The 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 car driven by Fangio and Moss and owned by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is on sale at the RM Sotheby’s Stuttgart 2024 auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum announced plans to auction off several important historic racing cars. The most expensive racing car is likely to be the 1954/1955 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 with a streamlined body as raced by Stirling Moss and previously also driven by Juan Manual Fangio. This rare original Silver Arrow Formula 1 racing car will be offered at a special auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart to be arranged by RM Sotheby’s at the end of 2024. RM Sotheby’s early estimate for the 1954/1955 Mercedes-Benz W196R F1 is a whopping $50,000,000 – $70,000,000.
RM Sotheby’s Stuttgart Mercedes-Benz Museum 2024 Auction
RM Sotheby’s is planning a special sale at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart towards the end of 2024 in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz Classic and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum (IMS). The IMS is selling several racing cars to fund the expansion and modernization of the museum.
The date and format of the auction have not been confirmed yet. The main purpose is to sell the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum’s 1954/1955 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 with Streamliner Monza bodywork.
RM Sotheby’s famously sold the most expensive car ever, a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, for $143 million at a special auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in 2022.
1954/1955 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1
The 1954/1955 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 on offer at the RM Sotheby’s Stuttgart Mercedes-Benz Museum 2024 auction comes of course with a special history. Although it never achieved an outright victory, it was raced by both Juan Manual Fangio and Stirling Moss.
The W196R racing car with chassis number 9 was completed after the 1954 season and was initially built as a variant with free-standing wheels. For the formula-free “Buenos Aires Grand Prix” on 30 January 1955, the chassis was equipped with a 3-litre engine. Juan Manuel Fangio achieved two second-place finishes in front of his home crowd in both races, which secured him the overall victory.
For the rest of the 1955 season, the car was fitted with a smaller 2.5-litre engine to comply with Formula One regulations. On 11 September 1955, Stirling Moss drove it at the last race of the season in Monza, for the high-speed circuit it was equipped with a streamlined body. Moss retired after 28 laps while in seventh position but still scored a single point for setting the fastest lap time.
After the completion of the racing activities in 1955, the racing car was handed over to the former factory museum. In 1965, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum received this Mercedes-Benz W 196 R as a gift from the then Daimler-Benz AG.
Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 Prices at Auction
Authentic Silver Arrow cars from the mid-1950s very rarely make it to public auction. The last one sold was the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 single-seater, open-wheel racing car sold by Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale in 2013 for a record-breaking £19.6 million ($29.65 million). This was almost double the price of the previous record holder: a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa sold in 2011 for $16,390,000 by Gooding & Co at Pebble Beach.
The early estimate announced by RM Sotheby’s for the streamlined body 1954/1955 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 is $50,000,000 – $70,000,000. A result within estimate would make it the second-most expensive car ever, as well as the most expensive Formula 1 and racing car ever.
The W196R sold by Bonhams in 2013 had a similar ownership history to the Indianapolis Museum car. Mercedes Benz gave the W196R Formula 1 racing car to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in the UK in 1973. In 1987, Beaulieu sold the car – with Mercedes Benz’s approval – to fund the museum’s library and other buildings. It has been privately owned since. It remains the most expensive car ever sold at an auction in the UK or in British pounds.
About the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum represents more than a century of motorsports history and is driven by its mission to celebrate and preserve the history behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. Since 1956 when the IMS Museum first opened, it has brought to life the innovation, thrill, and cultural significance of motor racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What began with only 12 cars on display has become one of the world’s premier collections of racing automobiles and artifacts – with more than 55,000 artifacts and over 150 vehicles.
See 2024 RM Sotheby’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum Sale Cars Announced for the list of 11 cars heading for auctions. Top cars other than the W196R include a Le Mans-winning 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, a 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II, and several pre-First World War racing cars.