The sale almost nobody saw
The sale almost nobody saw is still the biggest one there is. RM Sotheby's ran the auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum before a small group of invited bidders, no public sale, no advance publicity. The lot was one of two 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé prototypes Mercedes-Benz built in 1955 and kept. It sold for €135 million — the most valuable car ever sold at auction, and a result that put a car among the ten most valuable items ever sold at auction in any category.
A racing machine wearing a roof
The car underneath the number is a racing machine wearing a roof. The coupé was developed from the W196 R Grand Prix car — the car Juan Manuel Fangio drove to two Formula One world titles — and named for Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the chief engineer who created it and famously used one as his own transport. At 290 km/h, it was the fastest road-going car of its era.
The end of a refusal
What the money really bought was the end of a refusal. Mercedes-Benz held both prototypes from new, through every collector boom, and its position never moved: the coupés were not for sale. The buyer — a private collector who has never been named — reportedly had the winning bid placed by dealer Simon Kidston on their behalf, and agreed the car will still appear for public display on special occasions. The second prototype never left Stuttgart.
The previous auction ceiling for a car was the $48,405,000 paid for a Ferrari 250 GTO at RM Sotheby's Monterey sale in 2018; the Uhlenhaut nearly tripled it. Mercedes-Benz directed the proceeds into the Mercedes-Benz Fund, a program of scholarships in environmental science and decarbonization — the most expensive car in history, sold to seed a scholarship fund.
Previously's Take
Every record price is two stories: what the thing is, and why it could be bought at all. A 250 GTO can be bought because owners sell them. The Uhlenhaut could only be bought on the one day Mercedes-Benz broke its own word — and that is what €135 million purchased: not the fastest car of 1955, but the moment a “never” became a number.
Sources · 5 sources
- RM Sotheby's — “2022 in Review” (the €135 million result, the invitation-only format at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the May 5, 2022 date, the most valuable car ever sold at auction).
- Mercedes-Benz — press release, via duPont Registry (the result, the proceeds establishing the Mercedes-Benz Fund, the second prototype retained by the company).
- RM Sotheby's — sale release, via Racecar (chassis 196.110-00008/55, the W196 R Grand Prix basis, 290 km/h).
- Glenmarch — auction reports (the previous record: $48,405,000 for a Ferrari 250 GTO, RM Sotheby's Monterey, 2018).
- Galerie Magazine — 2026 record coverage (the Uhlenhaut figure still stands as the auction record for a car).
