This Incredibly Rare Mercedes Streamliner Is Going to Auction

• The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum partnered with RM Sotheby’s to auction some incredible cars.
• Most important is this extremely rare Mercedes-Benz W196 Streamliner.
• Also coming up for sale are the 1966 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 250 LM, a Ford GT40 MkII, and a number of important pre-War cars.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has an extraordinary collection that extends beyond Indy cars. However, it wants to refocus its efforts on collecting cars that raced at the Speedway, so it’s thinning the herd a bit. The cars its selling, in partnership with RM Sotheby’s are extraordinary.

Perhaps none more so than this 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Streamliner. With standard open-wheel bodywork, Juan Manuel Fangio ran this car in a non-championship Formula 1 race in 1954, and with the sleek body you see here, it was campaigned by Stirling Moss in the 1955 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Sir Stirling set the fastest lap of the race, and though he retired, Fangio won the race in the sister car. It was Mercedes’ last streamliner. RM Sotheby’s estimates it will sell for between $50 and $70 million, which is a bargain compared to the $143 million 300 SLR “Ulenhaut” coupe, the world’s most expensive car. 

Then, there’s the Ferrari 250LM that won Le Mans in 1965, the last for the automaker until its stunning comeback with the 499P last year. At Le Mans, it was campaigned by Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team and driven to victory by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt. The car went on to run at Le Mans twice more, and at the Daytona 24 Hours four times in its racing career. It’s one of the most significant Ferraris ever made, and while RM doesn’t have a price estimate, it might not be far off the Mercedes.

Also coming up for sale are a 1966 Ford GT40 that placed second at Sebring and ran at Le Mans in 1966, though it retired early on. Because of its short racing career, RM Sotheby’s believes it’s one of the most original GT40s in existence. There’s also an ex-Michael Schumacher Bennetton B91B, a rare 1957 Corvette racing protoype, and a handful of very significant pre-War race cars.

RM Sotheby’s hasn’t announced sale dates yet, but it says the cars will be auctioned later this year and into next year. The goal of the sale, per a statement, is for the IMS Museum to “to increase its endowment and long-term financial sustainability, enhance the restoration and care of its collection, and acquire new artifacts that reflect a more comprehensive history of the Indianapolis 500 and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.” Given the sale of the Mercedes alone, it should have no trouble achieving these aims.