Top 10 cars in the world

Fact Jeke Behind the Wheel
This week, I thought I should bring you the 10 most expensive cars in the world.
We may have never seen some on our streets, but hey it doesn’t hurt to be mesmerised and to day dream right???
At the top of the list is, of course, the legendary Bugatti Veyron, most expensive, most powerful and fastest production car in the world.
I have featured this car as one of the sexiest exotic because it’s Italian with a taste of za French and powerful because it has a massive engine under the hood.

This baby sits at almost US$2 million big ones . . . the Bugatti Veyron can feed quite a number of starving people and remain with a bit of change.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is the most powerful, most expensive and fastest street-legal production car in the world, with a proven top speed of over 400km/h (407km/h or 253 mph). It reached full production in September 2005.

The car is built by Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS and is sold under the legendary Bugatti marquee.
It is named after racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti firm. The Veyron features a W16 engine – 16 cylinders in four banks of four cylinders.

Next up is the Ferrari Enzo sitting at a cool US$1 million plus. The Enzo Ferrari, sometimes referred to as the Ferrari Enzo and also F60 is a 12-cylinder Ferrari supercar named after the company’s founder, Enzo Ferrari.

It was built in 2003 using Formula One technology, such as a carbon-fibre body, F1-style sequential shift transmission, and carbon-ceramic brake discs. Also used are technologies not allowed in F1 such as active aerodynamics.

Then there is the sexy Pagani Zonda C12 at over US$700 000. The Zonda C12 F debuted at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show.
It is the most extensive re-engineering of the Pagani car yet, though it shares much with its predecessors including the 7.3 L V12. Power is increased to 602 PS (443 kW/594hp) with a special clubsport model producing 650PS (478 kW/641 hp).

The company promises a 3,2 second sprint to 60mph (97km/h, a top speed over 374km/h (225mph) and it will be the queen in braking from 300km/h to 0 (186mph to 0).

Next stop is the Koenigsegg CCX at a little over US$600 000. The Koenigsegg CCX is the latest super car from Koenigsegg. CCX is an abbreviation for Competition Coupe X.

The X commemorates the 10th anniversary of the completion and test drive of the first CC vehicle in 1996.
The CCX is intended to be more suitable for the US market and thus engineered to comply with US regulations. The CCX is powered by a Koenigsegg designed and assembled, all aluminium, 4 700cm³ DOHC 32-valve V8 based on the Ford Modular engine architecture enhanced with twin Rotrex centrifugal superchargers with response system, 1,2 bar boost pressure and an 8.2:1 compression ratio.

For Porsche lovers there is the Porsche Carrera GT at a whopping US$500 000. The Porsche Carrera GT is a supercar, manufactured by Porsche of Germany. The Carrera GT is powered by an all-new 5.7 litre V10 engine producing 612 SAE horsepower (450kW).

Porsche claims it will accelerate from 0 to 100km/h (62,5mph) in 3,9 seconds and has a maximum speed of 330km/h (206mph), although road tests indicated that in actuality the car could accelerate from 0-60 in under 3,5 seconds and to 0-100 in 6,8 seconds and has a top speed of 335-340km/h (209-212,5mph).

In sixth place is the famous Mercedes SLR McLaren starting at US$455 500. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is a sports car and super car automobile co-developed by Daimler-Chrysler and McLaren Cars.

It is assembled at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. Most people presume “SLR” to stand for “Sportlich, Leicht, Rennsport” (German for “Sport; Light; Racing”).

In seventh position sits the Maybach 62 at about US$400 000 big ones. The Maybach 57 and 62 were the first automobile models of the Maybach brand since the brand’s revival by Daimler-Chrysler.

They are derived from the Mercedes-Benz Maybach concept car presented at the 1997 Tokyo Motorshow (which was based on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan). Daimler-Chrysler attempted to buy the Rolls-Royce/Bentley marque when Vickers offered the company up for sale.

When this attempt failed (they were outbid by BMW and Volkswagen respectively) they introduced the Maybach as a direct challenger in 2002.

Both models are variants of the same ultra-luxurious automobile.
For those who love British Royalty the Rolls-Royce Phantom at a little under US$400 000 will have you turning heads.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a luxury saloon automobile made by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, a BMW subsidiary. It was launched in 2003 and is the first Rolls-Royce model made under the ownership of BMW.

It has a 6,8 L, 48-valve, V12 engine that produces 453 hp (338kW). The engine is derived from BMW’s existing V12 powerplant.
It is 1,63m (63in) tall, 1,99m (74,8in) wide, 5,83m (228in) long, and weighs 2 485kg (5 478lb). The body of the car is built on an aluminium space frame and the Phantom can accelerate to 60 mph (100km/h) in 5,7s.

At number nine is the all so exotic Lamborghini Murcielago at about US$300 000. The Lamborghini Murciélago is a GT and supercar automobile made by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. and designed by Luc Donckerwolke. It was introduced in 2002 as the successor to the Diablo. The body style is a two-door, two-seat coupé. The LP640 version was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March of 2006. It features a 6.5 L engine, now producing 640 bhp, improving performance substantially.

Sitting on last position is the Aston Martin Vanquish at US$255 000. The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish is a super car manufactured by Aston Martin since 2001. It rose to fame after being featured as the official James Bond car in “Die Another Day”, the 20th James Bond film.

It is controlled by a fly-by-wire throttle and a six-speed ‘’paddle shift’’ or semi-automatic transmission.
Till next week, be safe. Happy holidays and God bless you.

Fact D. Jeke is a motoring enthusiast who has attended auto shows, rallies and has written for various publications in the region for the last decade. She can be contacted via email on [email protected], Torque with Fact Jeke on Facebook or YOOKOS.