For decades, the crown seemed untouchable.
The Ferrari 250 GTO wasn’t merely the world’s most expensive car—it was the benchmark against which every collector car was measured. Built in tiny numbers, blessed with racing pedigree, and wrapped in one of the most beautiful bodies ever shaped by human hands, the GTO occupied a mythical place in automotive history. Yet in a single evening, a silver Mercedes-Benz quietly shattered that hierarchy.
In May 2022, a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé crossed the auction block for an astonishing $143 million, instantly becoming the most expensive car ever sold. The figure wasn’t just a new record—it was a seismic shift. The previous benchmark, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, changed hands for roughly €48 million in 2018. By comparison, the Mercedes achieved nearly three times that amount.
And perhaps the most remarkable thing about the sale is that the car had never even raced.
The Ultimate Mercedes Nobody Could Buy
To understand why collectors were willing to spend nine figures on a Mercedes, you have to understand what the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé represents.
Built during the golden age of motorsport, the 300 SLR combined Formula 1-derived engineering with one of the most striking bodies ever to emerge from Stuttgart. Underneath the sleek coupe bodywork was technology directly descended from Mercedes’ dominant racing efforts of the mid-1950s. It was a machine conceived to conquer endurance racing at the highest level.
Only two examples were ever built.
That fact alone places the Uhlenhaut Coupé in a category beyond almost every collectible automobile on earth. One example features a red interior and remains fully operational. The other, trimmed in blue, resides permanently within the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Rarity, however, is only part of the story.
The Race Car That Never Raced
The two coupés were originally intended for Mercedes’ assault on the 1956 World Sports Car Championship. But history intervened.
The cancellation of the grueling Carrera Panamericana removed one of the key events the car had been designed to contest. At the same time, Mercedes had already made the decision to withdraw from top-level sports car racing following the 1955 season.
The result was one of motorsport’s great what-ifs. A revolutionary racing machine was completed just as its reason for existing disappeared.
Rather than leave the cars gathering dust, Rudolf Uhlenhaut—Mercedes-Benz’s brilliant head of development and one of the engineering giants of the era—put one of the coupés into service as his personal company car. The image of Uhlenhaut commuting in what was effectively a road-going racing prototype has since become part of automotive folklore.
His association with the car became so strong that the model eventually adopted his name.
Who Bought the World’s Most Expensive Car?
The winning bid was placed by Swiss-based luxury car specialist Simon Kidston during the exclusive RM Sotheby’s auction held inside the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
Few believed Kidston was bidding for himself.
Almost immediately, speculation centered on Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe, the British billionaire and founder of chemical giant Ineos. Ratcliffe’s estimated fortune, along with his extensive ties to Mercedes, made him a logical candidate.
The businessman owns a stake in the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 operation and previously acquired the former Smart production facility in Hambach, France. While the true ownership of the car remains surrounded by discretion, Ratcliffe’s name continues to surface whenever the sale is discussed.
Then again, when a car costs $143 million, anonymity becomes one of its most valuable options.
A Victory for Stuttgart
Beyond the staggering headline figure, the sale carried symbolic significance.
For years, Ferrari dominated the upper reaches of the collector-car market. Maranello’s greatest machines were considered the ultimate trophies, with the 250 GTO standing as the undisputed king.
The Uhlenhaut Coupé changed that narrative overnight.
Mercedes-Benz didn’t simply sell a rare automobile; it reminded the collector world that Stuttgart’s history contains machines every bit as significant, desirable, and technologically groundbreaking as anything ever produced in Italy.
Whether the record will stand forever remains impossible to predict. Wealthy collectors have a habit of making the impossible seem inevitable. But surpassing $143 million would require an automobile of extraordinary rarity, historical importance, and provenance.
Cars meeting all three criteria can be counted on one hand.
For now, the most desirable automobile on the planet wears a three-pointed star, and somewhere in the world, a collector owns a piece of automotive history that may never be matched—let alone surpassed.
Source: RM Sotheby’s; Photos: James Lipman – Hagerty
