It should come as no surprise that a Rolls-Royce tops this list. The brand is the byword for luxurious and expensive motoring, and as of 2024 the Droptail is the most expensive of the lot. While it's not exactly advertised with a price tag on it, such is the bespoke nature of its embellishment process, you can expect little change from £25 million if you're the financially endowed individual that commissions one.

Just four of these exquisite V12-powered cars will be built. The one pictured here is the first, the La Rose Noire Droptail – the name, and the details of the design, are inspired by the Black Baccara rose. Unusually for a Roller, it's a two-seater – the first one the brand has made in recent years – with a folding hard top.

The centrepiece is a ridiculously complicated bit of woodwork, made up of 1603 pieces of Black Sycamore veneer arranged in triangles. Buy one, and you also get a one-off Audemars Piguet timepiece intergreated into the dashboard. It's removable, so you can wear it as a watch while the car's off getting its MOT.

Other Droptails are the Arcadia and the Amethyst, and we're expecting another one to be revealed at some point, too. In case you want the complete set...

Described as "a grand complication on wheels", the Pagani Huayra Codalunga mirrors the ethos of ludicriously expensive, hand-built watches. Indeed, the department of Pagani that makes such even-more-bespoke models is called Grande Complicazioni as a nod to horology. Every aspect of the Codalunga has been designed to wow.

Only five bespoke examples of the Huayra Codalunga will ever exist, the first stemming from a commision from a client who wanted a long-tail version of the Huayra Coupe. That was back in 2018 and it took years for it to become reality. Inspiration came from the Italian coachbuilders and racing cars of the 1960s, although they didn't have 840PS V12 engines with some 1100Nm of torque and a titanium exhaust system.

The Pagani Huayra Codalunga weighs just 1280kg and is exceedingly aerodynamic, which without baffling you with maths and science means it'll be Very Fast. 

• Cheapest luxury cars

No Pagani car is particularly restrained or slow, but even among the pantheon of ludicrious hypercars, the Pagani Imola is bonkers. In design, in performance, in just about everything, it's hugely over the top, with the trademark AMG 6.0-litre V12 producing 850PS and six (!) titanium exhaust pipes announcing its arrival.

Naturally it'll easily top 200mph and Pagani claims it'll touch 600kg thanks to its wild bodywork. Only eight of them will ever be created, and if you've got £5 million in the bank then an Imola will only leave you enough to be a two-bedroom flat in London.  Well, we think so anyway – this is one of those "if you have to ask..." cars where the actual price is somewhat unclear, but £4.5 million is an educated guess, based on Pagani's other pricey motors.

The hierarchy of special Bugattis is quite clear: the more expensive they get, the less are built. The Divo is a mere £4.8 million (still making the standard Bugatti Chiron look cheap) and 40 examples were produced. In July 2021 the last example rolled off the production line and was given to its owner. 

Surprise surprise, the Bugatti Divo is based on a Chiron and uses that W16 engine again. But it's been designed as a more track-focused sports car than a straight-line warrior, with all-new carbonfibre bodywork bringing down the weight, more downforce and a reduced top speed - down to just 236mph.

The standard Chiron will go faster still with its special 'Top Speed' mode, up to 261mph. But the Bugatti Divo will monster its sibling in the bends. It also get a more menacing look to help it stand out, while there's a huge array of personalisation options to bump up the price still further.

Mega powerful, ultra-rare and exceedingly fast, the Pininfarina B95 is an all-electric barchetta (an Italian word for a two-seat sports car that translates as "little boat").

Restricted to just 10 examples, the B95 has 1900PS and twin aero screens inspired by vintage aircraft. With a 0-62mph time of less than two seconds, and a top speed approaching 200mph, it should be quite the visceral experience to drive. Its power comes from a 120kWh battery pack that should give you close to 300 miles on a single charge. It also has fast-charging capabilities at spees up to 270kW (with a suitable charger), which means a 20% to 80% recharge is possible in around 25 minutes.

