"Streamliner" below all expectations?
02/02/2025
Firstly, things turn out differently and secondly, than you think. The historic Mercedes-Benz W196 R with chassis number 00009/54 from 1954 went under the hammer at the Mercedes-Benz Museum on February 1, 2025.
The car from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum was bid up to a comparatively tough EUR 46.5 million. The auction started at 1:30 pm sharp. The first bid accepted was EUR 20 million, then it went up in 5 million increments. After a short time, EUR 40 million was reached, then the bidding continued in increments of millions. Not even a quarter of an hour had passed when the auctioneer began to count down the car at EUR 46.5 million. "Sold!" The hammer hit the auctioneer's desk with a loud bang.
A telephone bidder had bought the car, for EUR 51.155 million or about CHF 48.1 million (including bidder's commission/surcharge).
This means that the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé remains the undisputed leader as the most expensive car to date at EUR 135 million.
The Mercedes-Benz W 196 with chassis number 00009/54 is now the only "Streamliner" in private ownership. All the others are in museums. We congratulate the buyer.
Although the two racing greats Juan Manuel Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss had really stepped on the gas in this unique racing car, the highest bid remained below the expected EUR 50 million. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, in contrast to the 300 SLR, the streamlined car is built solely for the race track and can therefore never be driven on public roads. But that shouldn't really be an argument, because the uniqueness, originality and rarity of this racing car are absolutely unassailable.
P.S. The result of the auction is of course also stored in the Zwischengas auction database . With the sales price achieved, the Mercedes-Benz naturally leads the annual statistics so far.
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