Last week there were rumors that Mercedes-Benz sold one of the two 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupes ever made in what would be the most expensive sale of a car of all time. The German automaker officially confirmed the sale of the rare car to a private collector for 135 million euros or about $143 million. The money will serve as capital for a new Mercedes Benz Fund.

Less than a dozen collectors of art and automobiles were invited to Germany to participate in the auction which was held in early May. Mercedes required the buyer to display the car at events and special occasions, not just keep it locked away in a secret garage.

The record sale beats the previous holder by almost double the amount. Before Mercedes, the highest sale went to a Ferran GTO which sold for $80 million in a private auction and on another occasion in 2018, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO had gone for $48 million.

Named after Daimler-Benz’s motorsport Chief Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the vehicle had a top speed of 180 mph which was the fastest road car in the world at the time. Only two units of the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupes were built with one of them being the namesakes daily driver. The car sold was called “The Red One,” due to its red interior, while “The Blue One” will remain in Mercedes’ possession and continue to be displayed at the museum.

Mercedes will use the money from the record sale to start a Fund that will support research and education scholarships focused around sustainability. There will be two sections of the Fund , one will fund school scholarships focusing on students working on local environmental projects while the second one will be university scholarships focused on higher-education students conducting environmental science projects. Mercedes will partner with a third party to manage the Fund, however, details about the partner will be revealed later this year. 

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