Since the day this site was created, I have repeatedly told you about the most expensive cars: The 10 Most Expensive Modern Cars in the World, Most Expensive Car of 2011. I would like to add 6 more cars sold at auction for crazy money. Prices are listed in ascending order, from cheapest to most expensive.
6 most expensive antique cars in the world
6. 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster, $8.252 million
The pinnacle of the pre-war German automotive industry, the flagship model of Mercedes-Benz, developed by the outstanding engineer Hans Gustav Rohr and produced only by special orders. A total of 26 cars were produced, with buyers as diverse as Hitler’s ministers Goering and Goebbels and Hollywood movie mogul Jack Warner. The Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster, equipped with a 5.4-liter turbocharged eight-cylinder engine, became the fastest production car of its time – it reached speeds of up to 180 km / h. Until 2007, the car was owned by Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and was put up for auction by him along with other cars he owned. The name of the new owner has not been released.
Auction RM Auctions, October 2007
5. Bugatti Type 41 Royale Kellner Coupe 1931, $ 9.7 million
One of the six most luxurious Bugatti Royale cars was produced in the 1930s. The car, 6.4 m long and weighing 3.1 tons, is equipped with a giant aircraft 12.7-liter eight-cylinder engine with a capacity of 300 hp. With. At the same time, the giant was able to develop a speed of 160 km / h, which was very solid for its time. At one time, there was no buyer for it, and during World War II, the Bugatti family walled the car into the wall of a private house so that the Nazis would not find it and confiscate it. In 1950, the famous American racer Briggs Cunningham bought it for the equivalent of $3,000. Until 1986, the car was in his own automobile museum. After the museum closed for financial reasons, Cunningham put the car up for auction at Christie’s, where it sold for $9.8 million. The buyer, Swedish “real estate king” Hans Thulin, went bankrupt just three years after the purchase. In 1990, he sold the car for a reported $15.7 million to the Japanese conglomerate Meitec Corporation, who owned it for the next decade. It is known that in 2001 the £10 million car was put up for private auction by Bonhams & Brooks, but it is not known who owns the Kellner Coupe now.
Christie’s auction, November 1987
4. 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder, $10.89 million
The same RM Auctions, the same place – Maranello, the top lot of the auction, of course, Ferrari, but this time the 250 GT California Spyder models. In total, approximately 50 of these cars were produced with a short wheelbase (SWB) and the same number with a long wheelbase (LWB). Cars with a long base were equipped with a derated, “civilian” engine with a capacity of 250 hp. s., while a racing engine with a capacity of 277 liters was installed on short-base specimens. with., which allowed speeds up to 240 km / h. Put up for auction in May 2008, the Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder once belonged to American film actor James Coburn, star of The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. Almost $ 11 million for him did not regret the British radio and TV presenter Chris Evans.
Auction: RM Auctions, May 2008
3. 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, $12 million
One of the legendary racing cars Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa – in 1957-1958, only 22 of these cars were produced, equipped with a three-liter V12 engine with a capacity of 300 hp. With. and capable of speeds up to 270 km / h. This car was the top lot at the RM Auctions auction, held in May 2009 in the small Italian town of Maranello, a sacred place for any Ferrari lover, where the headquarters of this Italian company is located. The results of the auction even exceeded the expectations of the organizers of the auction: Testa Rossa was sold for $12.2 million, a record amount at that time in the history of the RM Auctions car auction. The names of the seller and buyer of the car were not disclosed. It is only known that the sold copy repeatedly took part in various international competitions and finished first many times.
Auction: RM Auctions, May 2009
2. 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO, $17.7 million
One of 36 Ferrari 250 GTO sports cars produced in 1962-1963. The rear-wheel drive car is equipped with a three-liter V12 engine with a capacity of 290 hp. With. and is capable of speeds of 280 km / h. This copy was purchased in May 2010 at the Canadian auction RM Auctions by the famous British radio and TV presenter Chris Evans, the owner of a solid collection of rare cars from this Italian company – for example, there are six white and two black Ferraris in it. It is said that this is not the most expensive Ferrari 250 GTO, and in 2008 another car in this series was sold to an anonymous buyer for $ 28 million. But since it was a private sale, the amount of the transaction was never officially confirmed.
Auction: RM Auctions, May 2010
1. Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic 1936, $38 million
The legendary French company Bugatti, the standard of luxury in the global automotive industry of the 20-30s of the last century, was created by the Italian Ettore Bugatti – therefore, two countries are arguing about the right to consider cars of this brand as “their own”. Bugatti Type 57SC vehicles with 210 hp engine. with., a maximum speed of 200 km / h, avant-garde designs of Ettore’s son, Jean Bugatti, were made in the workshops of the French company Bugatti in the 30s of the last century. In total, three cars of the Type 57SC Atlantic series were made, and two of them survived in the original configuration to our time. The sky blue Bugatti pictured was produced in 1936 by order of the third Baron Rothschild, Victor. The penultimate owner, renowned car collector Peter Williamson, purchased the car in 1971 for $59,000. In May 2010, at a Gooding and Company auction, it was sold for $38 million, the largest amount paid for a car in history. The buyer, American businessman, and French car collector Peter Mullin, put it on public display at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California. The second surviving Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, black, is in the collection of the famous American fashion designer and fanatical Bugatti collector Ralph Lauren.