The carbonfibre monocoque is built by Rimac, and Pininfarina says that the possibilities for bespoke elecments are "unlimited", which means none of the 10 will be the same.

• Prestige cars

Yet another monstrously powerful, hugely expensive Bugatti, the Mistral is a roadster that first appeared in 2022 but deliveries didn't start until 2024. A total of 99 will be made, and while all are theoretically pre-sold, there may well be some appearing for sale almost immediately.

The Mistral is a particularly notable vehicle in Bugatti's history, because it'll be the last to use the 8.0-litre, quad-turbo W16 engine first introduced way back in 2005 with the Bugatti Veyron. In the Mistral, it has 1600PS, giving it a top speed of 261mph. Which should be fast enough for just about everybody.

Oh look, it's another Bugatti. This one is probably the most extreme-looking of the lot, and that's because the Bugatti Bolide is a track-only model, unlike the others in this list. 

Imagine paying all that money and never being allowed to take it on the road. Still, if you're rich enough to buy the Bugatti Bolide you'll probably have a Chiron or two spare for that. Originally shown off as a concept, Bugatti decided it would build 40 Bolides to sell to customers. 

We reckon it'll be the fastest of all the Bugattis, and one of the very fastest cars around the track money can buy. Its W16 engine was boosted to a bonkers 1825PS in the concept, although that figure is achieved on 110-octane race fuel. In production form it puts out the same 1600PS as the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport and Centodieci. 

The racing spec is clear from looking at the Bollide, with its intense aero-sculpted shape, lower roofline giant dual-element wing and mad diffuser. Buyers are offered exclusive Bugatti track days to test their mettle with this incredible car. 

Many expensive cars break records of various sorts, but the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut is cranking out new world bests at a rate of knots. The Swedish hypercar has been built with high speed in mind, with a very low drag coefficient, at least 1600PS when using special E85 biofuel, and a design where every element is designed to keep turbulence to a minimum to increase high-speed stability.

So how fast is it? Well, so far, we don't know. Koenigsegg's simulations have seen results suggesting it could top 310mph, and it's already taken four world speed records as the manufacturer tries to work out exactly what it's managed to create. The top speed so far has been 256mph, with thrust provided by a very hard-working 5.1-litre V8 engine.

The incredible, F1-inspired Aston Martin Valkyrie is already one of the most extreme and expensive cars in the world. But it somehow wasn't enough for some, which is why the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro exists. 

The bonkers-looking Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro is essentially a V12 engine with a smattering of carbon bodywork draped around it. But it's not any V12 engine, it's a Cosworth-developed naturally aspirated screamer developing over 1000PS and revving to 11,000rpm. The top speed is 225mph.

To turn your regular Valkyrie into an AMR Pro Aston Martin reduces weight with even more carbon in the suspension, the removal of the regular Valkyrie's hybrid system and perspex windows. It also gets a longer wheelbase and dramatic wings and spoilers to produce twice the downforce of the standard Valkyrie. 

75 examples of the Aston Martin Valkyrie will be produced, with some of those being AMR Pro models. First deliveries have already begun.

• Best track day cars

Many of the cars on this list have much in common, but one thing that sets the Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster aside is its gearbox. The presence of a manual gearbox in a hyper these days is exceedingly unusual, but the Venom has a proper stick to waggle and six speeds to choose from in the search for driving engagement and fun.

The Venom F5 Roadster is the sequel to the popular coupe model, and will set you back £2 million if you want one of the 12 being built. This American-made monster has a 6.6-litre twin-turbo V8 engine with 1842PS driving the rear wheels. We'd imagine that makes it something of a handful. In a world of digital and electronic hypercars, the Venom seems to be resolutely analogue.

Once again, all 12 have been pre-sold, but we'd be surprised if some of them don't appear for sale pretty shortly after delivery.