Top Ten Most Expensive Cars of 2006

The world’s ten most expensive automobiles include such dreams-come-true as a street-legal, ten-cylinder Porsche race car (the Carrera GT); an electric car with a 300-hp motor ( Venturi’s Fetish sports car, which just went on sale) and cars with over 1,000 hp each ( Bugatti’s Veyron 16.4 and SSC’s Ultimate Aero).

These kinds of cars make Ferraris and Aston Martins look like relative bargains; despite their fame, they are much cheaper than the cars on our list. Of the ten most expensive cars, only two are made by brands with household names - Porsche and Mercedes-Benz - although I guess it depends on what your household is like.

But the ten most expensive cars aren’t just rare. They are beautiful, but in daring, sometimes avant-garde ways that mainstream cars can’t follow. Their top speeds set records. Their technology is pioneering, and attainable only by the wealthiest of car buyers - and that’s a blessing even for the non-wealthy.

• Bugatti Veyron 16.4, 1.192.057$
• Pagani Zonda Roadster F C12S 7.3, 667.321$
• SSC Ultimate Aero, 654.500$
• LeBlanc Mirabeau, 645.084$
• Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, 555.000$
• Koenigsegg CCR, 637.723$
• Venturi Fetish, 583.000$
  
• Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, 452.750$
• Maybach 62,  448.153$
• Porsche Carrera GT, 440.000$