MERCEDES-BENZ
not including pre-merging Daimler and Benz
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Top 10 Cars Germany Germany II Cars 1920s Cars 1930s Cars 1936-37 Cars 1938-39 Cars 1950s Cars 1953-54 Cars 1955 Supercars Hypercars
Chronology : 20th century 1936 1950-1959 1954 1955 2002
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Top 10 Cars Germany Germany II Cars 1920s Cars 1930s Cars 1936-37 Cars 1938-39 Cars 1950s Cars 1953-54 Cars 1955 Supercars Hypercars
Chronology : 20th century 1936 1950-1959 1954 1955 2002
1928 680S
2013 SOLD for $ 8.3M by RM Auctions
In the history of industry, the merger in 1926 of DMG (Daimler) and Benz is an exemplary case. Their product lines took benefit from the quality of their manufacturing but the German crisis could lead both of them to bankruptcy. Their combination, including the creation of a single Mercedes-Benz brand for the group, provided the new company with the critical size needed for a restart.
The high-end was offered since 1924 by the models 24/100/140 and 15/70/100. A sports variant 24/110/160 was introduced in 1926. This denomination which may now seem odd indicates successively the fiscal power and the real power in hp without and with compression.
Pushed by the prestige of the competitions, the power is gradually increased. The new Mercedes-Benz company introduces the Typ S (Sportwagen) in 1927 as the successor to the Mercedes Model K. A specialty of Daimler had been to equip their Mercedes cars with a Roots supercharger.
For the new brand, the chief engineer Ferdinand Porsche designed in 1927 the most powerful sports car of that time, the Mercedes-Benz 680S with a huge supercharged 6.8 liter engine. The supercharger was only engaged when the pedal was depressed.
In terms of bodywork the Sindelfingen factory offers the high-end but the customer may also buy the chassis and have the body realized by a craftsman.
A 1927 680S 26/120/180 was sold for $ 5M by Gooding in August 2011, lot 119. This highly authentic Sportwagen is in matching number configuration and retains its original Sindelfingen body.
Made in 1928 and sole survivor from three built with a low windshield, a Mercedes-Benz 680S 26/120/180 hp coachworked by Saoutchik as a Torpedo roadster is a great example of the perfection and modernism that could be achieved at that time.
Its mechanics are German but the elegance is French. It is an early masterpiece by Jacques Saoutchik, a former cabinetmaker inspired by the Parisian Art Déco who knew to combine style and innovation. Made on order for an American businessman who failed to take it after a reversal of fortunes, it was exhibited at the New York Auto Salon in 1929.
After a stunning restoration, this car was awarded the highest honors : perfect with 100 points and Best of Show at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Restoration of the Year at the 2012 International Historic Motoring Awards and First in Class at the 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. This car was sold for $ 8.3M by RM Auctions on August 17, 2013, lot 216, and passed at RM on May 27, 2017, lot 144.
A 26/120/180 S from 1928 was sold for $ 5.4M by Bonhams on August 13, 2021, lot 34. The car was owned in the family of the consignor since 1964. It is believed that its body has never been changed. The records of the brand state that the chassis has been shipped to Gläser. This coachbuilder was based in Dresden.
The high-end was offered since 1924 by the models 24/100/140 and 15/70/100. A sports variant 24/110/160 was introduced in 1926. This denomination which may now seem odd indicates successively the fiscal power and the real power in hp without and with compression.
Pushed by the prestige of the competitions, the power is gradually increased. The new Mercedes-Benz company introduces the Typ S (Sportwagen) in 1927 as the successor to the Mercedes Model K. A specialty of Daimler had been to equip their Mercedes cars with a Roots supercharger.
For the new brand, the chief engineer Ferdinand Porsche designed in 1927 the most powerful sports car of that time, the Mercedes-Benz 680S with a huge supercharged 6.8 liter engine. The supercharger was only engaged when the pedal was depressed.
