The 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed just gave the world’d most expensive car ever auctioned last week, with a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 being hammered at $29.6 million (£17,5 million).
Auctioned off at a Bonhams sale on Friday, the German race car, which was driven by Formula One legend Juan Manuel Fangio in 1954, smashed the record set by a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa in 2011 at $16.4m (£10.8m).
Why was it so expensive you may ask? Well, using this car Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1954 German and Swiss Grand Prix races, and later his second F1 Drivers’ Championship. The single-seater is powered by a 2.5-liter straight-eight fuel-injected engine and features an all-independent suspension and a tubular space-frame chassis design, all of which were considered innovative back in the 1950s.
Scroll below to watch two videos captured at the historic sale that took place at Goodwood last week.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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