The manufacturers of the cars listed here are well known for their high-performance, high-priced, high-end vehicles. But even companies like Lamborghini and Ferrari and Bugatti would not have regularly priced cars listed at the exorbitant amounts listed here. No, the cars that are truly the rarest and most expensive are the cars delegated to one-offs, limited editions, special issues, and rare finds. Below you will find a list with some of the very rare and very expensive vintage cars.
- Mercedes 300SL Gullwing 1955 – $4.62 Million
The Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing is a classic, iconic car that is used in many productions and owned by quite a few collectors today.The 300SL was considered “a race car for the street,” as suggested by New York Mercedes’ distributor Max Hoffman. It ran on a 3.0-liter overhead cam straight-six engine that delivered 215 hp (or 240 with optimal variants), and a top speed of 160 mph, making it the fastest production car of its time. As Barazi of CarGurus has said, “The 300SL was the most technologically advanced vehicle to hit the market in the 50s.” And because of that, you’re going to be paying seven figures for one—and even more for an aluminum alloy version. For instance, one aluminum alloy version sold at auction for $4.62 million in 2012, AutoBlog reported.
- Mercedes-Benz S-Type 26/120/180 Sports Tourer 1928 – $5-6 Million
The chief designer of this car was actually Ferdinand Porsche, of a different car company you might recognize. There were originally 150 of these sports tourers produced, but only a handful have survived into the 21st century, making it one of the rarest cars in the world. A recent Gooding & Company auction in Pebble Beach had this car on its lot with an estimated price of $5-$6 million. As you can see, it is a beautiful piece of work from Porsche, one that Mercedes should be proud (and a little jealous) of.
- Porsche 550 Spyder 1956- $6 Million
The Porsche 550 Spyder was a super popular race car produced between 1953 and 1956. Only 90 of these cars were made, and of course a lot less have survived into the modern era. An all-aluminum 1.5-liter four-cylinder boxer engine known as the “Fuhrmann Engine” powered the car, producing 110 hp. The car was inspired by the Porsche 356, built by Ferry Porsche, as well as other Spyder prototypes built and raced by Walter Glöckler. The 550 Spyder was both a track and road car. It was almost always in winning positions (top three spots) during races.
- Bugatti Type 41 Royale Kellner Coupe – $9.7 Million
Before Bugatti was known for their high-end, high-priced supercars, they were known for their luxury vehicles. The Type 41, better known as the Royale, was a large luxury car built between 1927 and 1933. It weight approximately 7,000 pounds (which is a lot), and used a 12.763-liter straight-eight engine (which is huge). For comparison, a modern Rolls-Royce Phantom is 20% shorter and 25% lighter than the Bugatti Type 41. In fact, the Type 41 is one of the largest cars in the world—and unofficially, it’s one of the most stylish. In 2001, Forbes reported the price-tag of this car at $10 million, though CarBuzz reported in 1987 that one had sold at auction for $9.7 million.
- McLaren F1 LM 1998 – $13.75 Million
The McLaren F1 LM is a track-oriented version of the infamous McLaren F1. The car was built to commemorate the five McLaren F1 GTRs that competed in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans race and finished in first, third, fourth, fifth, and thirteenth place. The LM is based on the same F1 GTR, with the chassis from a standard F1. Only six of these cars were made, and five were sold. The sixth was retained by McLaren to use as the platform for developing the F1 chassis. The F1 LMs can all be identified by their Papaya orange paintjobs, a color chosen in tribute to Bruce McLaren, whose race color was the same. One of these cars was auctioned off in 1998 for $13.75 million.
- Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa 1957 – $39.8 Million
The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, or TR, is a race car that was built during the 1950s and ‘60s. The car was introduced at the end of the 1957 racing season in preparation of Le Mans and the new regulation that limited sports cars to just 3-liter engines. The 250TR, as you can tell by reading other entries on this list, absolutely dominated the competition when it was racing.
- Porsche 917 1970 – $14 Million
The Porsche 917 is a sports car prototype that is famous for a few reasons. First, it gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1970 and 1971. Second, it was featured in the Steve McQueen film Le Mans. In 2017, the car driven by McQueen in the film sold at auction for $14 million, which was a record price for Porsche.
- Aston Martin DBR1 1956- $22.5 Million
The Aston Martin DBR1 was a race car built in 1956 and intended for the World Sportscar Championship. Its most famous victory on the track came at the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans, which was Aston Martin’s only outright victory at the endurance race. It’s one of only three cars to win both the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Sports Car Championship in the same year (the others were the Ferrari 375 Plus in 1954 and the Ferrari 250TR in 1958). It also won the Nurburgring, Le Mans, and Tourist Trophy all in 1959, matching the Ferrari 250TR’s record with its three consecutive wins in 1958. In August 2017, a DBR1/1 was sold for $22,555,000, which is a world-record price for a British-made car.
- Jaguar XK120-C 1953 – $13.2 Million
The Jaguar XK120-C, or the C-Type, was a racing sports car from Jaguar produced between 1951 and 1953. The car was built using a lightweight tubular frame and an aerodynamic body developed by Heynes, RJ Knight, and Malcolm Sayer. Only 53 of these cars were built, and 43 of them were sold to private owners, making it possibly the rarest Jaguar in the world. One thing is certain: When a ’53 C-Type sold at an RM Auction in Italy in 2015 for $13.2 million, it became the most expensive Jaguar ever sold.
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