Mercedes just sold the world's most expensive car for $142 million

Mercedes-Benz confirmed on Thursday that it not too long ago offered the world's costliest automotive. A really uncommon 1955 Mercedes-Benz SLR coupe that had been stored within the German automaker's assortment was offered to a personal proprietor for €135 million, the equal of $142 million. That worth makes it the costliest automotive identified to ever have been offered, in line with Hagerty, an organization that tracks collector automotive values.

Cash from the sale shall be used to ascertain the Mercedes-Benz Fund, a world scholarship fund, Mercedes stated in an announcement.

The earlier file sale worth for a automotive was reportedly $70 million paid in 2018 for a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO.

The Mercedes that was offered was one among solely two 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe prototypes. The 67-year-old vehicles have been named for Mercedes' chief engineer on the time, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, and are claimed to have a high pace of 186 mph It was offered at a closed invitation-only public sale on the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on Could 5. The public sale was held in cooperation with auto public sale firm RM Sotheby's.

The opposite Uhlenhaut Coupe will stay within the Museum's assortment, in line with a Mercedes-Benz assertion.

"Their racing vehicles from the Thirties and Nineteen Fifties are uncommon, and most are nonetheless owned by the manufacturing facility, so any that come to market are extremely wanted," stated Brian Rabold, vp for automotive intelligence at Hagerty.

Mercedes'"Gullwing" SLRs -- so-called due to the doorways that stand up like curved wings -- are thought of to be among the many world's most fascinating vehicles. And varied uncommon and racingversions are particularly helpful.

The SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe was, basically, a hard-top model of Mercedes' well-known open-topped SLR racing automotive, powered by a 300 horsepower eight-cylinder engine. The considering was that a closed automotive would higher shield drivers from wind and climate at excessive speeds, whereas the closed roof would additionally enhance aerodynamics.

Shortly after the event of those vehicles, Mercedes stopped its involvement in motorsports, so the vehicles have been by no means utilized in competitors.

Whereas the id of the automotive's new house owners stays unknown, British basic automotive vendor Simon Kidston claimed in a press launch to have positioned the profitable bid on behalf of a buyer.