10 extraordinary cars that made auction history

Only two Uhlenhaut Coupés were built, turning a racing programme into a closed car with dramatic gullwing doors. Mercedes-Benz retained both for decades before this exceptional sale to a private collector. The company and RM Sotheby’s announced a €135 million result in 2022, with the proceeds intended to support an educational scholarship programme. The result records an unusual opportunity to acquire a car that had not normally been available to private buyers; it is not a price guide for other classic Mercedes-Benz models.

The streamlined body makes this W 196 R look quite different from an exposed-wheel Grand Prix car. It belongs to Mercedes-Benz’s return to top-level racing in the 1950s, when specialised bodywork and engineering were developed for the demands of particular circuits. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum offered the car through RM Sotheby’s in Stuttgart in 2025, where it sold for €51,155,000. Its museum history and competition significance help explain why the opportunity mattered well beyond the usual market for historic road cars.

Chassis 3765 has a more complicated history than the familiar GTO name first suggests. RM Sotheby’s documents its Ferrari factory competition career and later conversion to 250 GTO specification, making the sequence of changes part of the car’s identity. Its dedicated 2023 New York sale produced US$51,705,000. The chassis number is essential here: collectors were bidding for this car and its documented past, not simply for any example wearing similar Scaglietti bodywork or the same famous badge.

This GTO’s history includes an in-period change to the later Series II body style. RM Sotheby’s records a substantial competition career, including the 1962 Italian GT Championship and class victories at the Targa Florio. Chassis 3413 GT sold in Monterey in 2018 for US$48,405,000. It illustrates why originality is not always as simple as asking whether a car looks exactly as it did on its first day: documented changes made during a working racing career can themselves be historically important.

Another GTO, another distinct record. Bonhams identifies this Berlinetta by chassis and engine number 3851 GT and records its US$38,115,000 result, including premium, at the 2014 Quail Lodge sale. The car’s competition and ownership history belong to this particular example. Comparing its result with the other GTOs above is useful, but the sales took place at different times and involved different histories. A shared model name does not make them interchangeable objects or turn the results into a dependable price trend.

Chassis 0674 began its factory career as a 315 S before receiving a larger engine and becoming a 335 S. Its documented history includes second place in the 1957 Mille Miglia with Wolfgang von Trips and a Le Mans appearance with Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso. Artcurial sold the car from the Pierre Bardinon collection in 2016 for €32,075,200. The attraction combines a striking open body with a traceable connection to several important drivers and races, rather than resting on rarity alone.

The 412P belongs to the era when Ferrari’s sports prototypes contested long-distance races against powerful international rivals. Chassis 0854 was associated with Maranello Concessionaires and is one of the cars built as a 412P from the outset. Its sculpted body makes the aerodynamic ambitions of that period visible. Bonhams recorded US$30,255,000, including premium, at its 2023 Quail sale. For a buyer, the appeal was a surviving piece of that competition history, with the chassis identity and documentation giving substance to the beautiful shape.

This W196R is the exposed-wheel Grand Prix car sold by Bonhams at Goodwood in 2013, distinct from the streamlined example higher in the selection. The catalogue connects chassis 00006/54 with Juan Manuel Fangio and Mercedes-Benz’s 1954 championship season. Its £19,601,500 result included the buyer’s premium. The comparison between the two Mercedes-Benz entries shows why bodywork, chassis identity and racing history need to stay attached to each price: a model designation on its own cannot describe the object that changed hands.

Ferrari built the 290 MM for the demanding sports-car races of the 1950s, and chassis 0626 was driven by Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1956 Mille Miglia. RM Sotheby’s catalogue follows its wider competition career and later ownership, including decades in the Pierre Bardinon collection. The car achieved US$28,050,000 in New York in 2015. Its appeal brings together a purpose-built racing machine and a documented association with one of the sport’s defining drivers, rather than relying on the Ferrari name alone.

The N.A.R.T. Spider turns the four-cam 275 into an open car, one of only ten built in this configuration. Chassis 10709 was purchased new by Eddie Smith Sr. and remained with his family before its 2013 Monterey sale. RM Sotheby’s records a US$27,500,000 result and the family’s intention to benefit charity with the proceeds. Its story combines scarcity with unusually long ownership, showing how the history of the people who kept a car can matter alongside its engineering and appearance.