The most expensive in the world … selling a vintage car for 143 million dollars

An extremely rare Mercedes-Benz race car sold for $143 million earlier this month, making it the most expensive car ever sold.
RM Sotheby’s has announced the sale of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz SLR Ahlenhout 300 Coupe at auction for 135 million euros, or about $143 million.
This auction broke the previous record for the most expensive car sold at auction at more than $95 million, and surpassed the record of $70 million for a privately sold car, CNBC reported.
The auction was won by British car collector, consultant and dealer Simon Kidston on behalf of an unnamed customer. Kidston lobbied the Mercedes-Benz board of directors for 18 months to consider selling the car.

135m EUR😱

Mercedes 300 SLR – the legendary "Uhlenhaut Coupé" – could be the most expensive car of all time!

The deal reportedly went through at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart. Buyer? Rumours say: a bigwig from the British car industry (You David?😅)@DavidDjt0311 @F1Mike28 pic.twitter.com/RQpHr92ZMc

— SqUaReMiLe (@SqUaReMiLe_UK) May 13, 2022

The sale took place on May 5 at a secret and highly unusual auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, to which only select collectors and Mercedes-Benz customers were invited to attend.
The car is one of only two produced in 1955 and is considered one of the most valuable cars in automotive history. It was built by Mercedes’ racing department and named after its chief engineer and designer, Rudolf Ullenhout.
Its design was inspired by the successful W196R Grand Prix, which won two world championships with driver Juan Manuel Fangio.
But the 300 SLR had a larger 3-liter engine and was able to reach speeds of 180 mph (approximately 290 km), making it one of the fastest road legal cars at the time.