To quote hard-boiled detective Sam Spade – referring to the mysterious Maltese Falcon in the film of the same name – the most exclusive cars on the planet are “the stuff dreams are made of.”
They’re no mere touring cars, riding on race-ready underpinnings and packing powerful engines that enable unimaginable rates of acceleration. They come wrapped in achingly gorgeous, low-slung styling that make them rolling works of art as much as automobiles. They’re also expensive like museum-grade artwork, with staggering sticker prices that are only within the reach of the wealthiest royals, tycoons, and oligarchs.
Production is extremely limited in this circle, so much so that – even if you have pockets as deep as Bruce Wayne or Scrooge McDuck – you might not be able to obtain one. Entire runs of some models can be spoken for almost immediately upon their unveiling. You’ll likely never so much as see one in person, unless perhaps you’re a valet at some ultra-swank hotel in Doha, Shanghai or Abu Dhabi. Some, purchased for future appreciation, may never venture beyond the door of a storage facility that holds its wealthy owner’s fleet of precious metal.
Many of these cars come from uber-exotic brands with names that are not familiar to most motorists, like Koeneggsegg and Pagani. Others are the ultimate expressions of motoring from more familiar names like Bugatti and Aston Martin.
We’re featuring the 10 costliest rides for 2021 in the following slides. We’re focusing here on production models, and are sidestepping vehicles limited to racetracks and one-off models that are usually created as engineering or design exercises, or are fabricated specifically for one of the world’s richest enthusiasts.
