The legendary Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna won the 1984 Race of Champions at the Nürburgring with a Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 in a field that included many other F1 legends, including Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, and Stirling Moss. Senna liked the Mercedes 190E he drove that day in May so much that he bought one afterward—and that example is now heading to auction.
The Race of Champions inaugurated the new grand prix circuit at the Nürburgring that year, and also included F1 drivers Jack Brabham, Jody Scheckter, Carlos Reutemann, James Hunt, John Surtees, and Keke Rosberg. Juan Manuel Fangio—a greater driver than them all—didn’t race but handed out the trophy that day. It was Senna, who was an F1 rookie at the time, who beat everyone in the rain in a 190E.
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Senna then bought another 190E from Mercedes and took delivery directly from the factory in October 1985, driving the car for two years before selling it ahead of his move to McLaren’s racing team in 1988. Senna got the car at a “friendly discount,” according to RM Sotheby’s auction listing. That was presumably less than the $34,800 that Car and Driver‘s test model cost back then, or around $106,000 in today’s dollars.
The Mercedes 190E is powered by a 2.3-liter four-cylinder Cosworth engine making 167 horsepower, mated to a five-speed manual transmission. This 190E has been used, if not abused, with 154,302 miles on the odometer, according to RM Sotheby’s auction listing; the car also has service records dating to Senna’s ownership. When Senna sold the car in 1987, some 24,862 miles were on the odometer, and he likely drove a good portion of those.
This 190E was eventually bought by an Australian in 1996, who shipped the car Down Under in 2004. It was there, in 2016, that Niki Lauda signed the engine bay at the Australian Grand Prix. Now the car is in England in anticipation of the sale. RM Sotheby’s pre-auction estimate has a high of around $337,000, making this little bit of history more attainable for the non-billionaire class. The car will go on sale in London on November 1.
Click here for more photos of Ayrton Senna’s Mercedes 190E.
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