Image via Bring A Trailer
Professional wrestler and actor (allegedly) John Cena sure loves cars, especially re-creation models like his Count Trossi Mercedes. We can hardly blame him, with the distinctly dramatic bodywork that graces one of the most famous Merecedes of all time, it’s quite the vehicle. But apparently not enough people want to plop down the big bucks on rides like that, because Cena’s failed to meet reserve for an online auction.
Get a peek into John Cena’s American muscle car collection.
The Mercedes-Benz SSK re-creation was listed on Bring A Trailer earlier this month and bidding was what we would term “intense.” In the end, the final bid hit $256,000 but that considerable sum didn’t meet the reserve amount.
After all, Cena reportedly dropped minimum $500,000 to buy the Count Trossi, so the high bid was just barely over the halfway mark. If we had to guess, we’d say reserve was closer to half a million, if not above that amount.
The real Count Trossi build was a one-off version of the limited-run SSK built in the early 1930s. Made for race car driver Count Carlo Felice Trossi, it’s an iconic pre-war car many have admired for almost one hundred years.
Cena’s car isn’t exactly some slapped-together re-creation. It’s said Iconic Auto Sports in Argentina took a few decades to get it right, with the work done by hand. Ultimately, the car was imported to the US after it was completed in 2014. Cena bought it in 2021.
Under the front cowling is a 3.0-liter M186 Mercedes inline-six engine. It has two Solex carburetors and works with a four-speed manual transmission. There are other modern mechanical components like Wilwood hydraulic disc brakes.
The dealer who was handling the auction for Cena, Naples Motorsports, said it would reach out to the highest bidders to see if an agreement with Cena could be made and the car ultimately sold not through the auction. But it’s clear Cena was expecting the bidding to go much better than it did.
Images via Bring A Trailer
