Photographs: Reuters
These are cars that millionaires drive. They come loaded with state-of-the-art gadgets and accessories; most of these are custom-built, tailor-made to the owners' specifications and are the envy of all and sundry.
Some of these cars are so fancy and fast that they can touch more than 300 km per hour; some are so exclusive that finding them on a road is a near impossibility; and some are just exquisite works of art.
Here is a lowdown on the most expensive cars in the world. Many of these cars are not yet available in India, but in the markets that they are sold, this is the ranking they have in terms of their price. Once they come to India, their price in Indian currency would be even higher.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
Bugatti Veyron Super Sport: $2.5 million
Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, the fastest car in the world, is also the most expensive in the world at $2.5 million. Its Grand Sport version was launched in India in 2010 with a price tag starting at Rs 16 crore (Rs 160 million), making it the most expensive car ever to hit the Indian roads.
Named after French racing driver Pierre Veyron, it has a top speed of 431.07 km/h.
Veyron uses components made of special materials like titanium, carbon fibre and magnesium and is assembled by hand at the company's hand headquarters Molsheim in France.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
Koenigsegg Agera R: $1.5 million
Just like other Koenigsegg supercars, the new Agera is the work of Christian von Koenigsegg. As far as speed, handling and sheer driving experience is concerned; Agera has set the benchmark for other supercars.
The Agera R, which can reach 100km/h in less than 3 seconds, comes with a 5.0-liter V8 powertrain that churns out mind boggling 972 horsepower.
Unlike other supercar makers, Koenigsegg develops and produces its engines in-house.
Its previous version, Agera, was launched in India in February with a price tag of about Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million).
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
Maybach Landaulet: $1.4 million
Maybach Landaulet, price tag $1.4 million, is the choice of the high and mighty who prefer pure luxury, elegance, and prestige.
Maybach can be customised as per the needs of its buyer and is available in two variants in India: 57 and 62.
The car's interiors are made of fine leather and have a chrome finish. This car is designed to evoke awe and flaunts the owner's class.
The maximum speed this Maybach model can reach is over 400 km/h and it comes with an AMG V12 5.0 liters twin turbo 604 horse power engine.
The car is equipped with smart head lights, bi-xenon, parking guide, refrigerator, sliding tables and much more.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
Pagani Huayra: $1.3 million
Pagani Automobili, the Italian supercar builder, has now come out with Huayra, a successor to Zonda, the Italian supercar.
The new creation from Pagani can reach the top speed of more than 370.1 km/h and is powered by a 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 made exclusively for the car by AMG.
Huayra, pronounced "why-rah", is named after the ancient Andean wind god Aymara Huayra Tata.
With just 60 employees, Pagani's small factory can only produce so many of the largely hand-built cars so worldwide sales are limited to only 20 a year.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
Hennessey Venom GT: $895,000
Hennessey Venom GT, manufactured by Hennessey Performance Engineering, is powered by General Motors' 6.2 L LS9 supercharged V8 that can be found in the Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1.
The modified engine will produce 725 bhp. Hennessey will also offer a 1,000 bhp and 1,200 bhp twin-turbocharged variants.
Hennessey is limiting production of the Venom GT to 10 units a year. Top speed is more than 420 kilometre per hour, with a 0-60 mph time of 2.5 seconds.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
SSC Ultimate Aero: $750,000
SSC Ultimate Aero is an American-built mid-engine supercar by Shelby SuperCars, which was founded by Jerod Shelby in 1999.
It does 0-60 mph in 2.78 seconds and its projected top speed can give Veyron a run for its money. It has a 1,287 horse power V8 engine.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
LeBlanc Mirabeau: $728,000
The Mirabeau engine is designed to fulfill all the FIA/Le mans standards of driving.
The model has a V8 engine, 700 horse power and 850 nm torque.
The body and chassis are made out of carbon fiber with a 6 steps transmission and a maximum speed of 370 km/h. It is an out-and-out race car.
Swiss automotive manufacturer Wysstec has been a genuine supercar builder for several years now, despite the fact it tends to shun publicity and makes few statements to the press.
Wysstec produces LeBlanc cars, and its first supercar offering was the Leblanc Caroline, a turbocharged four cylinder automobile of just two litres displacement.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
Ferrari SA Aperta: $520,000
This is the convertible version of the Ferrari 599 (aperta means "Open" in Italian).
The car has a V12 670 horse power engine and can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds.
All the 80 cars that went into production were sold before the launch.
The letters S and A honour Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina, two men who have played a critical role in Ferrari's journey, and the number 80 serves to honor the 80th anniversary of Pininfarina, a car design company based in Italy.
Italian luxury sports car Ferrari will make its official debut in India soon with popular models such as California, 458 Italia, 599GTB Fiorano and the latest FF, with prices starting from Rs 2.2 crore (Rs 22 million) onward.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce: $455,500
Lamborghini Murcielago comes with a 6.5 litre V12 petrol engine and can speed from zero to 100 kilometre per hour in 3.2 seconds.
It has a maximum speed of 342 kilometre per hour. The car has high-strength tubular frame made of steel alloy and carbon fiber and comes with a 6.5-litre, 12-cylinder engine capable of producing 631 bhp power.
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World's most expensive cars
Photographs: Reuters
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe: $447,000
The engine is a V12 with direct injection and a maximum power of 453 horse power. The maximum speed is 240 km/h and it can reach 100 km/h in 5.6 seconds.
Phantom Drophead Coupe, which is a convertible version of Rolls-Royce's Phantom sedan, has two doors and four seats.
It competes in a small segment of ultra-luxurious, highly customizable convertibles that includes the 2010 Bentley Azure T convertible. Each Phantom is hand-built.
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