Most expensive car sold at auction

What to remember

Stuttgart, May 5, 2022: RM Sotheby's offered a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR, one of only two "Uhlenhaut" coupés. It sold for $143,000,000, the highest price ever paid for a car at auction. In euros, that was €135 million, paid by a private collector. Adjusted for inflation, the price comes to $157,326,000.

The 300 SLR is a two-seat sports racing car that took part in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship. Despite the name, it is not derived from the famous 300 SL: it is based on the W 196 R, the Formula One car that dominated the world championship in 1954 and 1955, with a slightly different engine. Its name started as "SL-R", for the German Sport, Leicht, Rennen (sport, light, racing), later shortened to SLR.

The engine is a direct-injected 3-litre straight-eight rated at 302 PS (222 kW), with desmodromic valve closing. To turn a pure track machine into a 24-hour road and track racer, the single-seat cockpit was changed to two seats side by side, headlights were added and a few other changes made.