The 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Streamliner could bring $70 million.
RM Sotheby¡¯s photoThe Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Museum plans to sell 11 highly valuable cars from its storied collection.?
They include a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM (winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965) and a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Streamliner once driven by Formula One legends Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio will be sold via RM Sotheby¡¯s, along with the other nine vehicles,? at various company venues this year and in 2025. The Mercedes alone is valued at up to US$70 million, making it one of the most valuable cars in the world.?
A detail of the Mercedes, showing its plaid upholstery. (RM Sotheby¡¯s photo)
RM Sotheby¡¯s photoThe sale is to help shore up the Indianapolis museum¡¯s long-term prospects, Kara Kovert Pray, vice president of advancement at the museum, tells?Penta.
¡°These cars, including the two amazing works of art with, obviously, more of a headline to them, have been part of our collection for many years,¡± Pray says. ¡°But they don¡¯t meet the mission of our museum. We¡¯re here to celebrate the Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. The funds raised will go into an endowment for the collection, and we¡¯ll use the interest to make acquisitions and provide upkeep for the remaining cars¡ªaround 120 of them.¡±
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The W196, on display in California during Monterey Car Week, was a donation from Mercedes-Benz in 1965, and the Ferrari was acquired by the museum in 1972 from noted collector Kirk F. White, Pray says.?
Joe Hale, president of the museum, told the Indianapolis Business Journal, that the sale of the trophy cars offers a unique opportunity ¡°to create a situation that is going to almost guarantee the future of the museum.¡±
¡°These are cars that a lot of people didn¡¯t think would ever come to market,¡± says Ethan Gibson, director of communications at RM Sotheby¡¯s.
¡°The W196 was raced by Fangio and Moss, and converted to a streamliner body in period,¡± Gibson says. ¡°It¡¯s one of the most significant and beautiful cars ever, and it¡¯s up there in importance with the Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut [which sold for US$143 million in 2022]. The Ferrari won first overall at Le Mans in 1965, and it competed in that race three times. It¡¯s top of the top.¡± RM Sotheby¡¯s did not provide a pre-sale estimate for the Ferrari or other cars aside from the W196 Benz.?
This storied Ferrari 250 LM won Le Mans in 1965.
RM Sotheby¡¯s photoThe Mercedes-Benz was raced by Fangio at an event in Buenos Aires in 1954. Moss ran it with the later streamliner bodywork at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Moss set the fastest lap time at that race, earning him a point toward the World Drivers¡¯ Championship. The Benz was then used as a practice and test car by the company before the museum donation. Obviously, both cars have appreciated hugely since they were acquired.?
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The Mercedes W196 will be sold in Stuttgart, Germany, with a date pending, Gibson says. The aforementioned 300 SLR was also sold there¡ªat the Mercedes-Benz museum. ¡°This will be a more public event than the Uhlenhaut sale,¡± he says. The locations and venues for the other Indianapolis cars will be announced later.?
Inside the all-business Ferrari racer.
RM Sotheby¡¯s photoThe other cars being sold are a varied lot. A 1966 Ford GT40 MK II was raced by Holman-Moody at Sebring in 1966, finishing second. It then was entered at Le Mans that year as one of three Ford/Holman Moody cars. Driven by Mark Donohue and Paul Hawkins, it retired with differential problems, but GT40s took the top three positions, a win celebrated in the 2019 film?Ford vs. Ferrari.?
The 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP64 was magnesium-bodied and, according to RM Sotheby¡¯s, was ¡°Chevrolet¡¯s first purpose-built race car.¡± Only two were built, the other one being a prototype. The SS competed at Sebring in 1957, with drivers John Fitch and Piero Taruffi. That would prove its only race, as a ban on motor racing was enacted a few weeks after Sebring by the Automobile Manufacturers Association. The car was donated to the Indianapolis museum in the late 1960s.?
Craig Breedlove¡¯s Sonic One set the land-speed record five times, achieving a fastest speed of 600.601 mph. Breedlove¡¯s wife, Lee, set a women¡¯s speed record of 308.56 mph in the car.?
The 1928 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix was believed to have been raced by the factory early on. It was sold to Romanian racing driver Georges Bouriano in 1930, then it went through several owners before a donation to the museum in 1960. A 1911 Mercedes 22/40 ¡°Colonial Car¡± Touring is an imposing chain-driven example built for use in South America. It retains its original Sindelfingen coachwork and is largely original. And a 1911 Laurin & Klement racer was ¡°likely the first car every to incorporate active aerodynamics,¡± RM Sotheby¡¯s says.
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The other cars are a 1908 Mercedes Brookland-Semmering Rennwagen, built for the sport of hill climbing; a 1991 Benetton B191 Formula One car driven by Michael Schumacher in 1992; and a 1907 Italia that is an early example of a Grand Prix car. It is believed to be one of only three of these cars that still exists, and it was acquired by the museum in the mid-1960s.?
The Speedway museum was opened in 1956, and originally had only 12 cars on display. Today, it has more than 55,000 artifacts in addition to its vehicle collection.?