Mercedes and McLaren built just 75 examples of the Mercedes SLR McLaren Stirling Moss, making it the rarest SLR, and auction house Bonhams is now selling the last of the 75 built.
Photo: Bonhams
Britain’s Stirling Moss, who died in April 2020 at the age of 90, was for a long time a Mercedes factory driver. Although he was never a Formula 1 world champion, Sir Stirling Moss enjoyed great acclaim from Mercedes, which built two special series of the Mercedes SLR McLaren:
– SLR 722 of which 321 examples were built (150 coupe and roadster versions and 21 non-road legal racing cars).
– Stirling Moss which is the rarest, with only 75 built.
Both series recall Stirling Moss’ victory at the wheel of a Mercedes 300 SLR number 722 in the 1955 Mille Miglia race, which he won in 10:07.48 minutes, setting an average speed record of 157.651 km/h.
If the SLR 722 had only minor changes from the production model and a supercharged V8 engine with a mechanical supercharger developing 650 PS instead of 626 PS in the production model, the SLR Stirling Moss was a radically changed SLR.
Korean designer Yoon Il-Un took a radical styling approach and the SLR Stirling Moss had no roof, windshield, or side windows and looked very much like the 1955 racing car. The 5.4-liter supercharged V8 engine with mechanical supercharger developed 650 PS as in the SLR 722, but thanks to the extensive use of carbon fiber and the ditching of the roof and windshield, it weighed 1,620 kg, 200 kg less than the production version.
It also had a firmer suspension and sharper steering. The SLR Stirling Moss reached a top speed of 354 kph and accelerated from 0 to 100 kph in just 3.5 seconds.
The SLR Stirling Moss was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2009 and cost €892,500 at launch. All 75 examples were built in 2009 and Bonhams is auctioning the last of the 75 series, which obviously bears the number 75, and was built just before Christmas 2009 and delivered to a customer in Switzerland on December 22, 2009, who registered it in the canton of Vaud on March 16, 2010.
He ordered his car with a special bright red color code 000U, but also with some unique options such as gold-painted brake calipers, a red leather interior known as “Silver Arrow” with yellow stitching, and wide driver and passenger seats.
However, the eccentric owner, who is a VIP customer of Mercedes and Aston Martin models, did not enjoy the car too much as the odometer only shows 50 kilometers driven. Bonhams says the vehicle is in mint condition and has recently undergone a thorough inspection by British specialist Stratton Motor Company.
The car comes with original paperwork which includes the original duplicate of the invalidated Swiss registration, a copy of the Mercedes-Benz Certificate of Conformity (COC), and the original leather folder with the manuals.
Bonhams is hoping to get between €1.5 million and €2 million for the model, almost double the original price.
The car will be sold at The Zoute sale auction in Belgium on October 6, 2024.
The opportunity to buy such a model is quite rare given the exclusivity of the Stirling Moss SLR. The 75 customers have been carefully selected by Mercedes and McLaren and have been chosen only from among loyal customers and known collectors.
