"Silver Arrow" from the year 1954 Vintage Mercedes car sold at auction for around 44 million francs

Silver, fast and damn expensive: a vintage Mercedes racing car has changed hands for several million euros in Stuttgart. It has already been driven by famous racing drivers.

DPA

01.02.2025, 17:13

01.02.2025, 19:02

dpa

A rare "Silver Arrow" racing car from Mercedes-Benz from 1954 has been auctioned off in Stuttgart for 46.5 million euros (43.9 million Swiss francs). At the RM Sotheby's auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the winning bid went to a bidder who took part in the auction by telephone, as was shown in a live stream from the auction house. In addition to the sale price, the buyer will also have to pay fees and taxes. According to the auction house, the total purchase price amounts to 51.155 million euros.

According to the car manufacturer, the Mercedes-Benz streamliner of the W 196 R model series is one of four known complete examples of the racing car.

According to Mercedes-Benz, the vehicle now up for auction was driven by two famous racing drivers. In January 1955, Juan Manuel Fangio won the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires with the car. British racing driver Stirling Moss completed the fastest lap of the race with the 290 hp racing car at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

Long at home in the museum in Indianapolis

In 1965, Mercedes donated the car to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which will reportedly use the proceeds from the auction to finance the museum's collection and restoration work.

However, the 'Silver Arrow' is by no means the most expensive car in the world. In 2022, Mercedes-Benz auctioned off one of only two examples of the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé for 135 million euros, according to the company. According to Mercedes, the 1955 car named after engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut was the most expensive car to date.