This is the *second* most expensive car sold at auction: the £42.6m Merc W196 R

In 2022, an old Mercedes-Benz W196 ‘Uhlenhaut’ Coupe set the world record for the most expensive car ever sold at auction. That went for a cool £115m. Nine years prior, in 2013 an old Mercedes-Benz W196 went for a bargain £24m.

And yesterday, an old Mercedes-Benz W196 from 1954 once driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss sold for £42.6m. Got a tatty old 190 E lying around? Cover it in bubble wrap immediately and wait 50-odd years. Could get a few grand for it.

Though this isn’t a tatty old 190. It is the [deep breath] Mercedes-Benz W196 R Stromlinienwagen: as the name suggests, the streamlined, high-speed iteration of Merc’s all conquering W196 GP racer championed by Mssrs Fangio and Moss.

Its sale price makes it the second most expensive car ever sold in a public auction behind Rudi Uhlenhaut's company car. Its provenance makes it really bloody cool. It’s the only W196 streamliner (from four built) offered to private ownership, and under Fangio’s untouchable skill scored a win at the ’55 Buenos Aires GP.

In the same year, Moss managed a fastest lap in this 2.5-litre W196 R at Monza, before having to retire because of a failing piston in cylinder five after 27 laps. Still, he got a point, and the kudos of managing an average speed of 134mph.

You'll remember Mercedes-Benz bowed out of motorsport at the end of the 1955 season, putting the W196 programme on ice. A decade later, the US came calling, and in 1965 Merc donated this particular W196 R to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation. It then spent the rest of its life having its every whim and want catered for, “fastidiously stored and maintained” by the Brickyard’s Museum before being offered up for sale by Merc itself late last year.

“It’s hard to describe the significance of this sale. This car is simply one of the most important racing cars in history,” said RM Sotheby’s global head of auctions Gord Duff.

It was sold in the same room as Rudi's £115m masterpiece too, as Marcus Breitschwerdt, boss of Mercedes-Benz Heritage, noted: “Very few Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows are privately owned.

“Today the hammer fell at €51,155,000/$53,017,370 making this racing car the world’s second most valuable car – hot on the heels of the all-time champ, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR ’Uhlenhaut Coupé’. Without a doubt, our Silver Arrows are up there among the most iconic and sought-after vehicles ever built.”

Like we said, might be an idea to go and cover up your tatty old 190 E in bubble wrap and put it into storage somewhere. Could get a few grand for it one day.