This 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe sold for an astonishing $142m at an auction in Stuttgart. That’s approximately £115million, in good old pounds sterling.
The stunning specimen, named after its then chief engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut, is one of just two prototypes built. Based on Juan Manuel Fangio’s two-time GP World Championship-winning W196 R car, it featured an enlarged 3.0-litre straight-eight engine and was capable of speeds of up to 180mph. Uhlenhaut later commandeered it as his company car.
Spoiler alert: it now ranks as the most expensive car ever to have gone under the hammer (and, indeed, one of the top 10 most expensive items EVER sold at auction), in a roster, um, dominated by Ferrari, but also featuring the likes of Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, McLaren and more.
Excluding private sales, we’ve rounded up the top 20, starting with…