A 1955 Mercedes raced by Formula One greats Juan Manuel Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss has sold at auction for €51.15 million (£42.7 million), setting a new record for a grand prix car.

The rare, streamlined silver W196 R Stromlinienwagen, one of only four complete examples in existence, was the last grand prix car built by Mercedes until 2010 as the German manufacturer withdrew from motorsport at the end of the 1955 season following the Le Mans 24 Hours disaster which killed 83 spectators and injured around 120 more.

It was sold by RM Sotheby’s at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).

The car had a price estimate of more than €50 million and the bidding rapidly reached €40 million in €5 million increments but eased off before a final hammer figure of €46.5 million. The final price includes the buyers’ premium. The buyer was not immediately named.

The final price fell a long way short of the record for costliest car ever sold at auction, which was a 1955 Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé that changed hands for €135 million in May 2022.

The most expensive grand prix car previously sold at auction was another car of Fangio’s, a Mercedes W196 from 1954, which fetched $29.6 million at Goodwood, England, in 2013. The IMS car was the first W196 R to become available for private ownership with the streamlined body fitted.

The car was driven to victory by the five-time world champion Fangio at the non-championship Buenos Aires grand prix in 1955, but with a more conventional cigar-shaped body on the same chassis, and fully open wheels.

The Argentine’s team-mate, Moss, then raced it with the wider, streamlined body extending over the wheels at the season-ending Italian grand prix at Monza, retiring after setting the fastest lap at an average speed of 134mph.

That grand prix marked the end of an era for the Mercedes stable’s Silver Arrows, as the manufacturer withdrew from factory-sponsored motorsport at the end of that year, returning to sports car racing only in the mid 1980s, initially as an engine supplier. Mercedes returned to Formula One as an engine provider in 1994 and with its own works team from 2010.

The car sold on Saturday, chassis number 00009/54, had been donated to the IMS by Mercedes in 1965 and was auctioned to raise funds for the museum’s restoration efforts and acquisitions with more of a US focus.

“It’s a beautiful car, it’s a very historic car, it’s just a little bit outside our scope window,” said curator Jason Vansickle. “We’ve been fortunate to be stewards of this vehicle for nearly 60 years and it has been a great piece in the museum but, with this auction and the proceeds raised, it really will allow us … to be better in the future.”