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| Rudolf Uhlenhaut with the 300 SRL Coupe |
If you have a fabulous collection of classic cars but you need to find that one car that is just impossible to find, something that might make your friends GTO look plain, chance are you might ring Simon Kidston.
Why? Because he's the kind of person so connected in the "priceless rolling sculpture" trade that the Mercedes Museum calls up and offers a drive in what is most likely the world's most valuable car. I say most likely because Mercedes is certainly never going to sell this one, one of just two in existence.
This race car was never raced, it was supposed to compete in the 1956 season but Mercedes withdrew from competition ofter the Le Mans disaster of 1955. The last time Mercedes ever allowed anyone outside of the company to drive the 300 SLR Coupe was in 1954 when they allowed a Swiss car magazine to drive it at 4 am on the autobahn. At the time the magazine, Automobil Revue recorded a top speed of just over 176 mph.
The Mercedes 300 SLR "Uhlenhaut" Coupe after designer Rudolf Uhlenhaut is the closed version of the famous SLR driven by Moss at the 1955 Mille Miglia. It is a front mid engined, three liter desmodromic valve straight eight, magnesium alloy bodied coupe based on the W196 Formula 1 car. Weighing just under 2000 lbs it is rated at just over 300 hp. After Mercedes abandoned racing, this car became the designer's company car, he suffered from hearing loss later in life. Priceless and amazingly loud, I wonder where the other one is?
