BENZ BLITZES TO $85 MILLION

The first price point for car sales in 2025 has been set and it is far, far, far, up and away from $13,990 drive-away with no more to pay.

It's more than $85 million.

That's the price paid by a super-wealthy collector for a car called the Monza Streamliner – a result that makes it comfortably the world's costliest grand prix racer and the second-most-valuable car in motoring history.

The fully-faired Mercedes-Benz W196 has just gone under the hammer in Stuttgart, Germany, with bidding soaring to 51,155,000 Euros, or more than $85 million.

It was the only lot in the first of a series of RM Sotheby's auctions of clearance cars from the museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and will soon be followed by the Ferrari 250LM that won the Le Mans 24-Hour in 1965.

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Officially known as the W196 R Stromlinienwagen, with chassis number 00009/54, it is a grand prix car converted with streamlined bodywork draped over the open-wheeler chassis used by Mercedes to dominate Formula One in 1954 and 1955.

Its drivers were legendary racer Juan-Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss.

Although the price was high, it was not much more than half of the costliest car of all time.

That, too, is a Mercedes-Benz – the 300 SLR Uhlenhat Coupe road car.

It sold in 2022 for 135 million Euros, or $141.8 million.

Despite the outrageous price, there was solid bidding for the streamliner in the sale room and also from telephone and internet hopefuls.

"It’s hard to describe the significance of this sale. This car is simply one of the most important racing cars in history," says Gord Duff, global head of auctions at RM Sotheby's.

"The sum it has achieved today is a transformative contribution to increase our endowment and long-term sustainability as well as the restoration and expansion of our collection," says Joe Hale, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.