In terms of bodywork the Sindelfingen factory offers the high-end but the customer may also buy the chassis and have the body realized by a craftsman.
A 1927 680S 26/120/180 was sold for $ 5M by Gooding in August 2011, lot 119. This highly authentic Sportwagen is in matching number configuration and retains its original Sindelfingen body.
Made in 1928 and sole survivor from three built with a low windshield, a Mercedes-Benz 680S 26/120/180 hp coachworked by Saoutchik as a Torpedo roadster is a great example of the perfection and modernism that could be achieved at that time.
Its mechanics are German but the elegance is French. It is an early masterpiece by Jacques Saoutchik, a former cabinetmaker inspired by the Parisian Art Déco who knew to combine style and innovation. Made on order for an American businessman who failed to take it after a reversal of fortunes, it was exhibited at the New York Auto Salon in 1929.
After a stunning restoration, this car was awarded the highest honors : perfect with 100 points and Best of Show at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Restoration of the Year at the 2012 International Historic Motoring Awards and First in Class at the 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. This car was sold for $ 8.3M by RM Auctions on August 17, 2013, lot 216, and passed at RM on May 27, 2017, lot 144.
A 26/120/180 S from 1928 was sold for $ 5.4M by Bonhams on August 13, 2021, lot 34. The car was owned in the family of the consignor since 1964. It is believed that its body has never been changed. The records of the brand state that the chassis has been shipped to Gläser. This coachbuilder was based in Dresden.
540K Spezial Roadster
Intro
After an early great period around 1928 with the 680 S, Mercedes-Benz is positioning more firmly in the luxury car market in 1933 with the 380 and its variant 380 K where K means Kompressor. Its 3.8-liter engine is too small and its maximum speed of 145 km/h with the supercharger does not differ sufficiently from its competitors.
With a high intelligence Mercedes-Benz appreciates that the wealthiest customers shall prefer a bigger and more powerful car even if it is much more expensive. The 380 is terminated in mid-1934 to be replaced by the 5 liter 500 and its supercharged 500 K which reaches 160 km/h on the road.
In an international perspective the 500s come at the right time. The Cord group fails to balance the budget of Duesenberg, Bugatti's La Royale is an almost total commercial failure and Bentley went bankrupt.
The coachwork becomes gorgeous. The high end is named Roadster, understood as a synonym for Grand Tourer. Mercedes-Benz optimize the bodies by promoting a standardization at their assembly plant in Sindelfingen, but remain responsive to the specific needs of their clients.
On September 3, 2016, Bonhams sold at lot 16 for € 5.3M a 500 K Roadster coachworked in Sindelfingen.
Mercedes-Benz designed and produced the automotive masterpiece of the 1930s, the 540K Spezial Roadster. It is the biggest, the most powerful, the fastest, the most beautiful and the most expensive.
Its engine 5.4 liter with Kompressor makes the 540K the achievement of a technical evolution that will have no successor. The project of a 580K with an increase to 5.8 liters aborted.
It was offered with a variety of bodyworks according to the custom of the time. Aesthetically, the Spezial Roadster is a marvel due to the skill of the team of Hermann Ahrens and the engineers in Sindelfingen : its tapered shape makes forget its huge size. It has a long tail, which allows to state that it anticipates by eight decades the hypercars of today with the cockpit centered on the chassis.
It is the biggest, 5.10 m long, but its open cabin as a two-seater convertible is light. The weight gain enables a top speed at 185 km/h which is 25 km/h more than a 540K in a closed bodywork.
It is the most expensive : 28,000 Reichsmarks, which is 6,000 Reichsmarks more than any other model. This is an advantage because it appeals the elite as a car for prestige and parade, although nothing prevents pushing the performance of this roadster on an Autobahn.
It is much appreciated by the collectors. As early as October 31, 2007, a 540K Spezial Roadster made in 1937 had been sold for £ 3.9M by RM Auctions, lot 225.
