For sale: £43 million private car collection

It's so extensive they've had to open up another day just to flog them all. Ladies and gentlemen, on 13 August 2015 at the RM Sotheby's Monterey auction, a private collection of 30 cars will be offered up for sale.

What makes this newsworthy however, is that the cars are all part of a single collection - a single private collection, no less - and represent some of the finest machinery men with tools have ever built.

There are such automotive luminaries as the very first Bugatti Veyron, chassis number 001, the Lamborghini Reventon, a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM and a 1998 McLaren F1 LM.

Though RM Sotheby's has yet to reveal the full list of 30 cars, the value of the whole lot - sold individually, of course, not as a collective - is said to comfortably exceed all previous private car collections sold at auction, which currently stands at over $65.9 million. That's a cool £43 million, at the very minimum.

"While many of the world's most impressive collections were established in the public eye of the car collecting world," says RM's Shelby Myers, "the ‘Pinnacle Portfolio' was assembled with a clandestine, surgical precision unlike any other that has come to market."

As mentioned, RM has had to extend its Monterey auction, with this collection being sold off during an exclusive, standalone auction.

We've got some highlights for you here, so have a scan through and choose your favourite. The Pope's old Enzo, anyone?

This is the very first production Veyron. Chassis number 001, and showing just 764 miles from new.

Bugatti Veyron, this is your life: gallery

A white Super Sport - one of less than eight Veyron Super Sports in the US - complete with that 1200bhp W16 engine. It's got just 308 miles on the clock, and was one of the 2015 Geneva Motor Show cars.

TG takes the Veyron across Route 66

We don't need to tell you too much about the Enzo, because you'll know everything there is to know (6.0-litre V12, 660 horses, 0-62mph in 3.6s, top speed of 217mph+ etc etc).

This one however, is absolutely special. It's the last Enzo ever built - number 400 - and was gifted to (and blessed by) His Holiness Pope John Paul II by Ferrari. It features a carbon fibre rear spoiler, ‘Daytona' seats, and an inscription by former Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemelo under the bonnet.

288 GTO vs F40 vs F50 vs Enzo: is this the ultimate Ferrari group test?

Designed to look like an F22 Raptor fighter jet, and packing a 650bhp 6.5-litre V12, the Reventon is many of Top Gear's favourite things rolled into one, stealth package. This one has been driven for just 866 miles, and is the seventh car of only 20 built.

This particular Saleen was featured in Iron Man, as part of Tony Stark's collection. With over 1,000bhp, it has been retained since new by Saleen as a promotion car, and is just one of two S7s with the Competition Pack fitted.

We showed you a black one - the world's only black one - for sale last year. Here's a more traditional colour, one of only 50 ever built, packing the Ferrari Enzo's 6.0-litre V12 and 625 horses.

0-62mph? 3.8s. Top speed? 205mph. This one has just 768km on the clock.

Come on, it's a Jaguar XJ220. This one features 2,900KM on the clock, and we're told is one of just ten XJ220's fitted with ‘brake boosters' straight from the factory. Brake boosters are good.

It's the supercharged McMerc, with just two owners on the book and 134 miles from new. It was bought new by Robert Petersen and displayed in the Petersen Automotive Museum too.

Featured in the fifth instalment of the Fast and Furious franchise (Fast Five), it's Mr Koenigsegg's spectacular 1,018bhp, ethanol-fuelled hypercar. There are just five examples in the US, and this is one of them. There are only 441 miles on the clock, too. Be afraid.

Gooding & Co is offering up a black 959 ‘Komfort' - one of the rarest colours in the world for the lovely 959 - but here is RM's version, in classic Silver. It's got a known history from new, a hearty - but not huge - 21,100 KM on the clock and is said to have been well preserved.

All you need to know is that it's got a flat six, twin-turbo engine, 4WD, 444 horsepowers and a 0-62mph time of just 3.9 seconds. Want.

It's a Gullwing. It's one of 29 aluminium-bodied Gullwings ever built. It's completely mechanically original. It's been fully restored. And it's bloody gorgeous. What else do you need to know about possibly the most beautiful Mercedes ever built?

Lovely, isn't it? This is the 63rd McLaren F1 built, and one of just two cars upgraded to the LM spec. The LM was originally built to celebrate the F1 GTR's victory at Le Mans, and just five exist in the world.

So, that lovely BMW V12 got 680bhp (unrestricted), GTR-spec aero, a better gearbox and a top speed of 240mph. Fetching colour, too.

Ten reasons McLaren's F1 GTR was great

The successor to the F40, this V12 boasts less than 5,800 miles on the clock, and even retains the original hardtop luggage with road cases.

In 1989, Ferrari built two ‘LM' F40s, for a French importer who wanted to run the cars at Le Mans. They both got modified suspension, a more powerful version of that 3.0-litre twin-turbo V8 (now producing 700bhp), and better aero.

Ferrari would go on to build around ten of these special F40s, with the later ones named Competizione. But this is the second of the first two, original LMs built, and has never been raced.

It's LaFerrari's great, great, grand-daddy, one of just 272 built and arguably one of the most important models to emerge from Maranello in history. This one has 13,700km on the clock.

Fully restored, in a rare blue, this is a ‘matching numbers' 275 that's been fully certified by Ferrari's classic department. Also, it's a beaut'.

This one was delivered new to the US in '72, complete with air con and wire wheels. It's the 66th model built, and has been given an award-winning restoration. Books and tools included.

This 250 LM - shown at the 1964 Earls Court Motor Show - was raced in the UK "with great success", and even competed recently in the Le Mans Classic and Tour Auto. It's completely mechanically original and gets a Ferrari Classiche certificate too.

The Dino 246 GTS made its debut at the '72 Geneva Motor Show, and featured a 2.4-litre V6 featuring 195bhp. 1,274 GTS models were built over a two year period, and this one is an ‘E' Series model, with a silver-over-red colour combo.

Just how cool is the 356? This one is presented in ‘original' colours and gets the optional coupe seats.

This particular 250 gets ‘Superamerica-style' front vents, an inset air intake on the hood, velocity stacks, and factory hardtop. It was formerly owned by Prince Alvise Hercolani, and gets that all-important Ferrari Classiche tick.