The World’s Most Expensive Car, The Super-Rare 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR

Classic cars are known for their nefarious prices. Recently, a British billionaire has reportedly forked out the equivalent of 400 Mercedes-AMG GT sports cars to secure a 66-year-old ‘Uhlenhaut’ coupe.

This breaks the record for the most expensive car to have ever been sold, which the title is now held by a super-rare, one-of-two 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR.

According to Hagerty Insider, a private auction at Mercedes-Benz's Stuttgart Museum for passionate collectors ended in the Uhlenhaut Coupe selling for a whopping USD 204 million (RM 625,153,989).

However, the reports are currently unverified and if it turns out to be true this would reset the bar by quite a significant margin.

Specifically, with the current official record held by a Ferrari 250 GTO, sold at Monterey Car Week in 2018 for $66m (RM 290,037,000).

Hagerty also stated, the auction was held as a private event for select collectors at its museum in Stuttgart, forcing the temporary closure of the facility.

Interestingly, only two of the Rudolf Uhlenhaut-designed 300 SLR coupes were built in 1955 as a hybrid between the dominant 300 SLR racer and the 300 SL 'Gullwing' road car. 

Both of the builds were powered by a 3.0-litre straight-eight engine, which was more than strong enough to push out 222 kW.

Elsewhere, the last Mercedes-Benz to hold an auction record was a 1954 W196, selling at that year's Goodwood Festival of Speed for USD 43 million (RM 188,963,500) in today's money.