The “car that would never be sold,” also known as the automotive industry’s Mona Lisa, a one-of-two 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupé, was recently purchased for $142,000,000 USD.
Following 18 months of “diplomatic groundwork,” which resulted in Mercedes-Benz holding a private and selected member auction of the above-mentioned car, British expert and dealer Simon Kidston purchased it on behalf of a client.
The car was secured for an unnamed collector whose $142 million USD payment will go towards the marque establishing a charitable fund for young people and will be held in secrecy at the Mercedes-Benz Museum on May 5, 2022. The amount is nearly double the previous high of $78 million, set by a private sale of a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO.
This Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupé has been dubbed the “Mona Lisa” not only for its rarity and beauty, but also for what it represents within the company and industry. The W196 S was heavily based on the company’s all-conquering W196 Grand Prix single-seater, and was always destined for the race track.
It was powered by a 302 BHP, three-liter straight-eight of great complexity for its time. It was, however, modified for road use in order to learn more about how it could work and benefit Mercedes-road Benz’s vehicles.
Using data from Autocar and the Swiss periodical Automobil Revue from 1956, the car was capable of 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds, 0-120 mph in 20.3 seconds, and a top speed of 176.47 mph — with the car’s road-required adaptations dampening these figures.
Gordon Wilkins wrote at the time, “Remember that this car is not for sale, and in this form never will be: it is a racing car adapted for road use with certain experimental objectives in view… It has to be mastered like a mettlesome horse. To have driven it has eclipsed all previous experiences in 20 years of test driving on the world’s finest cars, and I do not expect to find its match for a long time to come.”
Today, Kidston said, “If you had asked classic car experts and top collectors over the past half a century to name the most desirable car in the world, there’s a good chance that they would have come up with the same model: the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. It’s a combination of exotic engineering, all-conquering racing history, the power of the three-pointed star on its nose and the fact that one had never, ever been sold.
Many collectors had tried, all had failed. That was what the entire motoring world thought, but times change, and if you don’t ask, you’ll never know. A long-standing relationship with the Mercedes-Benz Museum helped, but even after 18 months of patient diplomacy, we didn’t know if or how they would consider letting the 300 SLR out of captivity until just before it happened. For everyone involved, and especially the new owner whom we represented, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy the Mona Lisa of cars.”
