Photo credit: Prayitno / 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196, Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 .
Photo credit: Prayitno / 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196, Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.
It is not every day that a single car can remind the world why F1 is more than just speed, this year at Mercedes in Stuttgart, one of the rarest F1 car changed hands, and made history.
It was the 1954 Mercedes W196R streamliner, it was driven by legends like Fangio and Stirling Moss, and it was sold for $53.9 Million USD.
The moment the hammer dropped this silver masterpiece, became the most valuable racing car ever sold, setting a new benchmark for F1 auction records and ranking as the second most expensive car ever sold at public auction, the number one stands Mercedes 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe.
A Machine Born From Mercedes Dominance
However the W196R is more than a car, it represents the rebirth of Mercedes Benz, it was built for 1954 and 1955 F1 seasons, it was designed to dominate, powered by a straight-eight engine and wrapped in bodywork that looked more like an aircraft than a race car.
The car that was sold this year is rare version, one of only a handful ever produced, its history reads like a highlight reel of racing excellence.
Fangio drove it to victory in Argentine, a key result that paved his path toward his third world title.
Later that season, Moss set the fastest lap at Monza in the very same car during the Italian GP, to think that both, two icons, once sat in the same cockpit adds an almost mythical quality to this car.
From the Track to a Museum Treasure
Mercedes gifted this car to the Indianapolis museum in 1965 for almost sixty years, the car rested there and was admired by fans and historians as one of the crown jewels of F1’s golden age.
Its long stay in Indianapolis helped preserve it in remarkable condition, a time capsule from the days when racing was raw, dangerous and deeply human.
When news broke that the museum was parting with 11 cars from its collection, including this one, collectors around the world knew they were looking at a once in a lifetime opportunity!
When RM Sotheby’s finally put the Streamliner under the spotlight in Stuttgart, bidding quickly climbed millions, and when it finally stopped at over $53 million, it was the moment a legend found a new chapter!
Following the Path of Another Record Breaker
This is not the first time a Mercedes W196R had stunned the auction world, back in 2013, another version driven by Fangio was sold by Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of speed.
It was sold for $29.6 million at the time and set a world record for any car sold at public auction, that record stood proudly for more than a decade until the Streamliner sale in 2025 pushed the bar into uncharted territory.
Modern Legends in the Auction Spotlight
The W196R now leads a small but elite group of F1 car that have reached astronomical values at auction, in recent years, several modern cars have joined the list like Lewis Hamilton’s 2013 Mercedes AMG F1 W04, which fetched nearly $18.8 million in 2023, also the Schumacher Ferrari F2001 in 2025 in May for just $18 million.
Earlier than F2001, it was the F2003-GA who was holding the record for three years for Ferrari cars, sold in 2022 in Geneva.
Why so expensive?
Having an F1 car at home, built by hands is something unique and it makes even more expensive, and the sale of the Mercedes W196R streamliner is more than a financial milestone, it is a celebration of racing heritage.
Its sleek and silver shape once symbolized a new era for Mercedes,now decades later it has become the symbol of timeless value. The W196R was born to win races but in 2025, it won something greater, immortality!
