A Mercedes will probably be supplied at public sale this yr which may smash the document for most costly Components 1 automobile ever.
The 1955 W196R in uncommon ‘Streamliner’ configuration will probably be offered this autumn. The automobile is certainly one of a number of being offered by RM Sotheby’s for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway “as a part of an ongoing technique to help the museum’s long-term monetary sustainability.”
Mercedes dominated F1 with their W196 machines after they entered the world championship in mid-1954 till their departure on the finish of the next yr. Juan Manuel Fangio scored eight wins of their vehicles, amassing two drivers’ titles on the best way, and Stirling Moss took his first victory in a world championship spherical on the wheel of a W196.
One other W196, in non-streamlined configuration, set the present document for most costly F1 automobile when it offered for £19.6 million on the Goodwood Pageant of Pace in July 2013. A spokesperson for Sotheby’s instructed RaceFans they estimate the worth of the 1955 W196R ‘Streamliner’ at between 50 and 70 million {dollars} (£38-£53 million).
A sale on the decrease estimate would comfortably set a brand new document for most costly F1 machine and place the W196R ‘Streamliner’ among the many most respected vehicles of any kind. Nevertheless, even when it hits the higher finish of its valuation, it’ll nonetheless fall nicely shy of the most costly automobile ever auctioned. This was one other Mercedes of the identical period, a roadgoing 300 SLR ‘Uhlenhaut’ Coupe, which fetched $142m two years in the past.
The ‘Streamliner’ W196 vehicles, with their distinctive wheel-enclosing bodywork, had been favoured by Mercedes for the quickest tracks on the calendar. Fangio didn’t initially gel with the idea, famously denting the entrance of his automobile as he repeatedly struck the oil barrels which marked the within of Silverstone’s corners on the 1954 British Grand Prix.
However demonstrating Mercedes’ dedication to success, even after the corporate introduced its withdrawal from F1 in 1955, it nonetheless produced up to date variations of the ‘Streamliner’ for Fangio and Moss to make use of of their closing look at Monza. Fangio gained the race on the banked model of the circuit, Moss retiring with an engine drawback. After that, Mercedes didn’t return to F1 till 2010.
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Extra trendy F1 vehicles have offered for eight-figure sums lately. Lewis Hamilton’s first Mercedes, which he drove in 2013, offered for £15.1m final yr. The yr earlier than an ex-Michael Schumacher Ferrari from 2003 fetched over £12m.
Photos: Mercedes’ F1 vehicles of the fifties
Video: Fangio’s victory within the 1955 Italian Grand Prix
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