Stuttgart A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was sold in a secret auction in Germany on May 5 for 135 million euros. This has been confirmed by Mercedes-Benz boss Ola Källenius.
The sale dwarfs the previous record of $48.4 million paid in 2018 for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO at an RM Sotheby’s auction. In the case of sales between private individuals, however, there may have been even more expensive changes of ownership.
“We wanted to demonstrate the power of the Mercedes brand,” says Källenius in an interview with Bloomberg on May 18 near Monte Carlo. The silver coupe is one of only two produced and has never been privately owned – until now.
“This car is 100 percent worth what it was sold for – and some people would say that even that price was low,” says Stephen Serio, an auto agent who sources rare cars for very wealthy clients. “No one ever thought Mercedes would sell it.”
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About a dozen bidders were invited to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, but Källenius did not want to name the winner of the auction. Several Swiss-Italian, English and American collectors had been traded as possible buyers for the car, which would be the centerpiece of any collection. He is very satisfied with the result, says Källenius. The sum lifts the brand to competitor Ferrari “on another planet”.
The “holy grail” of vehicles
The value of the coupe results from its rarity and its importance for the genesis of the Mercedes brand. As a descendant of the Silver Arrows that dominated auto racing in the 1930s, the 300 SLR with a front engine was closely based on the eight-cylinder Mercedes-Benz W196 with which the Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio became Formula 1 World Champion in 1954 and 1955. But it had an even larger engine with a displacement of three liters. SLR stands for Sport Leicht-Rennen.
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Of the only nine 300 SLRs made, two were special prototypes of the “Uhlenhaut Coupé”, named after Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the head of the Mercedes test department. He drove one himself as a company car, and the other immediately ended up in the company’s treasury.
The reason for the high price is that such a car is never sold, said Karl Ludvigsen, who made a name for himself with books on Mercedes-Benz racing and sports cars, in an interview with Hagerty. He described the auction as a “huge sensation” and the vehicle as the “holy grail”.
In the future, the car will be exhibited on special occasions in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, possibly in tandem with the second SLR coupe, says Källenius. That was a condition of the sale. The new owner will also be able to drive the car, a spokesman confirmed.
Ferrari remains the most popular collectible brand
The sale could lighten the mood in Stuttgart, which is in the basement given the success of the Formula 1 archenemy. After eight years of Lewis Hamilton’s dominance, Ferrari has fought back this year and currently leads the standings. Källenius says the team haven’t been able to show their best performances this season, but “we’re working on it”.
While the sale improves self-esteem at Mercedes and sets a new price benchmark, the Uhlenhaut coupe does little to detract from Ferrari’s dominance as a collector’s car, Serio says. Ferrari has built a slew of vehicles that have fetched seven to eight figures, from a $38.1 million 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta to a $35.7 million 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti to a 1956 290 MM for $22 million.
You can count on two hands how many Mercedes cars have reached the value of collector-level Ferraris, says Serio. But Mercedes can brag about it: “I don’t think there is anything that will ever beat this high number. No chance.”
Proceeds from the sale will provide seed money for the company’s charitable fund for educational grants in areas such as sustainability, engineering, math and science.
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