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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThe most expensive car with a documented public auction result is the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé. It sold for €135 million on 5 May 2022. Guinness World Records gives the same transaction’s US-dollar equivalent as $142,769,250, including buyer’s premium—not a second sale price. This article focuses on documented public auction sales; it does not combine private-sale reports, asking prices, or new-car prices with auction results.
A fully verified, consistently ranked top 100 cannot be established from the available primary-source results. Rather than imply a definitive order that the evidence does not support, the guide below explains the record, presents notable verified auction results with their proper categories, and sets out what a reliable 100-car ranking would need to disclose.
What is the most expensive car ever sold at auction?
The record belongs to the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, sold for €135 million at the Mercedes-Benz Museum on 5 May 2022. Mercedes-Benz says the sale was conducted in cooperation with RM Sotheby’s and describes the car as one of two prototypes. The car had remained in the manufacturer’s collection since its creation. Mercedes-Benz’s announcement and RM Sotheby’s sale report give the €135 million figure.
Guinness World Records reports $142,769,250 including premium as the US-dollar equivalent. It is the same transaction expressed in another currency. Guinness’s page has an inconsistent date display: its narrative gives 5 May 2022, while the structured page also shows 3 May. Mercedes-Benz and RM Sotheby’s identify 5 May as the sale date.
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Why this result is exceptional
This was not a routine open-market listing. The invitee-only sale took place at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, involved a car held by the manufacturer, and concerned one of just two prototypes. Mercedes-Benz said proceeds would seed its beVisioneers global fellowship initiative. Those circumstances help explain why the result stands apart from ordinary collector-car auctions; they do not make the auction price comparable to a private deal or a new-car sticker price.
Notable documented auction results—and what their records mean
The results below are useful reference points, not a complete top-100 list or a fully comparable price table. The sources provided do not consistently establish whether every figure includes buyer’s premium, so each amount is reported as stated by its source rather than presented as a uniform all-in total.
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| Car and result | Sale amount and date | What the source establishes |
|---|---|---|
| 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé | €135 million, 5 May 2022; Guinness gives $142,769,250 including premium as the USD equivalent. | Overall public-auction record in the cited sources. Sold at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in cooperation with RM Sotheby’s. Mercedes-Benz; Guinness World Records. |
| 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO | $48,405,000, 2018. | RM Sotheby’s described this as the most valuable car ever sold at auction at the time. It is a historical record claim, not the current overall record. RM Sotheby’s. |
| 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Competizione | $25,305,000, August 2025. | Gooding Christie’s described the result at Pebble Beach as a house record and a model record, not the overall auction record. Gooding Christie’s. |
| Ferrari Luce “Tailor Made” | $40 million, August 2026. | RM Sotheby’s called this the most valuable new car sold at auction. It was a charity lot benefiting The Ferrari Foundation, so it is a new-car category record rather than the overall car auction record. RM Sotheby’s. |
The 2026 Monterey results also included $34.655 million for a 1996 McLaren F1 GTR and $18.705 million for a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, according to RM Sotheby’s. These are reported auction results, not evidence that either car outranks every other auction sale under a consistently defined top-100 methodology.
Why a definitive top 100 needs more than a list of prices
There is no single supplied primary-source table that establishes the 100 highest results on one comparable basis. Auction houses publish results across different platforms and currencies, and record claims can refer to an overall result, a marque, a model, a new car, or one auction house’s own sales. A ranked list that omits those distinctions can make a true but narrow record sound like an overall one.
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Set the price basis
State the original currency and sale date for each result, and say whether the amount is the hammer price or includes buyer’s premium. If a conversion is included, identify it as approximate or quote the source’s published conversion and explain its basis. Guinness’s dollar figure for the Uhlenhaut Coupé is explicitly premium-inclusive.
Keep sale types separate
A documented public auction result is not interchangeable with a reported private sale, a seller’s asking price, a new-car MSRP, or proceeds from a charity lot. Charity proceeds can also affect how a result is described: RM Sotheby’s calls the Ferrari Luce a new-car auction record, while its charitable purpose remains material context.
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Define repeat sales and inflation treatment
A car can appear in the auction record more than once. A ranking must state whether it counts each transaction or only each individual automobile’s highest verified result. It must also say whether prices are nominal or adjusted for inflation. The cited figures here are reported sale amounts, not an inflation-adjusted comparison.
Verify every entry against the auction result
A secondary compilation can help identify possible candidates, but a publication-ready ranking should confirm each lot against the auction house’s own result page and preserve the source’s exact record category. CLASSIC.COM’s public auction results compilation is a discovery aid, not a substitute for that verification.
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What 2026 Monterey figures do—and do not—show
RM Sotheby’s reported that its 2026 Monterey auction comprised 199 lots, had a 90% sell-through rate, included 69 cars sold for more than $1 million, and set more than 45 auction records. These figures describe that company’s event, not the entire collector-car market. They show how active a major auction can be, but do not establish a market-wide ranking of the most expensive cars.
Quick Recap
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