With a high intelligence Mercedes-Benz appreciates that the wealthiest customers shall prefer a bigger and more powerful car even if it is much more expensive. The 380 is terminated in mid-1934 to be replaced by the 5 liter 500 and its supercharged 500 K which reaches 160 km/h on the road.
In an international perspective the 500s come at the right time. The Cord group fails to balance the budget of Duesenberg, Bugatti's La Royale is an almost total commercial failure and Bentley went bankrupt.
The coachwork becomes gorgeous. The high end is named Roadster, understood as a synonym for Grand Tourer. Mercedes-Benz optimize the bodies by promoting a standardization at their assembly plant in Sindelfingen, but remain responsive to the specific needs of their clients.
On September 3, 2016, Bonhams sold at lot 16 for € 5.3M a 500 K Roadster coachworked in Sindelfingen.
Mercedes-Benz designed and produced the automotive masterpiece of the 1930s, the 540K Spezial Roadster. It is the biggest, the most powerful, the fastest, the most beautiful and the most expensive.
Its engine 5.4 liter with Kompressor makes the 540K the achievement of a technical evolution that will have no successor. The project of a 580K with an increase to 5.8 liters aborted.
It was offered with a variety of bodyworks according to the custom of the time. Aesthetically, the Spezial Roadster is a marvel due to the skill of the team of Hermann Ahrens and the engineers in Sindelfingen : its tapered shape makes forget its huge size. It has a long tail, which allows to state that it anticipates by eight decades the hypercars of today with the cockpit centered on the chassis.
It is the biggest, 5.10 m long, but its open cabin as a two-seater convertible is light. The weight gain enables a top speed at 185 km/h which is 25 km/h more than a 540K in a closed bodywork.
It is the most expensive : 28,000 Reichsmarks, which is 6,000 Reichsmarks more than any other model. This is an advantage because it appeals the elite as a car for prestige and parade, although nothing prevents pushing the performance of this roadster on an Autobahn.
It is much appreciated by the collectors. As early as October 31, 2007, a 540K Spezial Roadster made in 1937 had been sold for £ 3.9M by RM Auctions, lot 225.
1
1936 ex von Krieger
2012 SOLD for $ 11.8M by Gooding
In the sale of 18 and 19 August, 2012, Gooding sold a wonder for $ 11.8M : a car from the most beautiful German model and bodywork of the 1930s, owned and driven by one of the most elegant young ladies of the time, retaining its original equipment. The car is illustrated in the article shared by Sports Car Digest.
Known as a lover of beautiful cars, a Prussian aristocrat named von Krieger bought this Spezial Roadster as early as 1936 for his two children, but it was to his daughter Gisela, 23, to monopolize it for supporting her social life.
Then came the war. Baroness Gisela hid her car and then went to a reclusive life. After her death in 1989, her car was retrieved intact, with driving maps, lipstick-stained cigarette butts and silk gloves used by its owner four decades earlier.
Known as a lover of beautiful cars, a Prussian aristocrat named von Krieger bought this Spezial Roadster as early as 1936 for his two children, but it was to his daughter Gisela, 23, to monopolize it for supporting her social life.
Then came the war. Baroness Gisela hid her car and then went to a reclusive life. After her death in 1989, her car was retrieved intact, with driving maps, lipstick-stained cigarette butts and silk gloves used by its owner four decades earlier.
2
1937
2016 SOLD for $ 9.9M by RM Sotheby's
A 540K Spezial Roadster was sold for $ 9.9M by RM Sotheby's on January 29, 2016, lot 242. A collector car from its origin, it had rarely been driven. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The political events in Germany did not prevent Mercedes-Benz to maintain an international clientele. This car had been delivered in April 1937 to an American dealer who sold it immediately to a collector, happy heir of one of the largest industrial fortunes.
The political events in Germany did not prevent Mercedes-Benz to maintain an international clientele. This car had been delivered in April 1937 to an American dealer who sold it immediately to a collector, happy heir of one of the largest industrial fortunes.
