The 10 most expensive cars in the world

While most of us will take a deep breath before signing a finance agreement on a new hatchback, the world’s super rich won’t blink as they sign up for a hypercar which costs multiple millions.

These buyers will think a Rolls Royce Phantom or Ferrari 12Cilindri is just too common and they will demand a car which is bespoke, unique and strictly limited in numbers. And they are prepared to pay prices which are many times the cost of the marque’s other models.

This sort of car is beyond the reach of lottery winners and only available to the billionaire elite. These are the 10 most expensive cars in the world.

• Bugatti Divo
• Pagani Huayra Imola Roadster
• Pagani Huayra Codalunga
• Mercedes-Maybach Exelero
• Bugatti Centodieci
• Bugatti Chiron Profilée
• Rolls Royce Sweptail
• Bugatti La Voiture Noire
• Rolls Royce Boat Tail
• Rolls Royce La Rose Noire Droptail

10. Bugatti Divo – £4.4 million

If the standard Bugatti Chiron isn’t special enough, then how about a coachbuilt version which is said to be even more thrilling to drive?

The Divo is named after the French-Italian racing driver Albert Divo, an air force pilot and mechanic who became a Bugatti works driver in 1928 and immediately won the legendary Targa Florio race.

The car named after him uses the Chiron’s 8-litre, quad turbo W16 to produce 1,479bhp. The 0-62mph time is quoted as 2.4 seconds but the top speed is actually lower than the Chiron’s at ‘only’ 236mph. This is because the Divo does without the ‘Top Speed’ mode and has increased drag from a 1.8-metre wide fixed rear wing, a larger front spoiler, bigger side skirts, and wider air intakes.

So it’s not mistaken for a common Chiron, there are also new headlamps and tail lights plus a wider version of Bugatti’s ‘horseshoe’ grille.

Just 40 Divos were produced and sold out on its first day of ordering. The customers were allowed almost infinite personalisation options and no two are the same.

9. Pagani Huayra Imola Roadster – £4.7 million

Pagani’s very richest customers will be steered towards its ‘Grand Complications’ department, a division dedicated to creating special projects produced in ultra-limited numbers. The Imola Roadster is one of its products, with just eight made and each given a unique specification chosen by the new owner.

It’s named after the Italian circuit on which the chassis was fine-tuned, and features a tweaked version of Pagani’s AMG-sourced V12 twin-turbo with 838bhp. That’s fed to just the rear wheels through a seven-speed sequential gearbox. The top speed is limited to 217 mph, which equates to a more rounded 350 kph for the metric-loving Italians.

Those are some heavyweight numbers, but the car is a lightweight compared to the likes of the Bugatti Chiron, tipping the scales at 1,260kg – that’s less than an Audi TT. However, those huge spoilers produce another 900kg of downforce at track speeds, sticking the Imola to the road surface under cornering.

The weight saving is largely possible because of the use of exotic composites including impressive-sounding Carbo-Titanium HP62-G2 and Carbo-Triax HP62. These are said to be incredibly stiff, helping the Pagani’s handling.

8. Pagani Huayra Codalunga – £5.9 million

It may sound like a fish or cartoon turtle’s catchphrase, but the Codalunga has a better tail to tell.

Two collectors asked Horacio Pagani to produce a ‘long-tail’ version of the Huayra Coupé which would take its inspiration from cars which raced at Le Mans in the 1960s. Besides being pretty, these smooth tapering shapes were also very aerodynamic.

After two years of honing the design with the customers, the car was finally revealed. The cars all use neutral colours and matte paints, with seats finished with a woven leather upholstery, and aluminium components machined from a single block.

The four-pipe exhaust – also a homage to old Le Mans cars – is ceramic-coated for a unique finish.

As with the Imola, the Codalunga uses the AMG-built twin turbo 6-litre V12 engine, which in this tune produces 829 bhp, giving a 217mph top speed.

Besides the original two buyers, a further three cars were built, and all are fully homologated for use on the public road – if you are brave enough to risk sharing space with other drivers.

