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Will Young recalls standing up to Simon Cowell: ‘I really disliked him’

Will Young has reflected on the moment he stood up to Simon Cowell while competing on Pop Idol.

Appearing on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast, Young was quizzed about the moment he called out Cowell for the judge’s scathing remarks during a performance on the show in 2002.

Young, then 22, performed a rendition of The Doors’s “Light My Fire” on the first ever series of the singing competition.

Cowell called the performance “distinctly average”, and Young took the opportunity to call out the judge’s track record of giving aspiring singers brutal feedback.

Reflecting on that moment, Young said he knew he wanted to stand up to Cowell.

“I thought if you get a moment then people will remember you,” he said. “And then I also knew that I really disliked that man. And I’d met him before on the This Morning boy band competition.”

“And I remember thinking I really don’t like that man, and I went to a school where I was surrounded by … quite unpleasant men. So, my radar for people who I perceive as unpleasant is quite on. And I just want to be careful.

“I’m not saying that he’s abusive, but my radar is pretty good. So my reaction was on live TV when I came across him.

Young added that he thought Cowell needed to be “put in his place”.

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“Because I had to sit and watch him make people cry for weeks, building up to my live performance in front of him,” he continued. “And I just thought, ‘no one’s telling this man. Why is no one telling him?’ And so I was like, ‘I’m going to tell him.’”

“I think people in the music industry, entertainment industry… play on people’s desire. Your desire is going to make you do anything,” he added.

Young recalled that he had “already had my first bout of depression” by the time of the incident, which affected his handling of the situation.

“I’d lost someone close to me. I knew a bit of life. It wasn’t the be all and end all,” he said. “And so. I didn’t care about letting someone like him get away with it. Whereas I think lots of people in subsequent programs, I think there has been some awful behaviour actually, which is pretty well documented.”

At the time, Cowell watched Young’s performance and told him: “I’ve got a vision of Sunday lunch and after Sunday lunch you say in front of your family ‘I’m now going to sing a song for you’… Distinctly average, I’m afraid.”

Young told Cowell that he often “projected insults” onto contestants.

“All of us have been dying to say things to you – I’ve written about ten things to say to you,” the singer said. “I think it’s nice that you have given opinions on this show. I think in previous shows you haven’t, you’ve just projected insults and it has been terrible to watch. I think, this show, I think you have been better, and I think you have given opinions and you’ve backed up your opinions.”

“It is your opinion. I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it was average. I don’t think you could ever call that average. But it is your opinion and I respect that.”

Cowell backed down and replied: “You are a gentleman, sir.”

How to Fail with Elizabeth Day is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Top 10 most expensive Mercedes-Benz cars

Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz AdviceConvertibleBest Convertible CarsMercedes-Benz Convertible RangeCoupeBest Coupe Cars

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The 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé isn’t just the most expensive Mercedes-Benz, it’s the most expensive car ever sold.

Stephen Ottley

Contributing Journalist

19 Mar 2024

10 min read

1 Comment

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What is the most expensive Mercedes-Benz?

Unlike some brands which have several vintage cars that have fetched very similar prices at different times, there’s absolutely no doubt what the most expensive model for the German brand is.

That title belongs to the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, which was sold to an unnamed private collector in 2022 for the stunning price of €135 million (approx. $203m at the time), which makes it the most expensive car ever sold – from any brand.

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What is the most expensive Mercedes-Benz? When was it made? What is notable about it?

Scarcity makes for an expensive car and the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé is one of the rarest cars of all, with only two examples of this remarkable car being made. The name is a reference to Rudolf Uhlenhaut, who was the chief designer for Mercedes’ highly successful racing division in the 1950s. 

The 300 SLR was the company’s two-seat racing sports car for the 1955 World Sportscar Championship, which was heavily based on the company’s W 196 R Formula One racing cars of the same era.

Mercedes built nine examples of the 300 SLR for the ‘55 racing season, seven were open-topped with no roof, and two were coupe bodied. The coupes were never raced as intended, as Mercedes suddenly quit the sport after an horrific accident at the 24-hours of Le Mans. Instead, these gullwing-doored machines became known as the Uhlenhaut Coupés as the engineer took one as a company car and drove it until his retirement.

