RM Sotheby's sold a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen for $52.6 million, second only to a $142 million car the house sold in 2022.

Collectors are crazy, and when a car pops up that no one else has ever owned in a private collection it attracts the heavy hitters. We’ve already seen it play

RM Sotheby’s held a standalone, single-vehicle auction to sell the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R Stromlinienwagen at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. The hammer fell at $53,017,370 (€51,155,000), making this the second-most expensive car ever to cross the auction block at a public sale.

The Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen became the second most expensive auction car of all time after selling for $53 million this past weekend.

The Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Streamliner, a rare Formula 1 race car from 1955, was auctioned for $53.9 million, becoming the second most expensive car ever sold.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is selling a selection of rare cars to raise funds for renovations, and it won't have any trouble generating cash, as its 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Monza Streamliner just sold for nearly $54 million courtesy of RM Sotheby's.

There’s more than one reason why this 1954 Mercedes Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen is the most valuable Grand Prix car ever sold. Not only was it the first Streamliner-bodied W 196 R ever offered for private ownership,