3
1937 ex Zahir Shah
2022 SOLD for $ 9.9M by RM Sotheby's
A Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster was made in 1937 at Sindelfingen with the ultimate options : long tail, high door, covered rear spare. It was sold new to the young King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan and spent the war in the embassy of that country in Paris.
It was later exhibited for three decades in a museum that managed carriage cavalcades in a model roadside circus in the touristic resort of Silver Springs, Florida.
Refinished in 1953 in two tone maroon with a new upholstery for the purpose of that museum, this mechanically unrestored parade car keeps an excellent originality throughout after a mere five owners and an estimated 20,000 km from new. It was sold for $ 9.9M by RM Sotheby's on August 18, 2022, lot 108.
It was later exhibited for three decades in a museum that managed carriage cavalcades in a model roadside circus in the touristic resort of Silver Springs, Florida.
Refinished in 1953 in two tone maroon with a new upholstery for the purpose of that museum, this mechanically unrestored parade car keeps an excellent originality throughout after a mere five owners and an estimated 20,000 km from new. It was sold for $ 9.9M by RM Sotheby's on August 18, 2022, lot 108.
4
1937
2011 SOLD for $ 9.7M by RM Auctions
One of three surviving examples of metallic gray 540K Spezial Roadster, made in 1937 with high doors and a long tail, was sold for $ 9.7M on August 20, 2011 by RM Auctions. It is illustrated on the top of the page in the article shared by Sports Car Digest.
5
1939
2013 SOLD for $ 7.5M by RM Auctions
The luxury car began to adopt a more modern look in 1939, with Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz. The war interrupted this appealing trend.
Completed in August 1939 on a special order and delivered to its owner in Berlin, a Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster appears as the ultimate car of the most prestigious pre-war lineage.
It is equipped with the latest developments offered by Mercedes-Benz including the new five-speed transmission. Its one-off bodywork made in Sindelfingen marks the culmination of the aesthetic research aiming to bring to this massive two-seater roadster the same elegance as a sports car.
After the war it was used for a few years in East Berlin by Soviet diplomats and then transferred to Russia. It had become old-fashioned and was likely to be abandoned when an amateur managed to smuggle it into Sweden in 1967. After these adventures, its condition remains remarkably authentic with its original body and equipment including chassis and engine in matching numbers.
It was sold three times by RM. On August 20, 2011, then one of the five Mercedes-Benz demonstrating masterfully the evolution of the high-end of this brand from 1935 to 1939, it was sold for $ 4.6M. The pre sale release shared by Sports Car Digest illustrates these five wonders.
It was sold for $ 7.5M by RM Auctions on August 16, 2013, and for $ 6.6M by RM Sotheby's on January 20, 2017, lot 258.
Completed in August 1939 on a special order and delivered to its owner in Berlin, a Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster appears as the ultimate car of the most prestigious pre-war lineage.
It is equipped with the latest developments offered by Mercedes-Benz including the new five-speed transmission. Its one-off bodywork made in Sindelfingen marks the culmination of the aesthetic research aiming to bring to this massive two-seater roadster the same elegance as a sports car.
After the war it was used for a few years in East Berlin by Soviet diplomats and then transferred to Russia. It had become old-fashioned and was likely to be abandoned when an amateur managed to smuggle it into Sweden in 1967. After these adventures, its condition remains remarkably authentic with its original body and equipment including chassis and engine in matching numbers.
It was sold three times by RM. On August 20, 2011, then one of the five Mercedes-Benz demonstrating masterfully the evolution of the high-end of this brand from 1935 to 1939, it was sold for $ 4.6M. The pre sale release shared by Sports Car Digest illustrates these five wonders.
It was sold for $ 7.5M by RM Auctions on August 16, 2013, and for $ 6.6M by RM Sotheby's on January 20, 2017, lot 258.
1954 W196
2013 SOLD for £ 19.6M by Bonhams
Everything goes very fast, in any meaning of the word, for Mercedes-Benz at the beginning of 1954. Technology is the best asset to win competitions. For coming back to racing, the German brand aligns the 300SL model for endurance and the W196 single-seater model for Formula 1.
