Ooh, you talk about Holy Grail... I cannot believe I finally have this piece in my collection. In case anyone here doesn't already know the story, here it is:
In 1955, Mercedes-Benz used their Formula One-champion W196 as inspiration for a new racer called the 300 SLR. The SLR dominated the international racing circuit that year, winning five of the six races that it entered, until it was instrumental in a really horrific crash at Le Mans which both ended its reign/existence and led Mercedes-Benz to withdraw from Motor Racing until 1989.
In the meantime, the creator and chief engineer of the 300 SLR, a man named Rudolf Uhlenhaut, had had two coupes built as prototypes with the same engines and specs as the racer - one of which was his daily driver for a number of years afterward. They were reportedly, at the time, the fastest road-going cars on the planet. They are the Uhlenhaut Coupes, the only two of their kind - they never went into production! Both of these cars had been perfectly preserved in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Collection in Stuttgart, Germany until May of 2022, when one of them was sold to a private collector for a grand sum of 135 million Euros, by far the most anybody has ever paid for an automobile. This makes the Uhlenhaut Coupe "officially" the world's most valuable car. (By the way, Mercedes-Benz has announced that they are going to use the proceeds "to establish a worldwide 'Mercedes-Benz Fund', which will provide educational and research scholarships in the areas of decarbonization and environmental science for young people", something I believe they should be commended for.)
As soon as the sale of the Uhlenhaut went through, the replicas started coming out. It was no surprise to me to see that CMC was leading the way here, and I had to hold out for their release with blue interior (red would not do!) I am thoroughly awestruck and humbled; this is by far the best model I've ever owned. CMC's craftsmanship is out of this world! I can hardly expound on all the details here! I'll begin with the immaculate cloth stiching on the plaid seats; the steering wheel done in wood and dashboard gauges/shifter outlined in chrome. The engine is the best I've ever seen on a model, hands down. The removeable plate covering the fender vent on the right side is magnetic! The air intake on the hood is metal mesh; the grille and the badging on the rear trunklid are done in chrome. The beautiful wire spoke wheels on this model are removeable, too, though I'll never touch them (don't trust myself!) The metal hinges on the doors, hood, and trunk (or bonnet/boot, if you will) are all perfect. The gullwing doors have always been a coveted feature of mine. And CMC even provided a little suction-cup opening tool!
The Uhlenhaut represents everything I love in a car: rare, exotic, fast as hell, and breathtakingly beautiful. It belongs on a pedestal in the clouds somewhere. This model, for obvious reasons, is not one that's easy to attain/afford. But if you can manage to get your hands on one, it is an absolute premium model of a premium vehicle. I CANNOT recommend it enough.
To drive the point home: two writers from a British magazine called 'Automotive Revue' took the Uhlenhaut for a 4AM jaunt on the Autobahn around Frankfurt, and one of them posted this afterward in his journal: "We are driving a car which barely takes a second to overtake the rest of the traffic, and for which 120 mph on a quiet motorway is little more than walking pace. With its unflappable handling through corners, it treats the laws of centrifugal force with apparent disdain."
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In 1955, Mercedes-Benz used their Formula One-champion W196 as inspiration for a new racer called the 300 SLR. The SLR dominated the international racing circuit that year, winning five of the six races that it entered, until it was instrumental in a really horrific crash at Le Mans which both ended its reign/existence and led Mercedes-Benz to withdraw from Motor Racing until 1989.
In the meantime, the creator and chief engineer of the 300 SLR, a man named Rudolf Uhlenhaut, had had two coupes built as prototypes with the same engines and specs as the racer - one of which was his daily driver for a number of years afterward. They were reportedly, at the time, the fastest road-going cars on the planet. They are the Uhlenhaut Coupes, the only two of their kind - they never went into production! Both of these cars had been perfectly preserved in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Collection in Stuttgart, Germany until May of 2022, when one of them was sold to a private collector for a grand sum of 135 million Euros, by far the most anybody has ever paid for an automobile. This makes the Uhlenhaut Coupe "officially" the world's most valuable car. (By the way, Mercedes-Benz has announced that they are going to use the proceeds "to establish a worldwide 'Mercedes-Benz Fund', which will provide educational and research scholarships in the areas of decarbonization and environmental science for young people", something I believe they should be commended for.)
As soon as the sale of the Uhlenhaut went through, the replicas started coming out. It was no surprise to me to see that CMC was leading the way here, and I had to hold out for their release with blue interior (red would not do!) I am thoroughly awestruck and humbled; this is by far the best model I've ever owned. CMC's craftsmanship is out of this world! I can hardly expound on all the details here! I'll begin with the immaculate cloth stiching on the plaid seats; the steering wheel done in wood and dashboard gauges/shifter outlined in chrome. The engine is the best I've ever seen on a model, hands down. The removeable plate covering the fender vent on the right side is magnetic! The air intake on the hood is metal mesh; the grille and the badging on the rear trunklid are done in chrome. The beautiful wire spoke wheels on this model are removeable, too, though I'll never touch them (don't trust myself!) The metal hinges on the doors, hood, and trunk (or bonnet/boot, if you will) are all perfect. The gullwing doors have always been a coveted feature of mine. And CMC even provided a little suction-cup opening tool!
The Uhlenhaut represents everything I love in a car: rare, exotic, fast as hell, and breathtakingly beautiful. It belongs on a pedestal in the clouds somewhere. This model, for obvious reasons, is not one that's easy to attain/afford. But if you can manage to get your hands on one, it is an absolute premium model of a premium vehicle. I CANNOT recommend it enough.
To drive the point home: two writers from a British magazine called 'Automotive Revue' took the Uhlenhaut for a 4AM jaunt on the Autobahn around Frankfurt, and one of them posted this afterward in his journal: "We are driving a car which barely takes a second to overtake the rest of the traffic, and for which 120 mph on a quiet motorway is little more than walking pace. With its unflappable handling through corners, it treats the laws of centrifugal force with apparent disdain."
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