Mercedes-Benz set a new world record for the most expensive car sold at an auction. The German automaker sold one of the two road-legal 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe prototypes ever made -- for $142 million.
The vehicle reached a top speed of 180 miles per hour and was originally made for driving in races. But the company didn't make any more after one of them crashed at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans race, flipped into the stands and killed 83 spectators.
Mercedes-Benz says the car was sold to fund educational and research scholarships "in the areas of environmental science and decarbonization for young people."