A Mercedes might grow to be the second costliest automotive ever offered at public sale. A Mercedes W196 belonging to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is being offered at an RM Sotheby public sale at Monterey Automobile Week for a value that’s anticipated to exceed $50 million.
Photograph: RM Sotheby/Mercedes-Benz
Up to now the most costly automotive offered at public sale was the Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe. At RM Sotheby’s 2022 personal public sale, the Mercedes 300 SLR Unhlenhaut Coupe was offered for $142 million. Second within the rating of the most costly vehicles offered at public sale is a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO by Scaglietti which fetched $51,705,000 at an public sale additionally organized by RM Sotheby’s in November 2023. Now that document is about to be damaged by a Mercedes W196 within the assortment of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum that’s being offered at an RM Sotheby’s public sale held at Montery Automobile Week for an estimated value of $50 million to $70 million.
The Indianapolis Museum needs to promote the basic vehicles it owns that aren’t associated to the well-known Indianapolis 500 race. Thus, along with this Mercedes W196, the People wish to promote a Ferrari 250 LM, a Ford GT40 MKII from the 60s, and different racing vehicles.
The funds from the sale of those iconic fashions can be used to renovate the museum in Indianapolis. Joe Hale, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, stated that the funds obtained “will assist fund an entire redesign of the IMS Museum, from new structural and state-of-the-art expertise installations to interactive reveals and experiences.”
The Mercedes W196 Streamline mannequin has an fascinating historical past. Though it was pushed by two of essentially the most well-known drivers in historical past – Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss – it by no means received a race. Fangio drove the automotive in a race in Buenos Aires, in 1954, earlier than it was modified and given a streamlined physique. Stirling Moss drove it on the 1955 Monza Grand Prix, the place he took pole place however didn’t win the race. Mercedes used this automotive for testing till 1955 and later donated it in 1965 to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
The Mercedes W196 has a 2.5-liter in-line 8-cylinder engine behind the entrance axle that developed 257 PS/8,250 rpm and benefited from twin ignition, direct gasoline injection, and desmodromic valve management. The automotive was constructed based on the transaxle precept, with the 5-speed guide gearbox mounted close to the rear axle to attain an ideal distribution of weight. The suspension had double wishbones on the entrance axle and a single-joint swing axle on the rear. , the brake system drums had been mounted contained in the axles quite than outdoors to cut back rotating lots.