1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SLR ”Uhlenhaut Coupe”
This is a car that would cost over $100 million if Mercedes-Benz ever decides to sell it. But it never will!
The 300 SLR racer was the car that won almost everything in 1955, from Mille Miglia to Targa Florio, allowing Mercedes-Benz to win the 1955 World Sportscar Championship. Its light aluminum body, out-of-this-world handling, and extreme acceleration made it one of the iconic cars of the 50s.
With its eight-cylinder, 2982-cc engine developing up to 310 horsepower, this Silver Arrow was capable of a maximum speed in excess of 300 km/h – enough to power it to glory in all the top road races of 1955. The Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Tourist Trophy, Eifelrennen and the Swedish Grand Prix – the 300 SLR won them all.
The spirited lines of the body, with its elongated bonnet, were complemented by the striking proportions of the side-mounted exhaust pipes, the air vents and the wire-spoke wheels. The cockpit, with its curved wraparound windscreen, was elegantly sculptured. Rudolf Uhlenhaut referred to his latest automotive work of art as a ‘hot-heeled touring car’, and the 300 SLR ”Uhlenhaut Coupe” lived up to its billing. Weighing only 1117 kilograms yet developing 310 horsepower, the ”Uhlenhaut Coupe” accelerated to a maximum speed approaching 290 km/h in testing (the manufacturer’s data showed a top speed of 284 km/h). This made the two-seater the fastest car of its time to be registered for use on public roads, as well as ‘one of the most exciting cars that Mercedes-Benz has ever built,’ as motorsport guru Karl Ludvigsen later observed.
However, the lightning-fast 300 SLR ”Uhlenhaut Coupe” never made it into series production. The Stuttgart-based car maker felt that the mid-1950s was not the right time to bring out a powerful sports tourer of this kind, leaving the road version of the SLR to fall into oblivion. As Mercedes pulled out of motorsport in 1955, the 300 SLR ”Uhlenhaut Coupe” project was put on ice. Only two prototypes of this masterpiece of power and elegance were ever built and yet this wonderful car had still become a legend in its own right.
On the question of price, however, there is no answer. It is often said that the Uhlenhaut Coupe is the most valuable car of the world, but that’s wrong. The reason behind it is simple: none of the two Uhlenhaut coupes made has ever been sold, or been for sale.
That does not mean there hasn’t been offers for buying one, but Mercedes-Benz always refused every single offer to buy one. Since they have both been built, in 1955, there hasn’t been a single moment where any of the two Uhlenhaut Coupes was owned by anyone else other than Mercedes-Benz. It can’t be the most valuable car in the world, because it never had a price in first place.
