Senna’s saloon expected to fetch £250k at auction

Exactly two years ago we previewed the Bonhams sale of a Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 that Niki Lauda drove to second place in the 1984 Nürburgring Race of Champions organised by the marque to celebrate the opening of the Strecke circuit.

The grid was made up of 20 of the world’s top drivers, nine of whom were already Formula 1 world champions and two of whom (Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna) were to go on to claim the title.

Never before or since have so many F1 champs taken to the track together, and each one was given a 190 E 2.3-16, the new, high-performance saloon that Mercedes unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September of the previous year. In the event, Senna stormed to a controversial win after Prost – who started on pole – claimed the Brazilian had forced him off the track shortly after the flag dropped.

Despite the argy-bargy, Senna was so taken with the 190 Es used in the race (which benefited from a few tweaks to make them more track-worthy) that he immediately put his name down to buy one of the new road-going versions. And the car pictured here is it.

According to RM Sotheby’s, Senna – who was driving for Toleman in his rookie F1 season – picked-up the ‘hot’ 190 E from the Mercedes-Benz factory in Stuttgart and drove it back to his UK base in Esher, Surrey, with fellow Brazilian racing driver Mauricio Gugelmin for company.

Following Senna’s death in 1994 the car was acquired by the present owner, who took it with him to Australia on emigrating there in 2004. He’s now selling it – complete with all of the original documentation in Senna’s name.

1985 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16

On sale with RM Sotheby’s, London, November 1. Estimate: £220,000-£250,000. rmsothebys.com