TG’s top 10 most expensive auction cars ever

In the world of big spenders, million-quid Veyrons mark you out as financial small fry. If you want to really splash the cash, you need one of these...

Sold by Bernie Ecclestone in 2007, this 540K is one of just 26 completed. This symbol of German opulence was first acquired by a wealthy Brit in 1937, a purchase which, it's safe to assume, devalued over the next few years. 

The first-ever collaboration between Mr Rolls and Mr Royce, the 10 hp - with its 1.8-litre twin engine - actually developed 12bhp and would do a dizzying 39mph at full chat. This example, the oldest to survive, sold in London in 2007.

Nothing says interwar German mechanical efficiency like the SSK. Apart from, er, the Messerschmitt. A genuine race car, the 250bhp SSK devoured everything on the Grand Prix circuit of the late 1920s. Including drivers.

The fastest of all the Testa Rossas, this very car was the last front-engined racer to win at Le Mans, in the hands of Phil Hill in 1962. Totalled in a crash in 1963, the final TR was restored to original specification before its sale in 2007.

Chris Evans's second car on this list once belonged to James Coburn. In the 1960s, the Magnificent Seven  star would race his 250 through the Hollywood hills against Steve McQueen. Within local speed limits, of course.

Owned by the Bugattis themselves during the 1930s, the Berline was bricked up in the family's French home during WWII to prevent its seizure by the Nazis. It was sold to an American in 1950 for a bit of cash and a couple of fridges.

With bodywork by Scaglietti and a V12 described as the best-sounding Ferrari engine ever, the 250 TR had well-heeled collectors twitching in inappropriate delight when it went under the hammer in Maranello last year.

Over 15 feet long and packing a 12.7-litre aircraft engine, the Kellner was a sales flop in its lifetime. Launched with a monster price tag straight into the Great Depression of the early 1930s, it remained unsold until the end of WWII.

Bought by celebrated Disc Jockey and Ferrari collector Chris Evans, this GTO - one of just 36 built - is described as the ‘Da Vinci of Motoring'. We believe this means it contains hidden clues about the origins of Christianity.

This Art Deco coupe - one of just three ever built - smashed the world record at auction this May. This buyer remains anonymous, though it's safe to assume he or she resides in a secret volcanic lair. Made of platinum. On the moon.