Last month, we brought Polo Lifestyles readers “The World’s Most Luxurious Sneaker” by Athletic Propulsion Labs. For our “The World’s Most…” content this month – and appropriately fitting with our Formula 1 cover – our senior global style curator Trystanne researched The World’s Most Luxurious Automobiles. These four-wheeled creations will not only get you where you’re going, but they will get you where you’re going in a hurry and in major style. From Rolls Royce to Ferrari to Bugatti to Mercedes to Aston Martin, here’s the best of the best when it comes to luxury automobiles.
The Rolls Royce Sweptail, Estimated at $13 million
Rolls Royce, the exquisite British car company, unveiled the world’s most expensive new car - a one-off, yacht-inspired vehicle valued at a staggering $13 million. The Sweptail is the firm’s first coach-built car of the modern era and is the result of a four-year project with one of its “most valued customers.” Described as the “automotive equivalent of haute couture”, the Sweptail has the largest grille of any modern Rolls and an uninterrupted glass roof – believed to be one of the largest, and most complex, ever seen on any car. The unique Roller is understood to be the most expensive new road car ever built. It has been customized for an unnamed client who is known to be a connoisseur and collector of distinctive, one-off items including super-yachts and private aircraft. Rolls-Royce chose the name Sweptail as a nod to the sweptail of certain Rolls-Royces from the 1920s, which the client admired so much. Torsten Muller-Otvos, chief executive officer at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said, “Sweptail is a truly magnificent car. Rolls-Royce’s history as the world’s leading coach builder is at the very core of its identity as the world’s leading luxury brand.”
Mercedes Maybach Vision 6 Exelero AQ A reflection of the past and present, with a look to the future, the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 foresees a coupe experience like no other. Paying homage to the classics of the past and carrying the tradition into the future, the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 coupe concept represents the ultimate in automotive luxury: an exquisite, ultra-stylish, luxury-class coupé. Aesthetically, the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 contrasts two main elemental characteristics: sensual, emotional design (“hot”) and intelligent details (“cool”). The interior of the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 features an incomparable 360-degree lounge that synthesizes the two elements again. The digital displays are contrasted by high-quality leather and wood trim, including elm wood in the floor area. The padded leather upholstery includes miniature “body sensor displays” that monitor passengers’ vitals and automatically adjust climate controls and massage functions. They also capture light and color – for example, the color of occupants’ clothing – in order to create custom, emotional lighting effects in the interior. The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 is designed as an electric car. Thanks to its four compact permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, it features all-wheel drive. The output of the drive system is 550 kW (750 PS). The shallow underfloor battery has a usable capacity of approximately 80 kWh. This not only allows performance characteristics typical of a sports car (acceleration from 0100 km/h in under four seconds, top speed electronically governed at 250 km/h) but also a range of over 500 kilometers according to the NEDC (over 200 miles according to EPA).
Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro 2018, Estimated $3.2 million Aston Martin shocked car enthusiasts at the 88th Geneva International Motor Show with the debut of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro - the sensational track-only evolution of the brand’s spectacular hyper car. Taking the world’s most extreme road car as its basis, the AMR Pro version distills the combined knowledge, expertise and aspirations of Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, and Aston Martin’s most talented design and engineering teams to create a car with the performance capabilities of a current Le Mans LMP1 prototype or Formula One car. Full technical details of the Valkyrie AMR Pro will be revealed in due course. Calibration changes to the 6.5-liter, naturally-aspirated V12 engine’s emission control systems and re-programming of the Energy Recovery System control software will result in a combined power output of more than 1100bhp - more than the Valkyrie road car and a figure than comfortably exceeds the magic 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. To achieve this remarkable figure, all the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro’s aerodynamic surfaces were revised in the pursuit of significantly increased down force. The most obvious changes are wider bodywork and much larger front and rear wing elements, which, together with revised active aerodynamic control strategies, are tailored for the demands of track driving. The AMR Pro is capable of hitting 225 mph. Of far greater benefit to lap time is the track-only Valkyrie’s ability to achieve lateral acceleration in excess of 3G - a figure far beyond that of any other car derived from a fully homologated road car. Just 25 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pros will be built. Deliveries are expected to commence in 2020. All cars are already sold.
Bugatti Chiron 2018, estimated at $2.7 million Bugatti wows with the passionate new Chiron. The Chiron is the fastest, most powerful and exclusive production super sports car in Bugatti’s brand history. Its sophisticated design, innovative technology and iconic, performance-oriented form make it a unique masterpiece of art, form and technique that pushes boundaries beyond imagination.
Ferrari Laferrari Aperta, Estimated at $2.2 million It is powered by an updated version of the auto-maker’s 8.0-liter W16 engine (think of two conjoined v8s) that nests all of 1,500 horsepower and can propel the two seater to 60mph in a sudden 2.4 seconds. Production is limited to 500 units with 300 already promised to clients. Because the car does not have a roof, Ferrari’s technicians had to focus all their ingenuity on the lower section, which had to be reinforced due to different stresses caused by force lines that – in the coupé – converge in the upper part. Thanks to a series of targeted modifications designed to reinforce that area to cope with the new stresses, the LaFerrari Aperta delivers the same torsional rigidity figure as the LaFerrari, thus putting the Aperta at the top of super car category in terms of dynamic performance. The LaFerrari Aperta’s active aerodynamics and hybrid system are integrated and constantly interacting with the car’s other dynamic control systems, resulting in unprecedented performance and unparalleled exhilaration. This is the open air “Spider” version of the passionate and extravagant priced hybrid-powered LaFerrari. As in the coupe version, it features a v12 engine with 800 horsepower. It hits 60 mph in less than three seconds and reaches a maximum of 217 mph. With a production run just over 200 units, all are already spoken for.