7. Mercedes-Maybach Exelero – £6.2 million

Imagine going to your boss and saying you need a new car to test tyres. It needs to be big, heavy and fast. But instead of choosing an existing super saloon, the owners of Fulda – Goodyear’s German subsidiary – commissioned a £6.2 million, one off coupe from Maybach.

The company had done the same thing back in 1938, and the result was the Maybach SW38, which was capable of 125mph – quite a feat for the time. That car was destroyed in WWII, but its spirit and ‘streamliner’ styling cues live on in the Exelero.

The 2.6 tonne car has just two seats yet is 5,834mm long – that’s longer than a Rolls Royce Phantom. That meant the bonnet could be extended to a length big enough to play tennis on. Underneath is a V12 which was increased from a standard Maybach’s 5.6-litres to 5.9-litres and has two turbos to boost power to 691bhp. Top speed is claimed to be 217mph.

The car has appeared in various films and TV shows and there were rumours that it had been bought by a rapper. However, it is still currently on show in a German museum.

6. Bugatti Centodieci – £7 million

If you are a billionaire Bugatti collector, you were probably waiting impatiently for a new car to match your classic EB110 Supersport from the mid 1990s. Well, the wait was over in 2019 when the company built the Centrodieci – a Chiron based coupe which harked back to the EB110 and celebrated the company’s 110th birthday.

It’s surprisingly different to the Chiron too, with an entirely new roofline, lower front and a rear that sits much higher. There’s a much smaller version of the Bugatti horseshoe grille too, matching the EB110’s, along with that car’s five round air intakes arranged in the shape of a diamond and a long glass engine cover.

Mechanically it’s the same as the Chiron, with Bugatti’s 8.0-litre W16 engine producing 1,578 bhp, giving the Centodieci a 0 to 62 mph time of 2.4 seconds. Top speed is just under 240mph, and the chassis has been tweaked to give an even sportier driving experience.

Just 10 examples were hand-built and every one was sold before it was made at a unit price of €8m.

5. Bugatti Chiron Profilée – £8.4 million

If you bought one of the other Bugatti specials there is always the risk that some other billionaire could pull up outside the local Tesco in the same car. Can you imagine the shame? To prevent this, there is only one solution – you need a one-off.

This is precisely what was offered by the Chiron Profilée, although it wasn’t built with any one customer in mind. Instead, the car was built in response to several collectors who expressed a desire for a Chiron which combined some of the performance and handling upgrades of the track-focussed Pur Sport with a touch more road bias. Bugatti started work on the car but soon realised they would never be able to put it into production as the Chiron production was strictly limited to 500 cars and they were all accounted for.

As a result, just one Profilée was ever made.

To add to its special credentials, the car is the last Bugatti to feature the W16 engine and is the fastest accelerating of all Chiron models, with a 0-62 time of 2.3 seconds.

4. Rolls Royce Sweptail – £10 million

When most of us choose a new car, we might treat ourselves to a couple of optional extras such as metallic paint or a sunroof which could add a few hundred quid to the price. But when a Hong Kong based businessman decided to order a Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe, he opted to have a bespoke body and interior, modelled on luxury yachts and classic coachbuilt Rolls Royce Sweptails of the 1920s and 30s.

It took Rolls Royce four years to build and cost £10 million – the same as 22 ‘standard’ Phantom Coupes. This made it the world’s most expensive car when it was revealed in 2017.

Its most distinctive feature is the long, tapering tail, which is topped by a panoramic glass roof, which is one of the biggest and most complex ever seen on a car.

This allows us all to see inside, which is trimmed in two tone leathers for the seats, armrests and fascia surround. Woods are highly polished Macassar Ebony and open-pore Paldao, just in case you wanted to replicate the look in your Fiesta.

No mechanical details have been released but it’s assumed the engine and chassis are identical to the standard Phantom.

3. Bugatti La Voiture Noire – £10.4 million

In the world of Bugatti collectors there is a mythical car – the Type 57 SC Atlantic. This advanced coupe was launched in 1936 and was a sensation, but just four were made. Of these, Jean Bugatti’s personal car was lost in WWII while being taken to a place of ‘safety’ and has never been seen again. If it were to be found it would be worth at least £100 million according to experts.

