Here’s an interesting article on the 6 most expensive cars in the world (I think we have to assume that they are either still in production or at least not rare antiques).
However, at RideLust, our tastebuds were fully satisfied with a list of the top 6. Since this is a topic we’re interested in, our plan is to pull together a list of the 50 most expensive cars in the world sometime.
For now, this is what CCPundit lists as the top 6:
1. Bugatti Veyron
2. Enzo Ferrari
3. Pagani Zonda C12 F
4. Koenigsegg CCX
5. Porsche Carrera GT
6. Mercedes SLR McLaren
Thoughts? Is this the right ordering? Are there others that should be on this list? Let us know in the comment section.
It seems the Bugatti Veyron will have to find a new unofficial claim to fame. Maybe it can be the fastest selling 2-nd fastest car in the world? As for being the fastest car in the world, the Guinness Book of World Records has officially awarded that title to the SSC Ultimate Aero TT. After its record run across a Washington state highway that yielded an official average speed, as determined by the Guinness Officials, as being 256.19 mph.
In order to be the worlds fastest production model car you have to meet all the safety and emissions standards that production models face, as well as run on fuel from the average pump.
For anyone fearing that the sun may set on their dream of owning a new Bugatti Veyron before they are able to build up their super car budget maybe a lesser alternative is on its way. Upper management with Bugatti and its parent company Volkswagen AG are looking to recoup more of that initial R&D investment and some alternatives could be in the works. After investing something in the US Dollar close to $500 million to build and design the car, and with a limited production number of 300, Bugatti is losing money on the deal. That $1.4 million window sticker, according to costs, should really be a $5 million sticker.
Bugatti has a couple options on the table and both could yield some extra return to make it all profitable. The first would be to make a limited production run of a convertible Veyron. Some more work would have to go into the design and engineering of the car to get there, but that could still help bring in more money and more buyers. The other option would be to build a second model based on the same technologies.
While there is a certain panache that comes from being a person that can just cut a check for whatever he wants, there are others who see savings in leasing and can find better uses for that upfront cash. It is not all about holding the title to the car as much as it is having the keys.
A recent article in the New York Times discussed some of the advantages of leasing exotic cars that those who could still afford to do otherwise are choosing over that cash purchase. Luckily there are a few companies now specializing in providing those leases once the leaser has plunked down 20-25% of the purchase price for a down payment.
After already increasing the fee to drive high CO2 producing cars to the equivalent of $25 the leaders of London are considering another increase. If their new plan goes into effect it will be costing gas guzzling Londoners what would amount to a daily fee of $50 U.S.
London is charging hard against their congestion issues and pollution concerns. The hope is that by charging such an exorbitant amount they will be able to discourage some people from further adding to the traffic on busy city streets. In turn they hope it will encourage people in London to use the Mass-Transits available or drive smaller, less polluting cars.
Once you have a record you are most certain to have some challengers looking to detrone you. That is precisely the case as the Bugatti Veyron’s record of 253-mph is looking to be broken by the SSC Ultimate Aero TT. The Ultimate Aero has been testing its components and running test runs, and so far the greatest obstacle to making a record breaking run is finding a suitable location.
In the test runs that have been performed the 1183-hp Ultimate Aero has reached 241-mph. Ofcourse SSC (Shelby SuperCars) is quick to note that their best test so far was only utilizing 71% of the throttle. There must be a certain amount of drool building up as they can almost taste that record run.
Take six super cars, a 15,500 ft long Naval Air Station runway and a mission to hit 200 mph from a standing start, all makes for a high octane, adrenalin fueled contest.
The Road and Track team got together a Lamborghini Murcielago, Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren, Ruf RT 12, Lingenfelter Corvette, Bugatti Veyron 16.4 and last but not least the Hennessey Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Viper. Just a few cars off the street no doubt!! The cars were as they come, not race prepared cars and no special tires etc.
With one driver taking to the wheel, the test would be a straight forward blast from a standing start, and take it as quickly as he could to 200 mph, but there was a two mile marker which is the point where the driver would have to lift off and begin to slow right down.
Lamborghini Murcielago 0 to 200 mph, only managed to hit 190.1 mph by the two mile limit.
Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren 0 to 200 mph, did not reach 200 mph (199.5 mph) by the two mile limit.
Ruf RT 12 0 to 200 mph in 35.5 seconds.
Lingenfelter Corvette 0 to 200 mph in 26.5 seconds.
Bugatti Veyron 16.4 0 to 200 mph in 24.2 seconds.
Hennessey Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Viper 0 to 200 mph in 20.3 seconds.
So there you have it, the Hennessey tuned Viper is the winner, by quite a large margin. It is a bit of a surprise in the spread of speed and times set, considering that all the cars above, claimed to have a top speed in excess of 200 mph.
The engineers are 9ff are nearly ready to put to task their retooling of the Porche 911 Turbo. They will be taking on the Bugatti Veyron who is sitting pretty as the fastest production model car with a record of 253mph. To breach the record 9ff has made some minor *wink wink* modifications to the Turbo’s horsepower to increase the output from just over 500 all the way up to just over 900. They have also garnered the expert assistance from H&R on the suspension and chassis to keep this record challenging Porsche gripping the pavement.
The production run of the Porsche 9ff GT9 is reported to be 20 cars with a price tag of $651,405. If they are successful at supplanting the Bugatti as the fastest car in production they will also be undercutting it in price by nearly $400,000. …And who does not like a fast discount?
The Bugatti Veyron is not just a super car with super deluxe styling both inside and out. It is the fastest production car being built today. With a top speed that reaches further than an F-1 race car and the luxury interior accomodations the Bugatti Veyron is more than just a super car. It truly is in a class all its own.
Watch the video below as boys from TopGear take to the VW testing grounds in Germany to see if they can throttle the Veyron up to its posted top speed of 253-mph.
For most of the world the video of the Bugatti scortching down the track at such speeds is as close as we will ever get. And for some of us… it is close enough.
