold for a new record sum.
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“Potential buyers were reportedly hosted for lunch at the Mercedes-Benz Museum” in early May, Hagerty reports. “The seller, on behalf of Mercedes-Benz, presented [the offer to] about 10 (maybe less) carefully selected car collectors who were not only wealthy enough to bid, but who would meet the strict criteria set by the German automaker.
The 300 SLR coupés were designed for a 1956 motorsport season which Mercedes-Benz withdrew following a horrific accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955. Although there was never a of competition, the brand’s chief test driver, Rudolf Uhlenhaut – who helped design the 300 SLR – ended up taking one of the road-legal racers as his company car, hence the nickname of the cut.
The coupes were an evolution of the open-top 300 SLRs that won the Mille Miglia in 1955. Their 3.0-liter inline-eight cylinders are said to have produced just over 300 horsepower and could propel the coupes to 180 mph (290 km/ h), making them the fastest road cars of their time.