They must win. Mercedes managed to take the best driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, world champion in 1951 with Alfa Romeo, who had just won the first two grand prix of the season on a Maserati.
For their first collaboration, Mercedes and Fangio win the Reims grand prix on a W196 with enclosed wheels. Surrounding the wheel by a piece of bodywork is a theoretical advantage because it limits the impact of air friction. The top speed exceeds 200 km / h.
At that time, the skill of the pilot is prevailing on theories. The next grand prix, at Silverstone, is sinuous. Powerless against Ferrari, Fangio requires the withdrawal of the enclosing to improve his freedom of action. This is the right decision.
Thus are born the chassis 005 and 006 of the W196. With the open wheeled 006, Fangio wins the next two grand prix, in Germany at the Nürburgring and in Switzerland at Bremgarten.
The 006 has no rival for the title of most prestigious single-seater car of all time, formerly driven by the most skilful driver of all time. It was sold for £ 19.6M on July 12, 2013 by Bonhams.
An open wheeled W196 (perhaps the 006) is driven by Fangio himself during a demonstration at the Nürburgring in 1986. The image below is licensed under Creative Commons with attribution By Lothar Spurzem [CC-BY-SA-2.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons.
They must win. Mercedes managed to take the best driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, world champion in 1951 with Alfa Romeo, who had just won the first two grand prix of the season on a Maserati.
For their first collaboration, Mercedes and Fangio win the Reims grand prix on a W196 with enclosed wheels. Surrounding the wheel by a piece of bodywork is a theoretical advantage because it limits the impact of air friction. The top speed exceeds 200 km / h.
At that time, the skill of the pilot is prevailing on theories. The next grand prix, at Silverstone, is sinuous. Powerless against Ferrari, Fangio requires the withdrawal of the enclosing to improve his freedom of action. This is the right decision.
Thus are born the chassis 005 and 006 of the W196. With the open wheeled 006, Fangio wins the next two grand prix, in Germany at the Nürburgring and in Switzerland at Bremgarten.
The 006 has no rival for the title of most prestigious single-seater car of all time, formerly driven by the most skilful driver of all time. It was sold for £ 19.6M on July 12, 2013 by Bonhams.
An open wheeled W196 (perhaps the 006) is driven by Fangio himself during a demonstration at the Nürburgring in 1986. The image below is licensed under Creative Commons with attribution By Lothar Spurzem [CC-BY-SA-2.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons.
1955 Uhlenhaut Coupé
2022 SOLD for € 135M by RM Sotheby's
Two special adaptations of the 3 litre 300 SLR coupé were made by Mercedes-Benz in 1955. Designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut, they are known as the Uhlenhaut coupés. Capable of reaching 290 km/h, this model was the fastest road going car of its time.
Employed by Mercedes-Benz since 1931, Uhlenhaut had been a lead designer of the Silver Arrows, of the Formula One highly successful W196 of JM Fangio fame and of the open top Rennsport 300 SLR of Stirling Moss fame. He was also behind the scene of the Le Mans winner W194 and of the road going 300 SL gullwing.
The Uhlenhaut coupés were assembled as two seaters with gullwing doors on two W196 chassis left unused after the 1955 Le Mans crash and the subsequent withdrawal of the brand from motor sport.
Both prototypes were retained by Mercedes-Benz from new. Uhlenhaut had one as a company car. He once drove the 230 km on the autobahn between Stuttgart and Munich in less than an hour.
The first one is on display in the museum of the brand. The second car was used as a demonstration car and was restored in 1986. It was sold for € 135M on May 5, 2022 by RM Sotheby's in a private auction, lot 1. The proceeds help to create a Mercedes-Benz fund for young researchers in environmental science and carbon dioxide reduction.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, featuring with the hammer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.
