Ruby McKenzie
The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé sold for a world record €135 million ($142.9 million) at a German auction earlier this month.
According to auto industry tracker Kelley Blue Book, that makes it roughly 307,000 percent more valued than the typical new car in the United States, which cost $46,526 in April.
The anonymous private collector who purchased the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé established with the company that the car would be available for public display on special occasions.
Some Photos of the most expensive car in the world
Mercedes-Benz retains ownership of the second prototype.
The automobile is one of two prototypes produced by Mercedes-Benz Racing and is named after its founder and chief engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut.
As per auctioneers RM Sotheby’s, the car was one of the fastest road-legal cars ever produced at the time, with top speeds of 180 mph.
The automobile became the most valuable car ever sold, according to the auction house, surpassing the previous record by more than €90 million.
According to RM Sotheby’s, the car is now one of the ten most costly objects ever sold at auction.
Mercedes-Benz sold the car in an auction held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
The auction was only open to invited guests who “share Mercedes-business Benz’s principles.”
A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which was auctioned for about $45 million in 2018, held the record for the most valued car ever at auction before the Mercedes was sold this month.
The proceeds from the sale of the Uhlenhaut Coupé will be used to create a global “Mercedes-Benz Fund” that will fund scholarships for environmental science and decarbonization research.
“The decision to sell one of these two exceptional sports cars was made with very clear rationale — to assist a good cause,” Mercedes-Benz Group Chairman Ola Källenius said in a statement. “At the same time, reaching the highest sum ever paid for a vehicle is incredible and humble.”
In a separate statement, Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said the car “today stands side to shoulder with the greatest works of art ever sold.”
