The lure of the world's most expensive cars is hard to pull yourself away from. You might be overawed by the technical extravagance. Your eyes might boggle at the raw numbers of horsepower, top speed and bank balance necessary. You might scoff at the people shelling out a good chunk of a small nation's GDP for a car. But it's very, very hard not to want to know more about them.
So we've collected the 10 most expensive production cars yet made. We're not getting into museum pieces, just brand new, straight-from-the-factory pieces with absolutely eyeball-melting price tags. Also, just so you know, you're not going to find Chester J Lampwick's rocket car from The Simpsons in here. Sorry.
1| Aston Martin Valkyrie
How much? £2.4 million (P157 million)
It takes something quite remarkable for promo bumph which begins "POWER OF THE GODS" to only feel very slightly overegged. The Valkyrie is quite remarkable. Only 150 of Aston's first hypercar will be made, and it's basically an F1 car with a place to put your tax disc: all carbon fibre, 1,160 bhp, nought to 60 in 2.5 seconds. This isn't the one that James Bond will drive in No Time To Die, by the way—that's the Valhalla.
2| Ferrari Sergio Pininfarina
How much? $3 million (P160 million)
Six of these coachbuilt tributes to the late, great car designer Sergio Pininfarina were put together, and nod at Sergio's favourite Ferrari design, the Dino of the late 60s and early 70s. There are worse epitaphs to have.
3| Bugatti Chiron Sport
How much? £2.5 million (before tax) [P164 million]
This one landed at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, shocking everyone by being the first-ever production car anywhere in the world to feature carbon fibre windscreen wipers. There was some other stuff too—a 1,479 bhp engine, absolutely belting four-exhaust look at the rear, super-light construction, blah blah blah. But the windscreen wipers!
4| W Lykan Hypersport
How much? $3.4 million (P183 million)
Lebanon's W Motors created the first car designed and built entirely within the Middle East, and in the process created one that can only really be afforded by people who own a decent chunk of it. Where does the money go? Well, the headlights are studded with jewels for some reason. Somewhere between four and seven were built, depending on who you believe, and reportedly two have been sold. Oh, and Abu Dhabi's police bought one.
5| McLaren P1 LM
How much? £3 million (P196 million)
An unusual entry, this: it's a plug-in hybrid, mixing yer usual internal combustion engine with yer new-fangled electric motor. Imagine what Jeremy Clarkson would have to say about that! Probably something hilarious about vegans!! The engine is also plated in gold.
6| Lamborghini Veneno Roadster
How much? $4 million (P216 million)
This extremely Ridge Racer model from 2014 can get to 220mph, and while only five were made, just three of those actually went to buyers. They'd need to put a few more quid down before driving it though, as they'd need a decent umbrella – it's got no roof.
7| Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita
How much? $4.8 million (P255 million)
There are subtle ways of flaunting your wealth; always flying business class, say, or doing your big shop at Whole Foods. Then there are less subtle ways, like dropping a roll of thousands in the aisle and screaming, "OH DAMN, MY FAT ROLL OF MONEY." Then there's buying a car that looks like it's literally covered in diamonds, of which only two exist. It's actually a very rare white carbon fibre, but the plebs won't spot that when you fly past at up to 254mph.
8| Mercedes-Maybach Exelero
How much? $8 million (P426 million)
This one-of-one has had quite a journey since its unveiling in 2005. Rapper Birdman picked it up for $8 million in 2011 and it went on to star in Jay-Z's video for 'Lost One' and in the anime series Nisekoi. Somehow, though, it's yet to be cast as the Batmobile.
9| Rolls-Royce Sweptail
How much? About $13 million (P662 million)
This bespoke two-seater is a one-off which took four years of design collaboration between the owner and Rolls-Royce to create. The exterior nods at racing yacht design, the name references Rolls' own 1930s Swept Tail models, and if you press a button, chilled champagne and two glasses pop out. Obviously.
10| Bugatti La Voiture Noire
How much? €16.5 million (P933 million)
This one-of-a-kind model is a tribute to the handcrafted Type 57 SC Atlantic Coupé from 1936, and specifically to Jean Bugatti's personal model which was carelessly mislaid at some point during World War 2. It's got a handcrafted carbon fibre body, and has a quad-turbo eight-litre engine turning out 1,479 horsepower. Not that that matters particularly, as you'll never, ever, ever see it.
This story originally appeared on Esquire.co.uk. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
