A Mercedes will likely be supplied at public sale this 12 months which might smash the report for costliest Formulation 1 automobile ever.
The 1955 W196R in uncommon ‘Streamliner’ configuration will likely be bought this autumn. The automobile is one among a number of being bought by RM Sotheby’s for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway “as a part of an ongoing technique to assist 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 12 months. Juan Manuel Fangio scored eight wins of their vehicles, accumulating 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 report for costliest F1 automobile when it bought for £19.6 million on the Goodwood Competition of Pace in July 2013. A spokesperson for Sotheby’s informed 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 report for costliest F1 machine and place the W196R ‘Streamliner’ among the many most useful vehicles of any sort. Nevertheless, even when it hits the higher finish of its valuation, it is going to nonetheless fall properly shy of the costliest 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, have 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 last look at Monza. Fangio gained the race on the banked model of the circuit, Moss retiring with an engine downside. After that, Mercedes didn’t return to F1 till 2010.
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Extra fashionable F1 vehicles have bought for eight-figure sums in recent times. Lewis Hamilton’s first Mercedes, which he drove in 2013, bought for £15.1m final 12 months. The 12 months earlier than an ex-Michael Schumacher Ferrari from 2003 fetched over £12m.
Footage: Mercedes’ F1 vehicles of the fifties
Video: Fangio’s victory within the 1955 Italian Grand Prix
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