A rare sports car just smashed records after selling at auction for almost $150 million.
The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé sold at an auction in Germany for a record €135 million ($142.9 million) earlier this month.
That makes it around 307,000% more valuable than the average new car in the U.S., which had a price tag of $46,526 in April, according to auto industry tracker Kelley Blue Book.
The buyer of the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé was an unnamed private collector, who agreed with the company that the car will remain accessible for public display on special occasions.
The second prototype remains in the ownership of Mercedes-Benz.
The car — named after its creator and chief engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut — is one of two prototypes built by the Mercedes-Benz racing department.
With maximum speeds of 180 mph, the car was one of the fastest road-legal cars to have ever been created at the time, according to auctioneers RM Sotheby’s.
The auction house said the sale made the car the most valuable car ever sold, exceeding the existing record by more than €90 million.
It also made the car the one of the 10 most valuable items ever sold at auction, according to RM Sotheby’s.
The car was sold by Mercedes-Benz, with the auction held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Only select invitees “who share the corporate values of Mercedes-Benz” were able to attend the auction.
Before the Mercedes was sold this month, the record for the most valuable car sold at auction was held by a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which was auctioned for around $45 million in 2018.
Proceeds from the sale of the Uhlenhaut Coupé will be used to establish a global “Mercedes-Benz Fund” to provide scholarships for the study of environmental science and decarbonization.
“The decision to sell one of these two unique sports cars was taken with very sound reasoning – to benefit a good cause,” Ola Källenius, chairman of Mercedes-Benz Group’s board, said in a statement. “At the same time, achieving the highest price ever paid for a vehicle is extraordinary and humbling.”
Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said in a separate statement that the car “now stands shoulder to shoulder with the greatest works of art ever sold.”
“Few ever dreamt that this great jewel of motoring history would ever come for sale,” he added.