Bugatti decided that if they couldn’t find this car it would create the next best thing – a bespoke Chiron which is inspired by it. La Voiture Noir – named after the lost all-black Type 57 SC, is officially the most expensive new Bugatti ever made.

As you’d expect, it’s based on the running gear of the Chiron, but the bodywork is surprising different, with a longer tail and stretched wheelbase creating a car with is 450mm bigger than a standard Chiron.

The rear is dominated by the single-piece taillight which stretches across the width of the car, above illuminated Bugatti lettering. Like the classic, there are also six individual tailpipes.

2. Rolls Royce Boat Tail – £22 million

While £22m sounds like an awful lot for a car, it’s comparatively cheap for a custom-built yacht – and the first Rolls Royce Boat Tail’s owner has several.

These inspired him to commission the whimsically unique version of the Phantom Drophead, which is said to evoke classic ‘J-Class’ racing yachts and a 1932 Rolls-Royce Boat Tail which he restored for his collection.

The deck-like wooden panels covering the rear boot area hinge in the middle to reveal a very posh picnic set and a parasol that extends upwards to shade the rotating cocktail tables and stools.

Inside there are custom made ‘his and her’ timepieces that can be worn as watches or used as a desk clock and two fridges that keep the owner’s favoured vintage of champagne at the correct temperature. There is also a Montlblanc pen in the glovebox and a Bose sound system which is custom-made for the car.

His car isn’t quite as special as you might assume though – it is one of three, with the others reportedly going to celebrity couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z, plus a wealthy pearl trader.

1. Rolls Royce La Rose Noire Droptail – £23 million

The prize for the world’s most expensive car goes to another Rolls Royce, but this time the Droptail series – a collection of four two seat roadsters which Rolls says are “the result of remarkable collaborations between Coachbuild artisans and ambitious, visionary clients.” The first commission, Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail is inspired by a rare flower, the Black Baccara Rose, which is apparently the favourite of the buyer’s mother.

The roadster’s £23 million price tag doesn’t buy you a folding roof however – there is a carbon-fibre hardtop which turns the Droptail into a coupe, or it can be removed by the servants if you are sure it’s not going to rain.

If it did, it might threaten the complex ‘parquetry’ of the wood veneers which are formed from 1,603 pieces of Black Sycamore, arranged to resemble falling rose petals. The artwork took nine months to create.

Besides the looks, the Droptails are also the only bespoke Rolls Royces which are given a power boost, with the 6.75 litre V12 engine fettled to produce an extra 30bhp. The 0-62 time of 4.8 seconds would be comfortably beaten by a £36,000 MG4, but it’s unlikely any of the Droptail’s owners will be engaging in any racing.

Most expensive cars FAQs

Q: What is the most expensive car in the world?

A: The world’s most expensive car is the Rolls Royce Droptail, a series of four bespoke roadsters which are based on a new and unique aluminium chassis with two seats and a removable carbon-fibre hard top.

Three Droptails have been unveiled so far—the La Rose Noire, the Amethyst, and the Arcadia – and all have unique colours and wood veneers inspired by elements such as the favourite flower of the buyer’s mother, their son’s birth stone and even a piece of furniture.

Q: How much is the most expensive car in the world?

A: The world’s most expensive car is the Rolls Royce Droptail, which costs around £23 million. That’s enough to buy 50 Rolls Royce Phantom Dropheads or a fleet of 230 Porsche 911s.

Q: Who owns the most expensive car in the world?

A: The car makers are generally very discreet about who buys the most expensive cars, but it is thought the first Rolls Royce Droptail – called La Rose Noire and costing £23 million – was bought by the Meilland family in France. They made their fortune selling and breeding roses. Another bespoke Rolls has reportedly gone to celebrity couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

The most valuable car in the world, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé from 1955, sold at auction for a record price of £113 million in 2022. Although it has never been confirmed, it’s widely rumoured the buyer was Sir James Ratcliffe, the British owner of chemical company Ineos and the maker of the Grenadier off roader.