The “Mona Lisa” of vehicles – a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupé – has been auctioned by RM Sotheby’s for a document quantity.
Considered one of two Coupés ever constructed, it was the sister automobile to Stirling Moss’s iconic Mille Miglia-record-breaking, open-cockpit 300 SLR.
Each 300 SLR Coupés had remained at Mercedes-Benz since new. This automobile has been principally saved in storage and has solely lined 6,045km lined in its whole lifetime.
The profitable bid was made by British professional and supplier Simon Kidston on behalf of a shopper, after lobbying the board of Mercedes-Benz for 18 months to think about promoting the automobile.
All the cash raised will profit a charitable fund being arrange by Mercedes-Benz.
It had at all times been assumed that Mercedes would by no means half with one of many crown jewels of its firm assortment, thought of the ‘Mona Lisa’ of vehicles due to its rarity, racing pedigree, magnificence and unavailability.
The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupé was a improvement of the open two-seat sports-racing automobile constructed by Mercedes for the 1955 season and pushed by Grand Prix greats comparable to Stirling Moss, Juan Manuel Fangio and Peter Collins.
Closely based mostly on the corporate’s all-conquering W196 Grand Prix single-seater, the W196 S sports activities automobile was powered by a 302bhp, 3.0-litre straight-eight of nice complexity, and dominated the 1955 World Sportscar Championship.
Moss’s document drive on the 1955 Mille Miglia has been described as one of many greatest-ever feats of motor racing.
Neither 300 SLR Coupé was raced, although they had been used for apply. A street take a look at collectively performed by British journal Autocar and Swiss periodical Automobil Revue in 1956 produced the next figures: 0-60mph 6.9sec; 0-120mph in 20.3sec; most velocity 176.47mph.
“For those who had requested basic automobile consultants and prime collectors over the previous half a century to call essentially the most fascinating automobile on the earth, there’s a superb likelihood that they might have give you the identical mannequin: the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR,” defined Simon Kidston.
“It’s a mixture of unique engineering, all-conquering racing historical past, the ability of the three-pointed star on its nostril and the truth that one had by no means, ever been bought. Many collectors had tried, all had failed.
“That was what your complete motoring world thought, however instances change, and in case you don’t ask, you’ll by no means know.”
