An Austrian collector named Hannes Daxecker spent nearly twenty years building what organizers are calling the largest private Mercedes-Benz collection in Europe. On November 7, 2026, all 83 cars hit the block in Feldkirchen an der Donau with no reserve. If you bid and no one goes higher, you own it.
The sale is a three-way operation. Metropole Auction handles the event, Vienna firm Humer Granner sells the cars, and Ni-Cola Classics from Germany takes care of roughly 900 lots of automobilia. There are also 50 motorcycles and mopeds, plus furniture from the collection. The whole thing runs over three days starting November 5.
S-Class heavy, but not just S-Class
The collection name Sammlung Sonderklasse refers to the S in S-Class, which Mercedes made official in 1972 with the W 116. Daxecker focused on the big sedans: two W 112s, four W 109s, eight W 116s, 25 W 126s and ten W 140s. Add five C 126 SEC coupes and four C 140 coupes and you have the core.
But the catalog goes wider than that. There is a 1969 600, a handful of W 111 and W 112 coupes and convertibles including a 1970 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet, and older iron like a 1952 300 b Cabriolet D, a 1933 170 Sport-Roadster and a 1938 320 N Cabriolet A. The SL roster runs from a 190 SL to an SL 55 AMG, plus a 300 SL Roadster and a 2004 Maybach 62. Two cars are replicas: a 1988 300 SL built by Anton Ostermeyer and a Classic Roadsters Marlene II.
Starting prices, not estimates
Humer Granner opens bidding at a set starting price with no seller reserve lurking underneath. Most W 116, W 126 and W 140 sedans begin at three or four thousand euros. The 450 SEL 6.9 starts at ten grand, the 600 at thirty. The 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet and the 320 N Cabriolet A each open at seventy thousand. The 300 SL Roadster leads the pack at 300,000 euros.
Those numbers tell you where the auctioneer starts talking, not where the hammer falls. A buyer premium of 15 percent including VAT applies under the margin scheme, or 12.5 percent plus VAT on standard deals.
Color and spec over horsepower
Daxecker hunted for unusual colors, original equipment and documented history. The catalog backs that up with data card codes on every lot.
Lot 1 is a 1976 450 SEL 6.9 in Citrus Green Metallic over Parchment leather. Delivered new in Austria, it still shows one registered owner and comes with its original service book and type certificate. Lot 2, a 1975 450 SEL, pairs Pine Green Metallic with Cream Beige velour and arrived new in Belgium with 151,346 documented kilometers.
Among the W 126s you will find Cypress Green, Malachite Green, Carnation Green, Manganese Brown Metallic, Signal Red and Surf Blue. That last one is lot 47, a 1990 300 SE with a four-speed manual instead of an automatic, an automatic locking differential, an electric sunroof, one owner from new and 154,581 documented kilometers. It starts at four thousand euros.
Wilfert experimental car and the 6.3 lineage
Lot 19 stands apart. The catalog calls it a 300 SE 6.3 Wilfert. Mercedes never sold a 300 SE 6.3. The 6.3-liter V8 in the W 109 line only went into the long-wheelbase 300 SEL 6.3.
According to Humer Granner, this is an experimental vehicle used as a company car by Karl Wilfert, who worked with Béla Barényi on passive safety. First registered August 8, 1968 to Mercedes in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim. Starting price is twenty thousand euros.
The 300 SEL 6.3 launched in 1968 with the M 100 engine from the 600: 250 horsepower, 220 kilometers per hour top speed, air suspension. Mercedes built 6,526 of them. The W 116 successor arrived in May 1975 as the 450 SEL 6.9 with the M 100 bored to 6,834 cc, dry sump lubrication, 286 horsepower at 4,250 rpm and 550 newton meters at 3,000 rpm. Air suspension gave way to hydropneumatic with self-leveling. Production ran to 7,380 units through May 1980.
The W 126 ran from 1979 to 1991 and reached 818,036 sedans plus 74,060 SEC coupes. The W 140 brought the first production V12 in 1991: six liters and 408 horsepower in the 600 SE and 600 SEL, later dialed back to 394. The collection includes a 1992 600 SEL at a three thousand euro start.
What the numbers mean
Classic Analytics put the floor for good 450 SEL 6.9s at 45,000 euros including VAT in February 2025. This past October 11, dealers were asking between 39,950 and 52,333 euros for three examples. A 1985 500 SEL carried a 14,900 euro ask. None of those are hammer prices.
The Feldkirchen sale will put 25 W 126 sedans across the block in one afternoon, many with similar engines. You can compare color against spec against mileage against paperwork in real time. One result is still one result, but you will see what matters when buyers actually commit money.
What to check before you bid
Start with the data card. The lot descriptions list chassis and engine numbers, paint codes, trim codes and option codes. Only the data card confirms whether the engine, paint and equipment match what left the factory. Mileage descriptions separate documented figures from what the odometer says.
On the technical side, the suspension systems need scrutiny. Hydropneumatics on the 6.9, air suspension on the W 109 and W 112. Corrosion, worn interiors and dead comfort electronics drive running costs on cheaper sedans regardless of what you paid at the hammer.
Paperwork varies across the lots: Austrian type certificates, individual approvals, German registration documents, a Dutch kentekenbewijs here and there. The descriptions come from the auction house with no independent inspection reports attached. Viewing runs from 10:00 to 18:00 on November 5, 09:00 to 18:00 on November 6 and from 09:00 on sale day.
Motorcycles and parts
The 50 motorcycles and mopeds sell November 7 with starting prices between 100 and 500 euros. The list includes a 1975 BMW R 90/S, a 1978 R 100 RS, the turbocharged Honda CX500 Turbo, Yamaha XJ 650 Turbo and Suzuki XN 85 Turbo, a Kawasaki Z1300 and two Honda Gold Wing GL 1000s.
Ni-Cola Classics opens the automobilia sale at 10:00 on Friday November 6 and continues Saturday morning. The cars follow at 14:00 Saturday. You can bid in person, by phone, in writing or live online. Registration with the auction house is required and you need an admission ticket to attend.
Two decades of collecting, no reserve, rural Austria. If you have ever wanted an S-Class in Surf Blue with a manual transmission and one owner from new, November 7 is your day.
