Most expensive cars in the world

It should come as no surprise that Rolls-Royce tops this list. The brand is the byword for luxurious and expensive motoring, and as of 2025, the Droptail is the most expensive of the lot. While it's not exactly advertised with a price tag, such is the bespoke nature of its embellishment process, you can expect little change from £25 million if you're the financially endowed individual who commissions one.

Just four of these exquisite V12-powered cars will be built. The one pictured here is the first, the La Rose Noire Droptail – the name, and the details of its design, are inspired by the Black Baccara rose. Unusually for a Roller, it's a two-seater – the first one the brand has made in recent years – with a folding hard top.

The centrepiece is a ridiculously complicated piece of woodwork, consisting of 1603 pieces of Black Sycamore veneer arranged in triangles. Buying one gets you a one-off Audemars Piguet timepiece integrated into the dashboard. It's removable, so you can wear it as a watch while the car gets its MOT.

Following the Droptail is the Boat Tail; an incredibly bespoke ultra-luxurious expensive waft mobile. The Boat Tail debuted in 2023 and is still the most expensive model the British marque has produced. Its moniker referred to the stern of a J-class yacht. 

Under its lengthy bonnet was the usual 563bhp 6.75-litre V12 as found in the Phantom. Likewise, the Boat Tail also got the Phantom's safety gizmos, but that was it. The rest was bespoke and featured 1,813 new parts. Only three cars were produced although the Boat Tail can still be explored on the Rolls-Royce website. 

The Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic was handsome and the La Voiture Noire nodded to the one owned by Jean Bugatti, a car that disappeared during World War II. Its name translates to "The Black Car", fitting considering its stealthy physique. 

The La Voiture Noire featured a single-piece carbon fibre body and boasted six tailpipes, which led to Bugatti's W16 powerplant. Similarly, the Havan Brown grain leather interior was inspired by the Atlantic. Only one La Voiture Noire was made.

While built in 2018, the Zonda HP Barchetta remains one of the world's most expensive cars. 789bhp came from a 6.0-litre biturbo V12 mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, alongside rear-wheel drive and a mechanical locking diff. 

The HP Barchetta had large ventilated discs with four-piston calipers at the rear and six-piston ones up front. Its design is very Hot Wheels; there's no roof, but there is a roof scoop (oddly), the wheel fairings are made from carbon fibre and it has a wraparound windscreen. Overall, it weighs 1,250kg, meaning an incredible power to weight. 

Yet another Rolls-Royce makes our list, this time in the form of the stunning hard-top Sweptail. When buying a new car, buyers can often choose from colours, alloy wheels or interior trinkets. Things that add a little extra to the overall cost. But when a Hong Kong businessman ordered a Phantom Coupe, he specced a bespoke interior and body. Something that took four years for Rolls-Royce to build. 

Rolls-Royce fitted a large panoramic roof, which is one of the biggest and most expensive ever fitted to a car. Inside is polished open-pore Paldao and Macassar Ebony wood. 

Sadly, you can forget about buying this one unless it pops up at auction. This one-off Chiron wasn't built for a particular customer but was instead a response to customers who desired the performance of a Pur Sport with road comfort. 

While it would've sold, all 500 Chiron's it was based on had been sold, meaning only one Profilée could be built. If somehow you get your hands on it, remember this is the last car to feature Bugatti's legendary W16 engine. 

Oh look, it's another Bugatti. Like the Chiron Profilée, this model pays homage to another legendary Bugatti - the EB110 Supersport. The Centodieci also celebrated the company's 110th birthday. 

Bugatti gave it an entirely new roofline, a higher rear and a lower front to the Chiron. Likewise, a smaller horseshoe grille matched the EB110's while five round air intakes were positioned at each side aft of the doors. There was no mechanical difference. It still had the Chiron's 8.0-litre W16, which produced 1,578bhp, meaning a 240mph top speed. Only 10 examples were built. 

Described as "a grand complication on wheels", the Pagani Huayra Codalunga mirrors the ethos of ludicrously expensive, hand-built watches. Indeed, the department of Pagani that makes bespoke models is called Grande Complicazioni, a nod to horology. Every aspect of the Codalunga was designed to wow.

Only five examples of the Huayra Codalunga were made, the first stemming from a client who wanted a long-tail version of the Huayra Coupe. That was back in 2018, and it took years to become a reality. Inspiration came from the Italian coachbuilders and racing cars of the 1960s, although they didn't have 840PS V12 engines with some 1100Nm of torque and a titanium exhaust system.

The Pagani Huayra Codalunga weighed just 1280kg and was exceedingly aerodynamic, which, without baffling you with maths and science, meant it was fast.

No Pagani car is restrained or slow, but even among a pantheon of ludicrous hypercars, the Pagani Imola was bonkers. It was hugely over the top, with the trademark AMG 6.0-litre V12 producing 850PS and six (!) titanium exhaust pipes announcing its arrival.

Naturally, it easily topped 200mph and Pagani claimed it could touch 600kg thanks to lightweight bodywork. Only eight were created. Well, we think so anyway – this was one of those "if you had to ask..." cars where the actual price was somewhat unclear, but £4.5 million was an educated guess, based on Pagani's other pricey motors.

The hierarchy of special Bugattis is clear: the more expensive they get, the less are built. The Divo was a mere £4.8 million (still making the standard Bugatti Chiron look cheap) and 40 examples were produced. In July 2021, the last example rolled off the production line and was given to its owner. 

The Bugatti Divo was based on a Chiron and used the W16 engine. But it was designed as a more track-focused sports car than a straight-line warrior, with all-new carbon fibre bodywork bringing down the weight, more downforce and a reduced top speed - to just 236mph.

The standard Chiron could go faster still with its 'Top Speed' mode, up to 261mph. But the Bugatti Divo monstered its sibling through the bends. It also had a more menacing look to help it stand out, while various personalisation options bumped the price further.