‘World’s Most Exclusive’ Cars Showcased In Luxe Photo Book
Featuring the $143 MILLION Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, the Lykan HyperSport from “Furious 7,” the McLaren F1, and more.
Aspiring collectors and gearheads with discerning tastes should take note of the latest automotive tome from luxury book publisher Assouline. The title—Rare Cars –The World’s Most Exclusive Rides—tells readers exactly what to expect from this handsome coffee table book, which is elegantly presented in a luxe metal clamshell lined with hand-stitched Italian leather.
Across and 203 illustrations and 304 pages penned by Road & Track editor-at-large A.J. Baime, you’ll find the one-of-two 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé—a $143 million prototype that became the world’s most expensive car in 2022. Another entry is dedicated to the Ferrari 250 GTO, which reigns as the world’s most expensive production car. The highest confirmed auction sale for the in-demand Prancing Horse is $51.7 million, but the book cites the harder-to-confirm $70 million private sale—not that it matters currently, as both surpass every other production car sales record.
Of course, monetary value isn’t the point; it’s just a byproduct of the impact these machines have made. There’s the paradigm-shifting McLaren F1, proclaimed by many to be the “greatest supercar of all time” and the first made of carbon fiber. The lesser-known W Motors Lykan HyperSport is no less impressive in its own right. Named after a species of werewolf, the one-of-seven hypercar’s diamond-inset LED headlights and mesmerizing swan doors gave it enough visual intrigue to earn a starring role in Furious 7—one still runs around on real roadways as part of the Abu Dhabi police department. The Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta, as Baime noted, was not only the most powerful version of Horacio Pagani’s first hypercar, but so exclusive that outlets worldwide picked up news of a crashed example in 2022.
“The cars in this book are masterpieces in the way works of art can be masterpieces,” Baime writes. “Only these art pieces are animate. They can provide joy like no Michelangelo ever could.”
True to the exorbitantly-priced autos within, Rare Cars is available now for the decidedly decadent price of $2,500 per book.