The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé name is a reference to Rudolf Uhlenhaut, who was the chief designer for Mercedes’ highly successful racing division in the 1950s. 

Mercedes built nine examples of the 300 SLR for the 1955 World Sportscar Championship.

The 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé is one of the rarest cars of all.

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What is the average price of a Mercedes-Benz? What is considered expensive? Why are Mercedes-Benz so expensive?

Forgive the cliche, but asking how much is a Mercedes is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. The price will depend on the car and different models within the same line-up can vary dramatically.

For example, the C-Class range runs from $79,200 all the way to $237,469 for the high-performance AMG C63 variant. So there’s a broad spread, which is part of the reason for the brand’s success. It offers a wide range of models at a variety of price points.

The high-performance AMG C63 variant will set you back 7,469.

How do Mercedes-Benz cars compare to other luxury car brands in terms of price range?

The German brand has been a long-time leader in the luxury car market in Australia. A large part of that is thanks to its pricing structure, which puts it in a higher bracket than mainstream brands but still affordable to many Australians.

Top 10 most expensive Mercedes-Benz models

*Due to inflation, for the sake of accuracy and consistency, we have listed the prices in US dollars at the time of sale.

1. 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR ‘Uhlenhaut Coupé’ – US$142m

When Mercedes quit racing, Rudolf Uhlenhaut took one of the coupes, added a muffler and used it as his company car.

In modern terms the Uhlenhaut Coupé is effectively the 1950s version of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, a racing car thinly disguised as a road car. It was a direct development of the F1 championship winning W 196 R with the biggest change being the addition of a second seat and an enclosed body. 

The coupes were built originally for the Carrera Panamericana, one of the most dangerous rally races in the world. However, when Mercedes quit racing, Rudolf Uhlenhaut took one of the coupes, added a muffler and used it as his company car.

It was powered by a 3.0-litre in-line eight-cylinder engine (evolved from the F1 program) and capable of delivering 222kW of power. For context, the more famous Mercedes 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ sports car of the same era, had a six-cylinder engine and only 130kW.

Contemporary reports claim Uhlenhaut took full advantage of the racing DNA and would hit the car’s maximum speed of 290km/h on the autobahns. A famous story, and whether it’s true or not is lost to history, claims Uhlenhaut once made the 220km drive from Munich to Stuttgart in an hour in order to make a meeting on time.

2. 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster – US$11.7m

The 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster was originally driven by Baroness Gisela von Krieger in Germany.

The 540K was the brand’s in-demand sports convertible from 1936 until 1940, and this particular example had a famous lineage. Known as the ‘von Krieger Special’ because it was owned by the von Krieger family from new until the early 1990s. 

Baroness Gisela von Krieger originally drove the car in Germany, before moving to Switzerland during World War II and then shipping the car to the USA post-war. She drove it for a number of years in America before she relocated back to Switzerland and left the 540K (complete with lipstick-stained cigarette butts) in a US garage for nearly four decades.

The car was restored by its second owner and then auctioned in 2012 fetching what was, until the 300 SLR, the most expensive Mercedes-Benz model sold. 

3. 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster – US$9.9m

When it was sold in 2016, this 540K had travelled just 16,539km in its 79 year history, to that point.

A few years after the previous car scored its record number, another 540K Special Roadster went up for auction but managed to ‘only’ fetch a slightly lower price. Still, it was big money for what is a special car.

This 540K was an original US delivery, not a used import, and more importantly, when it was sold in 2016 it had travelled just 16,539km in its 79 year history, to that point. Other elements of this particular model that made it so in-demand were its preferred ‘longtail’ body, high door option and its original left-hand drive configuration.

4. 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Torpedo – US$8.2m

The 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Torpedo is one of the best examples of the coachbuilt cars of the ‘20s.

By now you may have noticed there’s a theme emerging on our list – the most expensive Mercedes models are some of the oldest. This is one of the earlier examples of the German brand’s superior levels of luxury and refinement.

