Mercedes F1 car raced by Fangio and Moss sells for record £42.75m at auction

A Mercedes Formula 1 car raced by World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio and F1 legend Stirling Moss has sold at auction for a record £42.75m.

The 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen – one of just four of the model to feature the Streamliner coachwork as well as being the first of these to be offered for private ownership – was driven to victory by Fangio in the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, a year in which the Argentine also won the third of his five titles.

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Moss also took the wheel of the car and used it to set the fastest lap of the Italian Grand Prix for its final competitive outing at the conclusion of the 1955 season.

Offered from the Collection of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, the W 196 R was put up for auction at Sotheby’s with the price listed as in excess of €50m. The car has since gone under the hammer for €51.15m (£42.75m), making it the most expensive Grand Prix car ever sold.

This also makes it the second most valuable car to sell at auction, with a 1955 Mercedes 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe sportscar being the highest when it sold for €135m (£113m) in May 2022.

After its success in 1955, Mercedes retired the W 196 R to their in-house collection before going on to donate it to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1965.

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Since then chassis number 00009/54 has never been formally presented for judging or driven in any vintage events, with the car being cared for by the IMS Museum.