Employed by Mercedes-Benz since 1931, Uhlenhaut had been a lead designer of the Silver Arrows, of the Formula One highly successful W196 of JM Fangio fame and of the open top Rennsport 300 SLR of Stirling Moss fame. He was also behind the scene of the Le Mans winner W194 and of the road going 300 SL gullwing.
The Uhlenhaut coupés were assembled as two seaters with gullwing doors on two W196 chassis left unused after the 1955 Le Mans crash and the subsequent withdrawal of the brand from motor sport.
Both prototypes were retained by Mercedes-Benz from new. Uhlenhaut had one as a company car. He once drove the 230 km on the autobahn between Stuttgart and Munich in less than an hour.
The first one is on display in the museum of the brand. The second car was used as a demonstration car and was restored in 1986. It was sold for € 135M on May 5, 2022 by RM Sotheby's in a private auction, lot 1. The proceeds help to create a Mercedes-Benz fund for young researchers in environmental science and carbon dioxide reduction.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, featuring with the hammer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.
2002 CLK GTR Roadster
2023 SOLD for $ 10.2M by RM Sotheby's
Mercedes-Benz was supported since 1967 for the high performance engineering and custom projects by their partner AMG, which will be fully owned by the corporate in 2005.
The international organizations that manage the motor sport are continuously oscillating between promoting prototypes and grand touring. Announced in 1994, the initiative of the BPR Global GT Series is highly appealing the manufacturers. From the 1997 season, the FIA takes back the direct control of these competitions.
The FIA did not give up the old idea of a competition class that can be used to support the sales of high-end cars. The GT1 category is announced in 1996 for a start on the following year. Its specifications allow improvements that will not serve the basic model, including specific materials, improved aerodynamics, larger brakes and wider tires.
Mercedes-Benz cheers the GT1 as a great showcase to promote its supercars against McLaren and Ferrari. The release in just a few months by AMG of the CLK GTR would prove that discussions with the FIA had lasted for a significant time. The GT1 is close to a prototype category for which the returns on investment are not a foregone conclusion and Chrysler, for example, did not venture there.
The GT1 regulations require a population of 25 road homologated cars. The industrial challenge is so important that the organizers are tolerant for some interpretations of the rules. Mercedes-Benz has its car approved in GT1 before beginning the production model.
The supporting Strassenversion of the Mercedes-Benz AMG is made of 20 coupes and 6 roadsters. The production of these customer cars started in the summer of 1998, more than one year after the racing involvement of the prototypes.
These road cars that support the GT1 version are in period the most expensive cars on the market : around $ 1 million for the coupe and $ 1.5 million for the roadster, the world record in period for the most expensive commercially available road car.
That Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR, followed in 1998 by the CLK LM, was only loosely related to the new luxury mid size CLK class.
The success of the GTR and of the LM was so overwhelming that Porsche, McLaren, Ferrari and BMW gave up. The FIA GT1 and GT2 did not survive the 1998 season. Mercedes-Benz's ambitions in this class of competition are canceled in 1999 by the disastrous instability of the next model, the CLR, along with a further change in the rules of the FIA.The CLK GTR coupe has a follower in the CLK GTR roadster with open top. Built in 6 units by HWA which was the successor to AMG from 1999, this model was capable of reaching 320 km/h (in theory).
Mercedes-Benz had kept until 2014 the first of these six roadsters, which was revised by them before being sold to an investor who did not intend to use it. This beautiful black car with only 8 km from new was sold for £ 1.5M by Bonhams on June 26, 2015, lot 340.
The 3rd roadster is dated 2002. With 170 km from new, it was sold for $ 10.2M by RM Sotheby's on November 17, 2023, lot 38. It is finished in silver paint over a black and grey leather interior.
The international organizations that manage the motor sport are continuously oscillating between promoting prototypes and grand touring. Announced in 1994, the initiative of the BPR Global GT Series is highly appealing the manufacturers. From the 1997 season, the FIA takes back the direct control of these competitions.
