Mercedes-Benz Heritage shipped the 1955 Mercedes-Benz W196S 300 SLR to Victoria in recognition of the Gull Wing Group’s work to honour the company’s history.
One of the most valuable cars in the world, a 1955 Mercedes-Benz W196S 300 SLR, was the star of the show at last week’s gathering of the Gull Wing Group at Villa Eyrie.
Mercedes-Benz Heritage shipped the car to Victoria in recognition of the Gull Wing Group’s work to honour the company’s history.
The 300 SLR is a two-seat sports racing car that was based on the W196 Formula One car that had won four of the six races it ran after it entered the championship competition midway through the 1954 season.
The SLR – which stands for “Sport Leicht Rennsport,” or sport light racing – was basically a Formula One car modified for road racing. It has a 302-horsepower three-litre engine in place of the 2.5-litre engine used in Formula One, as well as headlights, a second seat, and other modifications.
Legendary Formula One driver Stirling Moss has called the 300 SLR as “The greatest sports racing car ever built – really an unbelievable machine.”
The car has a rich racing history. Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia in Italy in a 300 SLR, driving 1,600 kilometres at an average speed of 157.65 km/h. Fangio placed second in a sister car.
Only nine 300 SLRs were made. One of them was destroyed in a horrifying crash at Le Mans in 1955, which resulted in the deaths of 84 people. The car shown at the Gull Wing convention last week is one of six remaining roadsters.
All of these roadsters are owned by Mercedes-Benz, and without a resale market, it is hard to determine the value of the vehicles.
Two of the 300 SLRs were converted to road-legal coupes, and are known as Uhlenhaut coupes after the car’s designer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut. These cars had gullwing doors, similar to the 300 SL production cars.
One of these Uhlenhaut coupes sold in May 2022 for 135 million euros, or in Canadian currency, about $215 million.
In February, a W196 Formula One car that had been driven in races by Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio sold for about $82 million Canadian.
Whatever the value of the car on display last week, it’s a safe bet that it was the most valuable car on Vancouver Island – and it is no surprise why security was tight, not to mention the Mercedes-Benz staff members keeping a watchful eye on the vehicle.