300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé

STORY

The 300 SLR of 1955 was derived from the dominant W196 grand prix car and was a very successful racing car. It was also at the centre of one of motorsport's darkest days. Its best moment came at the Mille Miglia, where Stirling Moss, with journalist Denis Jenkinson reading pace notes from a roll, averaged nearly 100 mph over 1,000 miles of open Italian roads and won by more than half an hour. The car's number, 722, became famous.

Weeks later, at the 1955 Le Mans, Pierre Levegh's 300 SLR was thrown into the crowd in a catastrophic accident that killed more than 80 spectators. Mercedes was leading the race; it withdrew its cars out of respect and, at the end of the season, left motorsport completely for over three decades.

Two coupé versions, the Uhlenhaut Coupés, survive and are among the most valuable cars in the world.