This 1928 model fetched such a price because it’s one of the best examples of the coachbuilt cars of the ‘20s. While Mercedes took care of the mechanical underpinnings, Parisian coachbuilder, Carrosserie J. Saoutchik, made this striking two-door body.

Maintained in good condition since then (much of the original timber frame remains intact) it was restored to as-new condition in the early 2000s and was declared ‘Best in Show’ at the 2012 Pebble Beach concours.

5. 2005 Mercedes-Benz Maybach Exelero – US$8m

The Exelero is powered by a 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 AMG-tuned engine.

Just to alter the previously mentioned theme of older models comes this 2005 concept. Not only is it a concept rather than a production car, but the Exelero was also not Mercedes’ idea. It was actually requested by Goodyear, through its subsidiary Fulda, to be a head-turning platform for its new high-performance tyres.

Fulda wanted a car that could exceed 350km/h, in order to test its tyres, so the Exelero is powered by a 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 AMG-tuned engine making 515kW/1020Nm.

However, unlike the rest of this list that were public auctions, the sale of the Exelero is clouded in mystery. American rapper, Birdman, claimed to have bought the car for $8m only for the owner at the time to deny the sale was final. It’s believed the car is now owned by a man named, Friedhelm Loh, and the Exelero was on display at the National Automuseum in Dietzhölztal, Germany as recently as 2023.

6. 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ – US$6.8m

This particular gullwing was sold in 2022 and fetched a healthy auction price of US.82m.

The 300 SL, known to many as simply the ‘gullwing’, is unquestionably one of the brand’s most iconic models so it’s no surprise to see one make this list. This particular gullwing was sold in 2022 and fetched a healthy auction price of US$6.82m.

It helped that this one has an original alloy body, matching engine and chassis numbers and the collector-desirable silver metallic finish and blue gabardine fabric and vinyl interior trim. It also has several desirable factor upgrades, including sports suspension, a high-speed rear axle ratio, a metric speedo and Rudge wheels.

7. 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster – US$5.7m

The 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster sold for US.7m in 2016.

In what is undoubtedly our most intriguing – and frankly, bizarre – entry on this list is this beautiful 1935 convertible. According to a report from Autoweek, it was bought by Dutch businessman, Frans van Haren, at a 2011 RM Sotheby’s auction in California for US$3.7m. However, when van Haren shipped the car to Germany it was impounded by the police. 

It turned out this particular Mercedes was illegally seized from its original owner, German businessman Hans Prym at the end of WW2 and shipped to the USA. By bringing it back to Germany for the first time since then it triggered action from the local authorities, who promptly returned it to Prym’s grandchildren.

The car then returned to auction in 2016, selling to an unnamed buyer who actually got to keep it this time.

8. 1927 Mercedes-Benz S-Type 26/180 Sportwagen – US$5m

This rare Pre-WW2 Mercedes was the first one sold in New York.

This striking bright red Benz held the title for the most expensive Mercedes as recently as 2011 – highlighting just how hot the vintage car market has become. It was auctioned by Gooding & Company in 2011 at the annual Pebble Beach sales and fetched a handsome price.

Pre-WW2 Mercedes are rare, especially those delivered to the USA, and this one was first sold in New York – which helped make it so popular when auctioned. It also helps that the S-Type was designed by a highly respected and fast-rising engineer of the time, Professor Ferdinand Porsche.

9. 1998 Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK GTR – US$4.5m

Mercedes-Benz made just 25 AMG CLK GTR cars for the road.

One of the newest cars on our list, but also one of the rarest – even amongst all these classics. Mercedes-Benz made just 25 AMG CLK GTR cars for the road, so anytime one comes up for auction, as this one did in 2018, it attracts attention and dollars.

The reason for the rarity is simple – this isn’t really meant to be a road car. The V12-powered CLK GTR was the brand’s entry in the FIA GT1 sportscar championship in 1997 (driven by a young Mark Webber, amongst others). So it was designed for racing first and the road-legal versions only exist to satisfy the regulations of the day, which were designed around supercars like the McLaren F1. Mercedes cheekily reverse-engineered its car and ended up with 25 highly collectable cars as a bonus.

10. 2022 Mercedes-AMG One – US$2.8m