- 1956 Aston Martin DBR1
- 1960s Ferrari 250 GT California SWB Spider
- 1970 Porsche 917
- Bugatti Type 41 Royale Coupe Napoleon
- Ford GT40 Mk I Road Car
- 1998 McLaren F1 LM
- Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe
A list of automotive unicorns.
Let's take a reality check here. Any car that there's only one of is the rarest car in the world, which means the rare cars list is long, and there is no world's rarest car. For example, a four-door Porsche 911 Porsche 911 that was custom-built in the late 1960s. There's a prototype two-seater Ford Mustang out in the wild. Maya Bach built a fantastic car for tire testing called the Exelero that never got to production. There's a bunch of concept cars that are, by their nature, one-off cars. Then there are cars that coachbuilding companies have built or altered as a one-off.
Then if you trawl automotive history, there's a wealth of home-brew one-off cars. So, if you're wondering, there is no answer to “what is the rarest car in the world?”
We need some parameters to work with. We could go by value, historical significance, or by desirability. Significance and desirability are debatable, and we love a good debate, so we're factoring those into this list of rare cars.
1956 Aston Martin DBR1
Aston Martin built the DBR1 race car to compete in the World Sportscar Championship, but it became an incredible force in Aston's and British racing history. It was the outright winner in the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans and one of three cars that won the Le Mans race and the World Sports Car Championship in the same year – the other two were Ferraris.
It set a record by winning six World Sportscar Championships in the '50s and, amongst other feats, won the Nurburgring 1,000km race three times in a row. The DBR1's drivers included Stirling Moss and Carroll Shelby. Add to that just how beautiful the DBR1 is and that only five were built, and you start to understand why the last one that went to auction sold for $22,555,000.
1960s Ferrari 250 GT California SWB Spider
The Ferrari 250 GT California SWB Spider is a legend in collector circles and cemented its place in pop culture as the star car in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Only 55 250 GTs were built between 1953 and 1964, including race cars, and it's widely believed that 36 examples remain. That makes a road-going version one of the most desirable and rarest sports cars we can come up with. Good luck finding one for less than $15 million, though.
The GTO version that raced in the 1960s was considered the rarest and most expensive car in the world for a long time, but the road-going versions are way cooler to us.
1970 Porsche 917
The Porsche 917 is a legend for the brand. It's a prototype race car that went from uncontrollable monster to two-time Le Mans winner, the first being Porsche's first win at the event.
It almost weighed nothing, was powered by a flat-12-cylinder engine, and was an aerodynamic development car before aero became more science than art. The 917's story is one of development and sheer bravery from those that drove it.
Remember, in the 1960s and 1970s, safety was an afterthought – if it was even thought of at all, and at its peak, the 917 was making 520 horsepower with regulations and could go to 1,500 hp with turbocharging.
At Le Mans in 1971, it set four records (fastest qualifying lap, fastest in-race rap, highest top speed, and longest distance ever covered) and starred in the movie Le Mans with Steve McQueen. The Porsche 917 below is the movie car, and it started out as a Le Mans test car.
Bugatti Type 41 Royale Coupe Napoleon
Once upon a time, Bugatti was up there with Rolls-Royce in terms of large luxury vehicles. The Type 41 was built between 1927 and 1933, weighing 7,000 pounds and powered by a 12.7-liter six-cylinder engine.
And you did read that right – a 12.7-liter six-cylinder engine. It's one of the largest cars in the world. Bugatti planned the next-level version of the car, the Royale Kellner Coupe, as a limited run of 25 models to sell to royalty. Unfortunately, Bugatti's timing was unfortunate as it coincided with The Great Depression, which even touched European royal families.
Bugatti sold three of the seven it built, but none went to royalty. The closest it got was to King Alfonso of Spain, but he was deposed before the car was delivered. Ettore Bugatti kept one, and another was destroyed in a crash, so now only six still exist, each with a different body. Ettore's was the Coupe Napoleon and has since been sold into a private collection.
Ford GT40 Mk I Road Car
For the epic battle of Ford Vs. Ferrari to take place, Ford had to produce at least 25 road cars to homologate the car for racing.
Ford built 31, all coming out of the Ford Advanced Vehicles factory in Slough, UK. They differed only from the race cars in luxuries like carpet, fabric map pockets in the doors, a cigarette lighter, and stylish wire wheels.
For some reason, these aren't considered in collecting circles as desirable as a Ferrari 250, but we note that a GT40 took overall wins at Le Mans while the 250 didn't.
1998 McLaren F1 LM
McLaren built seven road-going versions of the race car to celebrate placing first, third, fourth, fifth and thirteenth in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The F1 LM is built on the legendary F1's chassis but with race parts, including carbon ceramic brakes, an aero package, and an unrestricted engine. That means it's faster than the race cars when they were on track and road legal. It makes 671 hp while weighing just 2,341 pounds, and they were all scheduled to be painted Papaya orange, which was Bruce McLaren's racing color.
However, two left the factory in black for The Sultan Of Brunei, and other colors have been seen. The example below is one of two modified for its owner. It's top of our list of our favorite modern, rare fast cars.
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe
You might notice we said the Ferrari 250 GTO was considered the rarest and most valuable car in the world.
There are few in existence, and it's sold at auction for over $40,000,000 and privately for $50,000,000. However, one of the two prototype 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupes eclipsed the sale prices when it sold at auction for a little over 140,000,000. Plus, it has gullwing doors.
Mercedes sold one of the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupes to help fund its program for providing scholarships for students in the environmental science and decarbonization fields. It's named after the car's creator and chief engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, and was a milestone car in Mercedes development that pushed the technical possibilities of the 1950s.
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