Short: Mercedes-Benz W196R Streamliner Smashes F1 car Auction Record
Today, RM Sotheby’s broke the record for the most valuable Formula 1 car ever sold: the Mercedes-Benz W196R Stromlinienwagen chassis 00009/54.
One of four known complete examples mounted with the fully enveloped Stromlinienwagen coachwork at the conclusion of the 1955 Formula One season, chassis 00009/54 was raced just twice in period: with Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix and then Stirling Moss at the season-ending Italian Grand Prix.
Pole-starting Fangio drove 00009/54 to victory in Buenos Aires, a non-championship Formula Libre contest that comprised two 30 lap heats. The Argentine finished 11.9 seconds ahead of team-mate Moss. For this event, the car appeared in open wheel trim with an experimental three-litre engine from the forthcoming 300 SLR.
00009/54’s next and last race was the 1955 Formula 1 World Championship season finale: the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. By now equipped with the Stromlinienwagen coachwork, Moss qualified second and briefly led, however, the Englishmen was forced to retire on lap 27 with piston failure.
This, the first Mercedes W196R Streamliner to have been offered on the open market, was consigned to auction by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum having been donated to the organisation by Mercedes-Benz back in 1965.
The final sale price of $53.91m (achieved at the Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart) eclipsed the previous record of $29.65m achieved by sister car chassis 00006/54 set back in 2013.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: RM Sotheby’s - https://rmsothebys.com/
