Diego Maradona’s rare Mercedes-Benz is for sale

Maradona’s Mercedes-Benz

What better way to celebrate Argentina's recent World Cup win than with this 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0, once owned by the late, great Diego Maradona?

This car will cross the block with Bonhams on 2 February 2023 in Paris, carrying with it an estimate of €150,000-250,000.

Plus, if you’re uninterested in football and thought you had escaped World Cup-related babble for four more years, you’ll be pleased to know that this car has a fascinating motorsport connection, too…

The Golden Boy

Widely regarded as one of football’s greatest-ever players, Diego Maradona was born in Argentina on 30 October 1960.

He played for clubs including Napoli, Barcelona and Boca Juniors.

World Cup victory came in 1986, when he captained the Argentinian squad to a 3-2 win over West Germany in Mexico City.

Generous supporters

The top-spec Mercedes was a gift to The Golden Boy from supporters of his early professional career at Argentinian clubs Boca Juniors and Argentinos Juniors.

Its Signal Red finish was chosen to represent the colours of his first club, and a recent cosmetic restoration means that the paintwork should gleam just as brightly today as when it was presented to the young Maradona.

An unlikely exchange

It must have been decided that having a mere Mercedes-Benz salesperson yank away a silky cover to reveal this elegant, V8-powered coupé was not befitting of rising star Maradona.

Fortunately, Argentina’s only official Mercedes-Benz dealership at the time was owned by five-time Formula One World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio.

In an exchange between two sporting greats, Fangio presented Maradona with this 450SLC 5.0 on behalf of his supporters in 1980.

The big time

In his book, Yo Soy el Diego, Maradona recalls how receiving the Mercedes coincided with a big shift in his footballing career.

As he made the jump from his Fiat 125 to this 450SLC 5.0, the Argentinian was becoming ever more popular in his home country.

Under the bonnet

On the surface, the sizeable 450SLC 5.0 might seem an unlikely endurance rally racer, but that’s just what Mercedes intended with this homologation special.

The 4.5-litre V8 engine from the 1972 450SLC coupé was ousted in favour of a lighter, all-aluminium 5-litre unit producing 240bhp.

This car, built to European specification before being exported to Argentina, is one of just 1636 examples built.

Top of its game

Most upgrades to the 450SLC 5.0 focused on weight reduction. Many of the panels on the 15½ft-long coupé were replaced by aluminium components to save a claimed 125lb.

Another 88lb was shed from the engine bay by replacing the 450SLC’s iron-block engine with an all-alloy unit.

New front and rear spoilers offered visual clues to the upgraded performance, with the new car good for a heady 140mph.

Another sporting great

Mercedes’ efforts were not in vain: the impressive 450SLC 5.0 became the first V8-powered car to win a World Rally Championship event.

On its debut in 1978, Mercedes driver’s locked out the top-five finishing positions on the 39-day-long Vuelta a La América del Sud rally.

However, while the car shined in endurance events, it found less success on shorter rallies as it struggled to mask its size and weight.

Red card

Following on from the rallying success enjoyed by the 450SLC 5.0, the road and rally cars were rebadged as 500SLCs from April 1980.

These swansong models produced 329bhp in rally trim and continued to represent Mercedes in international endurance events.

The marque planned to continue in rallying with the 500SL in 1981, but poor performances in testing led to the project being scrapped, even though four cars had already been prepared.

A look inside

Inside, the black leather interior appears in fine fettle and there’s plenty of welcome extra equipment, too.

There's electric windows, air conditioning and an electric sliding steel sunroof – all desirable, especially in Argentina's largely subtropical climate.

The cabin of this two-door pillarless coupé looks to be a very pleasant place to be.

Cruising to victory

The three-speed automatic gearbox was versatile: perfectly suited to Maradona’s laid-back journeys within Argentina – and for professional rally drivers tackling gruelling endurance events, apparently.

The standard Type 722 gearbox was decided to be the best option for competition cars, too, so Mercedes never homologated a manual alternative.

Time to shine

Vendor Bonhams says this car is in 'stunning condition': it reckons this model could be 'among the best-preserved examples of the 450SLC'.

The car has covered fewer than 38,000 miles since it was delivered new to the Argentinian football legend and is accompanied by its original documents, too.

It’s recently undergone a cosmetic restoration and is reportedly in great mechanical condition.

Maradona memorabilia

Unlike your average used car, service history and registration certificates aren’t the only documents that accompany this sale.

Papers from the Argentinian motor vehicle offices record its ownership history and an original sale document shows Maradona's name.

There’s also a photo of Maradona standing next to the car, plus other collectibles, too. 

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt

Surprisingly, this car’s €150,000-250,000 guide price won’t make it the most valuable slice of Maradona memorabilia, and not by a long shot.

That title goes to the football legend’s 'Hand of God' shirt, which sold for £7,142,500 at auction in 2022.

It was worn by Maradona during a 1986 World Cup match in which the midfielder scored one of his most famous – if controversial – goals.

The Mercedes sale does include a Maradona football shirt (above) among other collectibles, but sadly not the original ’86 garment.

Time to score the winning bid

If you’re interested in this classic Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0 once owned by Diego Maradona, you’ll need to act soon.

It’s being sold at the Bonhams Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris Sale at the Grand Palais Éphémère on Thursday 2 February.

You can find out more about this car or check out the other lots here.