• A vintage Mercedes Grand Prix racecar sold for $54 million at auction last weekend.
  • The rare closed-wheel single-seater was driven by Fangio and Stirling Moss.
  • Mercedes donated the car to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1965.

A $2.72 million sticker price puts the Mercedes-AMG One hypercar out of reach of all but the wealthiest car enthusiasts, but one Mercedes collector could have had 20 of them for the money he paid for a classic Benz racer last weekend.

At a special RM Sotheby’s auction held at the Mercedes Benz museum on Saturday, an incredibly rare W 196 R Stromlinienwagen sold for €51,2 million, which at the time equated to $53,9 million. The hammer price makes it the most expensive grand prix car ever to be sold, and the most expensive car ever after another related Mercedes, a 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, that changed hands for $143 million in 2022.

Related: $143 Million Mercedes 300 SLR ‘Uhlenhaut Coupe’ Becomes Most Valuable Car Ever Shattering Ferrari Record

The W 196 R, which in Stromlinienwagen or ‘streamlined’ form looks more like a sports car endurance racer than a grand prix due to its closed-wheel body, was developed to meet a new 2.5-liter displacement limit introduced for 1954. Legendary drivers like Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio took turns behind the wheel, Fangio bagging three wins, though the open-wheel version of the W 196 R proved even more successful.

A decade later, the car was gifted by Daimler-Benz to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which this year chose to auction the car off to help grow its current collection of more than 55,000 racing artifacts and over 150 cars.

$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold

“The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has been honored to care for and share the W 196 R within our museum, but the sum it has achieved today is a transformative contribution to increase our endowment and long-term sustainability as well as the restoration and expansion of our collection,” said Joe Hale, President, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

For years, classic Ferraris like the 250 GTO were the most expensive cars in the collector scene, but now the GTO (an unusual example of which reportedly sold for $51.7 m in 2023) has been relegated to third. Can you imagine a time when special versions of new-era classics like the McLaren F1 eclipse all of these cars?

$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold
$54M Mercedes W 196 R Is One Of The Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold