A 1955 Mercedes just nabbed $143 million at auction, making it the most expensive car ever sold

The most expensive car ever sold was an ultra-rare Mercedes-Benz race car.

The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe was auctioned off for 135 million euros. The previous record for the most expensive car sold at auction was more than $90 million and the previous record for a car sold privately was more than $70 million.

Simon Kidston made the winning bid on behalf of an unnamed client. Kidston tried to get the Mercedes-Benz board to sell the car.

The sale took place at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Germany on May 5. Only selected Mercedes-Benz customers were invited to the event.

The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut is one of the most prized cars in auto history and was created in 1955. The Mercedes race department named it after its chief engineer and designer.

The car was based on the W 196 R Grand Prix car, which won two World Championships with driver Juan Manuel Fangio. One of the fastest road-legal cars at the time was the 300 SLR, which had a 3.0-liter engine and was able to reach 180 mph.

The Mercedes-Benz company owned both of the 300 SLR cars, and the May 5 sale took many collectors by surprise.

It is reasonable to say that nobody ever imagined that this car would ever be offered for sale, so for Mercedes-Benz to ask the auction house to conduct the sale was an honor.

Mercedes-Benz will donate the proceeds to create a fund for scholarships and educational research into the environment and decarbonization.

The most expensive car sold at an auction was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that went for $48.5 million. A 1963 Ferrari GTO was sold for $70 million.