Earlier this month, RM Sotheby’s, the automotive department of Sotheby’s, teamed up with Mercedes Benz, the pinnacle of German automobiles, to host a private auction. The highlight of the event was the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, of which only two exist globally. In the end, this classic piece was sold for a staggering 135 million euros, equivalent to about 1.13 billion Hong Kong dollars, setting the record for the world’s most expensive car.
It is worth mentioning that the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé sold this time, with a price of 135 million euros, has broken the 70 million euros transaction price of a Ferrari 250 GTO in 2018 by more than 3 times – the latter converted to Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to about 380 million Hong Kong dollars – it can be seen that the astonishing level of this transaction is enough to shock the automotive industry and even the world.
The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, produced in 1955, was personally supervised by the factory’s racing department and its then chief engineer and designer Rudolf Uhlenhaut, and named after him. It is understood that a total of seven cars of the same model were produced at that time, but only two were hardtop versions, making it even more precious.
As a top-tier product of the Mercedes-Benz racing department, the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé certainly has a prestigious background. Based on the W 196 R race car, the car is equipped with a 3.0L “straight-eight” engine, with a maximum horsepower output of 302, accelerating from 0 to 100 in just 6.9 seconds, and achieving a top speed of 284 km/h, which was extraordinary for the 1950s. Therefore, the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé became the fastest road car in the world at that time based on these statistics.
Moreover, the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was once driven by the F1 legendary driver known as El Maestro, 5-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, in 1955 with the Daimer Benz AG team almost dominating the racing world, together winning two world championships.
There are only two 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupés in the world, which have actually been kept by Mercedes-Benz for many years. RM Sothebys revealed that the collector who won this antique has agreed to allow this car to be publicly displayed on special occasions, while the other one will continue to be exhibited at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, Germany. With the successful auction of this piece, Mercedes-Benz will receive a sum of $143 million, and the car manufacturer also announced before the auction that it will be used for charitable purposes, establishing a global scholarship program to support students engaged in environmental research and decarbonization education at schools and universities.
資料及圖片來源：RM Sotheby’s
