A 1954 Mercedes Streamliner has sold for $53.9 million to become the most valuable F1 car ever auctioned.
The machine was driven during the 1955 Formula One season by Juan Manuel Fangio – who won the Buenos Aires Grand Prix in it – and Stirling Moss, who snagged a fastest lap at Monza behind its wheel.
The car was sold by RM Sotheby’s at an auction hosted by the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart at the start of the month.
Its selling price makes the Mercedes-Benz W196 R Stromlinienwagen the most valuable Grand Prix racing car ever sold and the second most valuable car to sell at auction.
Juan Manuel Fangio, among the greatest ever F1 drivers, piloted the W196 to victory in his native Argentina in 1955.
This example, one of just four outside the Mercedes museum, is the first to find a private owner. It was sold by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, who received the car as a donation from Daimler-Benz in 1965.
The top two most valuable cars ever sold are now Mercs.
A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe sportscar realised €135million ($135m/£113m) in May 2022.
This car now knocks the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 also driven by Fangio off its perch as the most valuable F1 car. That machine made £19.6m/$24.2m at auction in 2013.
Marcus Breitschwerdt, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Heritage, said: “Without a doubt, our Silver Arrows are up there among the most iconic and sought-after vehicles ever built.
“They are the true shining stars in the firmament of motorsport and automotive history.”
Of the 10 of these vehicles to have been built by Mercedes and survived the race track, four were loaned or donated to motorsport museums.
This example went to Indianapolis, where it stayed until this year. The museum is selling 11 of its cars to finance improvement works.
This Mercedes is likely to be the most valuable. Just after its sale in Germany, a Ferrari 250 LM that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965 was auctioned for $36.2 million at the Louvres in Paris.
