The phrase “most expensive car” hides several different competitions: highest auction price ever, highest price for a racing car, highest price for a new car, and private sales that may never become public.
On August 17, 2026, Ferrari added a new category record when a one-off version of its first electric car, the Luce, sold for $40 million at a charity auction. That is astonishing — and it is still nowhere near the all-time car auction record.
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé · €135 million
Mercedes-Benz sold one of two 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupés in a private RM Sotheby’s auction in 2022 for €135 million. RM Sotheby’s described it as the most valuable car ever sold.
The price was not just about styling or horsepower. The car combines extreme rarity, Mercedes racing history and direct connection to engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut — the sort of provenance collectors cannot replicate by ordering a modern hypercar.
1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R Stromlinienwagen · €51.155 million
In February 2025, a streamlined W196 R raced by Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio sold for €51.155 million. Reuters reported it as the most expensive Grand Prix car ever sold.
Ferrari Luce “Chassis 0” · $40 million
The bespoke first-production-chassis example of Ferrari’s first fully electric model sold during Monterey Car Week for $40 million. Ferrari said the result set a world record for a new car sold at auction, surpassing the $26 million achieved by a one-off Daytona SP3 in 2025.
Why it is unusual
The buyer paid collector-car money for a brand-new vehicle rather than a decades-old racing artifact.
Why the price is not normal retail
It was a one-off charity lot, “Chassis 0,” with proceeds directed through the Ferrari Foundation. It should not be read as the market price of a standard Luce.
Do not mix MSRP, auction results and rumors
Production price
What the manufacturer asks for a new car.
Auction result
A public transaction where provenance, competition history and rarity can overwhelm the original sticker price.
Private sale
Potentially enormous but often difficult to verify because price and buyer can remain confidential.
Charity premium
A one-off fundraising auction can produce a price that reflects philanthropy and status as much as the physical car.
Old race cars still rule the top — but 2026 changed the new-car category
The €135 million Uhlenhaut Coupé remains in another financial universe. Ferrari’s $40 million Luce is fascinating for a different reason: a brand-new electric Ferrari just entered a price conversation previously dominated by irreplaceable pieces of motoring history.