It’s not exactly fair to say that the lifespan of a car’s topping the list for “most expensive car sold on Bring a Trailer” is about the same as a housefly’s—it doesn’t give the fly enough credit. One of the little winged things will spend an average of about 28 days buzzing around this Earth; in 2022, record-setting cars sold on Bring a Trailer are typically toppled in less than three weeks.
That is to say, we already have another new title-holder on the popular enthusiast-car auction site, a 1927 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Sport/4, which traded hands for US$2.8 million on March 4, upsetting the old record of US$2,555,555 set on February 7 by a 1930 Mercedes-Benz cabriolet.
The open-top short-wheelbase car is one of just 146 examples of the Type S built, and still sports its numbers-matching 180-hp supercharged 6.8-liter inline-six and four-speed manual transmission. It wears bodywork by Mercedes-Benz itself – as opposed to a carrosserie – but was repainted its current red in 1983. Curiously, the German-market car was shipped to Argentina not long after it was built—but that’s all we’re going to say about that.
Like the ’30 cabriolet that set the record last month, this car was listed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which acquired both in the late 1960s but is now apparently thinning its 200-vehicle collection.
A 1927 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Sport/4, which on March 4, 2022, set the record for most expensive car sold on Bring a Trailer, at US$2.8 million Photo by Bring a Trailer
A 1927 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Sport/4, which on March 4, 2022, set the record for most expensive car sold on Bring a Trailer, at US$2.8 million Photo by Bring a Trailer
A 1927 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Sport/4, which on March 4, 2022, set the record for most expensive car sold on Bring a Trailer, at US$2.8 million Photo by Bring a Trailer
A 1927 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Sport/4, which on March 4, 2022, set the record for most expensive car sold on Bring a Trailer, at US$2.8 million Photo by Bring a Trailer
A 1927 Mercedes-Benz 680 S Sport/4, which on March 4, 2022, set the record for most expensive car sold on Bring a Trailer, at US$2.8 million Photo by Bring a Trailer
While the ’30 Benz was picked up by an enthusiast apparently building out his own museum of pre-war machinery, this ’27 Benz marked its new owner’s first auction win on Bring a Trailer. “ChainDrive” apparently knows their stuff, though, calling out the incorrect chrome plating – as opposed to nickel – on a Pierce-Arrow they bid on (also being sold by the Indy Speedway museum).
To recap the succession so far: as of June 2021, the record for the most expensive car ever sold on Bring a Trailer was US$1.34 million, for a 1935 Duesenberg convertible; on January 5, 2022, it was eclipsed by a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, which sold for US$1.9 million; 13 days later, on January 18, a different 2005 Porsche Carrera GT stole that crown after securing a $2-million sale.
Some 21 days after that, on February 7, the title went to the aforementioned 1930 Mercedes-Benz 770K Cabriolet, which went for a stunning US$2,555,555 that we figured would stand for a quite a while, and not just 26 days. We wouldn’t bet that way again, and in fact are keeping our eyes on an auction concluding next week, of a Porsche Carrera GT once owned by Jerry Seinfeld. That is to say, don’t get too comfy at the top, big red Benz. I think I just saw another housefly drop dead.
Keyword: Vintage Mercedes blows Bring a Trailer record out of the water