What’s the most valuable Grand Prix car ever sold? This 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen. The winning bid at the recent RM Sotheby’s auction? €51,155,000.
Why so valuable? Well, it’s the first Streamliner-bodied W 196 R ever offered for private ownership. Only …
Dang.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Wikipedia says it's now the second most expensive car sold at auction, behind the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe that sold in 2022 for $143,000,000.
Inboard drums?! Straight 8? This thing is crazy.
In reply to iansane :
Having run both supercharged inline eight-cylinder and V-12 engines during the interwar period, the racing department had several options to test, and eventually concluded that a straight-eight configuration displacing 2,494 cubic centimeters would deliver the most consistent power. Designed around a complex Hirth roller-bearing crankshaft, the engine was essentially two four-cylinder motors in unison, with two camshafts for each intake and exhaust. This jewel of an engine was equipped with racing components like dual ignition and dry-sump lubrication while featuring revolutionary desmodromic valve gear instead of standard valve springs; and Bosch high-pressure direct fuel injection that guaranteed reliable and smooth power application. Source
I spied the injection pump and had to do some googling.
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