Mercedes driven by Lauda goes under the hammer

Auction house RM Sotheby’s is auctioning a unique Mercedes-Benz 190 E with a 2.3 liter engine in a special Nürburgring configuration. The car is almost forty years old and once, in 1984, Mercedes prepared 21 such cars for demonstration races called the “Race of Champions” held at the Nürburgring.

What makes this particular example unique is the fact that Niki Lauda was driving the car at the time and took 2nd place. That season, the legendary Austrian driver was on his way to his third Formula 1 title.

Since then, the car has been in a private collection and is in the original configuration it was in during the 1984 Race of Champions, as evidenced by the official Mercedes-Benz Classic certificate and other documents. A few years ago it was carefully restored by this division of the Stuttgart concern.

That race was mainly of an advertising nature: Mercedes wanted to draw attention to the new version of the 190 series, which was equipped with a 2.3-liter engine, so they decided to organize special competitions, where many well-known racers of the time invited. Suffice it to say that the role of host of the ceremony was entrusted to Juan Manuel Fangio, who was ambassador of the Deutsche Mark for decades.

But that’s not all: in the autumn of that year, the new configuration of the Nürburgring, called GP-Strecke, passed the Formula 1 European Grand Prix for the first time after a long break, and the “Race of Champions” was organized of Mercedes preceded this event.

In addition to Niki Lauda, ​​Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Carlos Reutemann, Alan Jones, John Watson, Keke Rosberg, Jody Scheckter, John Surtiss, Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham and other stars also took part in that race.

The essence of the preparation, which was subjected to production models of the 190 series, was that the specialists of the sports division of Mercedes changed the exhaust system, modified the suspension differently, reduced the ground clearance, installed other brakes, adjusted the gear ratios, installed the safety cage and a number of other changes were made, giving the car a racing character.

Senna won the Race of Champions in the rain, but Lauda finished second, less than a second and a half behind the Brazilian.

Another characteristic detail: immediately after the race, all cars were returned to standard equipment and sold as used, and only two remained in the special version of the Nürburgring – these are the cars in which Ayrton Senna and Niki Lauda took part.

The Brazilian’s car has been in the Mercedes factory museum ever since, and Lauda’s Mercedes was sold to a well-known German businessman, but soon changed hands and ended up in a private collection. It is also interesting that Niki Lauda put a signature on the roof of the car in October 2016.

The auction will take place in Switzerland on September 16 and the organizers expect the car to go under the hammer for 500,000 Swiss francs, which is about 524,000 euros at the current exchange rate.