Final Mercedes SLR McLaren Stirling Moss heads to auction with $6m estimate

The final Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss ever built will cross the auction block with an estimate above $6 million, RM Sotheby's has confirmed. The sale runs from November 26 to December 3, 2026, and the car shows just 32.9 miles from new.

It is the last of only 75 Stirling Moss examples that Mercedes-Benz and McLaren assembled between June and December 2009, and the only one of that run built without a windshield, side windows or a roof.

A 650 hp send-off with almost no miles

The Stirling Moss packed a supercharged 5.4-litre V8 rated at 650 hp, with Mercedes claiming a 3.5-second sprint to 60 mph and a 220 mph top speed. This particular chassis left the factory in December 2009 and has covered 32.9 miles since.

That mileage, plus a paper trail stretching from Switzerland to Kuwait to the United States, is the kind of documented history that is rare even among seven-figure collector cars. The car was first registered in the canton of Vaud on March 16, 2010.

Royal ownership and a one-off specification

The car was delivered new to the Royal Family of Kuwait, who kept it until the current consignor acquired it in 2024, making for just two private owners over its life. It wears Fire Opal Red paint, a shade applied to only a handful of Stirling Moss cars, with red leather and yellow contrast stitching in a scheme the factory called Silver Arrow.

Unusually, it also left the factory with an audio system, a feature shared with only one other car in the run, the Rosso Corsa example that has stayed with Jordan's royal family since new. Alutex textile composite replaces the usual carbon fibre trim, and the brake calipers are finished in gold rather than the standard red or silver.

That level of personalisation on a model already rarer than most limited-run hypercars is part of what bidders will be paying for, and the Jordanian car's likely permanent residence in a royal collection leaves this one as the more attainable of the two special-order cars.

How a roofless supercar became road legal in the US

None of the 75 cars were built to US specifications, and the absence of a windshield and conventional glass put the model outside standard federal safety requirements. Owners have used the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Show or Display provision, introduced in 1999, to permit limited road use for rare vehicles of historic or technical significance.

This car has been fully federalised and road registered in the US, with the work carried out by G&K Automotive Services in 2026. For American buyers, that paperwork removes the biggest practical obstacle to actually using a Stirling Moss rather than storing it, which is the difference between a static collectible and a car that can be driven, however sparingly.

What the $6 million figure does and does not mean

The $6 million-plus number is RM Sotheby's pre-sale estimate, not a confirmed sale price, and the final figure will only be set when bidding closes on December 3, 2026. If it lands at or above that level, the car would rank among the more valuable examples to cross the block.

Mercedes-Benz and McLaren have not announced any further production of the Stirling Moss, so this auction is a chance to buy the last one they ever built on the platform rather than a preview of anything new.

Fiat shipped 300 of its Topolino electric microcars to US dealers as a trial, and most of them have already been sold, according to Andrew Waterhouse, head of Fiat North America. The two-seat low-speed vehicle starts at about $14,985 before a $295 paint option and is capped at 25 mph.

Waterhouse told Yahoo Finance the rollout is deliberately cautious. "The original shipment was 300 units, the majority of those have already been sold," he said, describing the programme as "kind of an experiment" rather than a mass-market launch.

Dolce Vita leads demand

Sixty percent of US buyers chose the open-air Dolce Vita version, which comes without doors or a roof. Waterhouse said that trim suits resort and vacation settings: "The Dolce Vita suits a beach town, gated community resort type experience where you want the open air".

The rest of the range includes a standard model with full doors and an Open Air version with a retractable fabric roof and rope doors. Waterhouse suggested the closed car is the better choice for city dwellers who want to lock their belongings inside.

The golf cart comparison is hard to avoid at this size and price, but Waterhouse argued buyers are not treating it that way. "Those people are not using golf carts to play golf," he said. "They are using them to drive around, to go to lunch, to drive to the pool, drive to the beach". That framing matters: Fiat is testing whether Americans will pay new-car money for a vehicle that behaves like a neighbourhood runabout rather than a conventional car.

Low-speed vehicle rules set the limits

The Topolino qualifies as a low-speed vehicle under FMVSS No. 500, the federal standard covering four-wheeled vehicles capable of more than 20 mph but no more than 25 mph. That classification dictates its equipment and keeps it out of normal passenger car rules.

For 2027, Fiat raised the car's top speed to the full 25 mph, the threshold needed to meet that federal definition. The LSV-compliant update adds federally required lighting, reflectors, mirrors and a parking brake, plus a windshield and seat belts to help satisfy state rules. Fiat offers a no-cost kit to bring 2026 models up to the same specification.

The 2027 Topolino carries a 5.4-kWh battery with a claimed 46 miles of range, a 6-kW motor and a charge time of four to five hours on a standard 110-volt outlet. Seating is limited to two.

Those figures only work within low-speed vehicle rules, which generally keep such cars on lower-speed local streets. Specific limits are set by each state rather than by a single federal cap, which is why Fiat is targeting resort communities, gated neighbourhoods and dense urban blocks rather than open highways. For drivers, the practical question is not range but where the car is legally allowed to go.

A cautious experiment, not a national launch

Fiat has not announced a full national rollout of the Topolino, and the 300-unit shipment is being treated as a test of US appetite rather than a permanent volume model. The clearance rate suggests there is demand in the right postcodes, but the model's appeal remains tied to the low-speed rules that confine it to local roads.

The Topolino is not a replacement for a conventional car, and Fiat is not pitching it as one. It is a second or third vehicle for buyers who already have somewhere to park it and short, slow trips to make.