The FIA did not give up the old idea of a competition class that can be used to support the sales of high-end cars. The GT1 category is announced in 1996 for a start on the following year. Its specifications allow improvements that will not serve the basic model, including specific materials, improved aerodynamics, larger brakes and wider tires.
Mercedes-Benz cheers the GT1 as a great showcase to promote its supercars against McLaren and Ferrari. The release in just a few months by AMG of the CLK GTR would prove that discussions with the FIA had lasted for a significant time. The GT1 is close to a prototype category for which the returns on investment are not a foregone conclusion and Chrysler, for example, did not venture there.
The GT1 regulations require a population of 25 road homologated cars. The industrial challenge is so important that the organizers are tolerant for some interpretations of the rules. Mercedes-Benz has its car approved in GT1 before beginning the production model.
The supporting Strassenversion of the Mercedes-Benz AMG is made of 20 coupes and 6 roadsters. The production of these customer cars started in the summer of 1998, more than one year after the racing involvement of the prototypes.
These road cars that support the GT1 version are in period the most expensive cars on the market : around $ 1 million for the coupe and $ 1.5 million for the roadster, the world record in period for the most expensive commercially available road car.
That Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR, followed in 1998 by the CLK LM, was only loosely related to the new luxury mid size CLK class.
The success of the GTR and of the LM was so overwhelming that Porsche, McLaren, Ferrari and BMW gave up. The FIA GT1 and GT2 did not survive the 1998 season. Mercedes-Benz's ambitions in this class of competition are canceled in 1999 by the disastrous instability of the next model, the CLR, along with a further change in the rules of the FIA.The CLK GTR coupe has a follower in the CLK GTR roadster with open top. Built in 6 units by HWA which was the successor to AMG from 1999, this model was capable of reaching 320 km/h (in theory).
Mercedes-Benz had kept until 2014 the first of these six roadsters, which was revised by them before being sold to an investor who did not intend to use it. This beautiful black car with only 8 km from new was sold for £ 1.5M by Bonhams on June 26, 2015, lot 340.
The 3rd roadster is dated 2002. With 170 km from new, it was sold for $ 10.2M by RM Sotheby's on November 17, 2023, lot 38. It is finished in silver paint over a black and grey leather interior.
2013 Mercedes AMG F1
2023 SOLD for $ 19M by RM Sotheby's
Mercedes-Benz had a successful participation in Formula One in 1954 and 1955. Their ambition restarted for the 2010 season with the sponsorship of the energy group Petronas. The drivers were Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Schumacher retired before the 2013 season and was replaced by Lewis Hamilton coming from McLaren with which he had won the 2008 drivers' championship at the age of 23.
The model for 2013 was the Mercedes AMG Petronas W04. This F1 season was the last one using naturally aspirated V-8 engines with the signature F1 soundtrack. The chassis 04 was driven by Hamilton in 14 out of the 19 events including the win in the Hungarian Grand Prix. This car was sold for $ 19M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by RM Sotheby's on November 17, 2023, lot 13.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image of this car driven by Hamilton in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix to a third place finish is shared by Wikimedia with attribution Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
The co-operation of Mercedes and Hamilton was fruitful. Hamilton won 6 drivers' championship from 2014 to 2020 and Mercedes-AMG 8 successive constructors' championships from 2014 to 2021.
The model for 2013 was the Mercedes AMG Petronas W04. This F1 season was the last one using naturally aspirated V-8 engines with the signature F1 soundtrack. The chassis 04 was driven by Hamilton in 14 out of the 19 events including the win in the Hungarian Grand Prix. This car was sold for $ 19M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by RM Sotheby's on November 17, 2023, lot 13.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image of this car driven by Hamilton in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix to a third place finish is shared by Wikimedia with attribution Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
The co-operation of Mercedes and Hamilton was fruitful. Hamilton won 6 drivers' championship from 2014 to 2020 and Mercedes-AMG 8 successive constructors' championships from 2014 to 2021.
