Mercedes-Benz W196 1954 sold for 51,155,000 euros (22 photos)
At the RM Sotheby’s auction, one of the rarest racing Mercedes was sold – the W196 sports car with a Streamliner body (Stromlinienwagen). In the mid-1950s, Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss successfully competed in this car in the World Championship among drivers (later the series became known as Formula 1), after which it was stored in museums for decades. The lot went for 51,155,000 euros. 
The W196 (aka W 196 R) was developed by the head of the Mercedes-Benz racing car department, Rudi Uhlenhaut, for the new championship regulations introduced by the FIA in 1954. The car was produced and competed for two years, with a total of 14 units built, 10 of which were open-wheel cars, and four more had an alternative streamlined body. By the end of the 1955 season, after which the German manufacturer left racing for a long time, 10 cars remained, including the one that was now put under the hammer.
The long-wheelbase W196, chassis number 00009/54, was built in late 1954 and initially featured open wheels, the car Mercedes-Benz would use for most of the 1955 races. In January, Juan Manuel Fangio, a five-time Formula One champion, won the Buenos Aires Grand Prix in this car over two runs. He later switched to a different, short-wheelbase chassis, and 00009/54, which had been put into storage, was converted into a streamliner a few months later at the request of Stirling Moss for a race on the newly rebuilt Monza circuit. The Briton was forced to retire from the race, but set the fastest lap time.
At the end of 1955, Mercedes-Benz sent all surviving examples of the W196 to its museum in Stuttgart. In 1965, at the initiative of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, chassis 00009/54 was donated to the American museum Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where it has been located for the last 59 years. During this time, it was repainted twice - in 1980 and 2015 - restoring the historical livery with the number "16" under which Stirling Moss raced, but it was never exhibited in either historical races or "concours d'elegance". At the same time, from time to time, the sports car was exhibited both in the museum itself at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and at other venues, including the Petersen Automotive Museum. 
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