A MERCEDES named after an F1 icon with just 27 miles on the clock is tipped to sell for £3.2million.
The barely driven speedster was built as a limited edition McLaren in tribute to British racing legend Stirling Moss‘ astonishing 1955 Mille Miglia triumph.
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The rarest and final variant of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren – it is one of only 75 units ever made.
The vehicle is finished in the metallic shade of crystal antimon grey over a black and anthracite leather interior with complementing Silver Arrow leather 300 SL red accents.
It features a carbon fibre monocoque powered by a 5.4-litre supercharged V-8 rated at 641 horsepower mated to a five-speed automatic transmission.
“A staggering 32-minute winning margin achieved on public roads ahead of his team-mate and eventual five-time Formula 1 World Champion, Juan Manuel Fangio, ensures that the late Sir Stirling Moss lays claim to arguably the single-most celebrated event victory in motorsport history,” states the listing.
“His utter domination of the 1955 edition of the fearsome Mille Miglia road race also helped the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR he piloted that day, decorated with the race number ‘722’, earn a reputation as ostensibly the most valuable car in the world.
“As such, when the Stuttgart marque partnered with McLaren and revisited the ‘SLR’ name for its 2000s flagship supercar, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, it was only fitting that the model line should bow out with a tribute to Moss’ finest hour (or 10!) behind the wheel.
“Unveiled to the public at the 2009 North American International Motor Show, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss was ahead of its time as a modern take on a speedster, arriving more than a decade before Ferrari debuted the Monza SP1 and SP2, McLaren released the Elva, and Aston Martin launched its V12 Speedster and DBR22 models.
“Production of the Stirling Moss variant was limited to 75 units that were only available to existing owners that had bought an SLR McLaren, which was chiefly designed by the great Gordon Murray.”
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss OBE was a British Formula One driver.
An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several different motorsports competitions.
He has been described as “the greatest driver never to win the Formula One World Championship“.
In a seven-year span between 1955 and 1961, Moss finished in second place four times and in third place three times.
The listing continued: “Losing the windscreen and roof, while gaining restyled carbon fibre body panels, helped shed some 200 kilograms.
“Yet the engine bay still housed a 5.4-litre, supercharged V-8 that fired 641 horsepower to the rear wheels to enable a 3.5-second launch to 100 km/h and a claimed 354 km/h top speed.
Who was Sir Stirling Moss?
STIRLING MOSS lived his life in the fast lane.
One of the most iconic racing drivers of his age, Moss was an inductee to the Motorsport Hall of Fame and active from 1948 to 1962, with Top Gear paying tribute to him in October 2020.
Moss rose to fame following the Second World War and began his racing career in 1948.
His father was an amateur racer and had competed in the Indianapolis 500, although Albert wanted young Stirling to follow in his footsteps and become a dentist.
But racing was where his passion lay and Moss soon demonstrated his ability with numerous wins at national and international level.
He won a total of 212 of the 529 races he entered in his 14-year career, with his first Formula One triumph at the 1955 British Grand Prix.
Leading a clean-sweep for Mercedes, Moss’ victory at Aintree was the first ever home GP triumph by a British driver.
In his F1 career, Moss would go on to take 16 chequered flags, while appearing on the podium 24 times.
His last foray in Formula One came at the 1951 US Grand Prix, where he was forced to retire from the race despite starting at No3 on the grid.
And his professional racing career was all but ended in 1962 following a crash at Goodwood which put him in a coma.
He did however continue to race in historic cars and legend events for more than thirty years.
Moss was born in West Kensington on September 17, 1929 and was knighted in 2000.
At the time of his death in April 2020, he was 90 years old.
“The example offered here represents a remarkable opportunity to acquire an SLR McLaren Stirling Moss that shows minimal usage, with the odometer displaying a staggeringly low 45 kilometres at the time of cataloguing.
“Built in October 2009 and delivered the following February, this car was ordered to Germany and specified with the special-order metallic shade of Crystal Antimon Grey, while the paired-back interior was configured with Black and Anthracite hide complemented by optional Silver Arrow Leather 300 SL Red.
“Today, the car presents in virtually-as-new condition and is accompanied by its original owner’s guides.
“The careful preservation of this car’s low mileage presents this SLR McLaren Stirling Moss as an incredible chance to celebrate one of the most significant chapters of Mercedes-Benz racing history with a car that would be welcome at any discerning concours event.”
The car is hitting the auction block at RM Sothebys.
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