DARTZ IN TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE CARS

The world's most expensive cars vary in shape and power but all share a powerful sense of prestige.

There's a knock on the door.

For once, it's not your neighbour trying to borrow your mower or a uni student selling mobile phone plans.

Instead a bloke with a suit, a briefcase and a big smile is offering you his hand. "I'm from the lotteries," he says. "Your numbers have come up."

Your life changes instantly. With many millions of dollars coming your way you can finally pay off the house or, better yet, buy a new one in a flash suburb where the neighbours have their own lawnmowers.

And, of course, you'll be needing a new set of wheels.

With price no object, your list of options is looking very bright indeed. You'll soon be up to your ears in leather, gold and horsepower.

For all of those new lottery winners out there (and those of us who dream of being in that position themselves), this week we present a shopping guide to the world's 10 most expensive production cars. Prices given are best estimates. On all but the Rolls and the Bentley you'll have to pay additional import and luxury taxes.

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1. Aston Martin One-77

About $2.4 million

No Aston Martin is what you'd call cheap but the One-77 takes the idea of conspicuous consumption to the next level.

It's widely regarded as the world's most expensive production car, a title it stole from the Bugatti Veyron (see below) by upping the ante in terms of driving technology.

The One-77 will take you to a top speed of 340km/h and with acceleration of 0-100 in 3.5 seconds, it's no slouch off the mark. The engine is a V12 and a hand-beaten aluminium skin is laid over a carbon-fibre chassis.

It's the sort of car that is bound to appeal to the well-heeled lad about town and with the first vehicles being delivered this year, bookies in Britain already have David Beckham and Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay at short odds to become owners.

ASTON MARTIN ONE 77 pictures

ASTON MARTIN ONE-77

2. Bugatti Veyron

About $1.9 million

The Bugatti Veyron is one of the world's fastest production cars and critics suggest it's simply a life-support system for a spectacularly powerful engine. Under the hatch you'll find an 8.0-litre, 16-cylinder beast with four turbochargers and 763kW. A total of 10 radiators are needed to keep a lid on it all.

But the Bugatti is so much more.

A clutchless manual transmission allows you to shift gears in about a 10th of a second, rocketing you to a top speed of 408km/h. It's understood a new transmission will cost you $132,000 and a set of four Michelins a staggering $28,000.

BUGATTI VEYRON IN PICTURES

2009 BUGATTI VEYRON 16,4 GRAND SPORT

3. Lamborghini Reventon Roadster

About $1.6 million

If you thought a Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster at almost $870,000 was a dollar sign too far, then you aren't going to like the Reventon Roadster.

Don't expect any change from 1.6 million of our South Pacific pesos for the dramatic-looking drop-top that is, despite the Darth Vader looks, based on the Murcielago platform.

Just 20 examples of the drop-top will be built, which, given the price tag, might still be too many.

And by the way, the Reventon follows Lamborghini tradition by being named after a famous Spanish fighting bull.

Lamborghini Reventon Roadster pictures

2009 Lamborghini Reventon Roadster

4. 2009 Rolls Royce Drophead Coupe

About $1.3 million

What discussion of fantasy wheels would be complete without reference to a Rolls Royce?

The lidless Phantom uses a V12 engine measuring 6.8 litres. It needs the power such a massive engine can generate because it weighs about 2.6 tonnes.

At almost six metres long and featuring rear-hinged doors, the Drophead seems a fraction overdone for something that only carries four people. But then, if you want to turn heads and travel in absolute luxury, there are few better ways to do it.

ROLLS ROYCE DROPHEAD COUPE PICTURES

Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe

5. Maybach 62 Landaulet

About $1.5 million

Back in the 1920 and '30s, the Landaulet body style was popular with the rich set. You basically took a car and chopped off the rear section of the roof. That way, James the chauffer got a roof over his head while the duchess in the back could choose either roof up or roof down.

In a left-of-field-style move, Maybach has decided to build its own Landaulet 80 years after everyone else decided to move on.

On the plus side, the vehicle is based on the breathtaking Maybach 62 and so you get a twin-turbo V12 engine and all the bells and whistles.

Still, the landaulet body makes you wonder whether the company is trying a bit too hard to justify the price tag.

MAYBACH 62 LANDAULET IN PICTURES

Maybach Landaulet

6. Koenigsegg CCXR Edition

About $2.3 million

Trust those crazy Swedes to come up with something that's fast and green.

Koenigsegg's CCXR Edition will sprint from rest to 100km/h in just 2.8 seconds and it has a top speed of more than 400km/h. Yet it's designed to do all that on anything up to 100 per cent renewable ethanol fuel.

With a supercharged V8 under its lid, the CCXR is a violent piece of kit. It has disc brakes the size of pizza trays and an exotic cocktail of carbon fibre and unobtanium for its structure. But thanks to its ethanol diet, it should still appeal to the petrolhead with a conscience.

Koenigsegg CCXR IN PICTURES

2008 Koenigsegg CCXR Edition

7. Pagani Zonda Cinque

Between $1.6 million and $1.7 million

Pagani is a niche Italian sports-car manufacturer, so you'd think its Zonda production car would be exclusive enough.

But no, in an effort to capture the most discerning of buyer it has reworked the Zonda into an even more exclusive variant, the Cinque.

Essentially a road-going, track-day car, the Cinque gets you into the world of titanium and magnesium suspension parts, a body that produces 750 kilograms of downforce at 300km/h and a 7.3-litre V12 engine.

Only five coupes and five Cinque roadsters will be built and they'll cost you $1.6 million and $1.7 million respectively. The Zonda is a wild-looking thing with exhaust pipes everywhere and enough carbon fibre to build a fleet of racing yachts.

But it's also a handcrafted piece of kit that can get you from rest to 100km/h in about 3.4 seconds.

PAGANI ZONDA CINQUE IN PICTURES

2009 Pagani Zonda Cinque

8. Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition

About $1.8 million

We're still not sure this is fair dinkum but a Russian company named Dartz has announced plans to launch a super-luxury, armoured SUV aimed at, er, colourful racing identities the world over.

The Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition looks like a Hummer that's been cross-bred with a garden shed.

It weighs four tonnes and is said to be rocket-grenade proof. At least that should come in handy.

The glass is gold-coated for UV protection, the exhaust is made from tungsten and the gauges are diamond-encrusted. But the piece de resistance was the news the seats would be trimmed in leather made from the foreskin of a whale's penis.

PROMBRON MONACO RED DIAMOND EDITION IN PICTURES

PROMBRON MONACO RED DIAMOND

9. Bentley Mulsanne or Azure

More than $700,000

Bentley's current range-topper in Australia is the two-door Azure convertible, which costs about $750,000. You get a 6.8-litre V8 engine and all the luxury trimmings.

But if you really want to impress, you may want to order the slightly cheaper and newer Mulsanne. Buyers can choose from one of 114 colours, 21 carpets, nine wood veneers and even 24 kinds of leather. Don't mess about and take too long to decide, because Bentley needs about nine weeks to build each car.

Bentley Mulsanne in pictures

BENTLEY MULSANNE

10. SSC Ultimate Aero

About $720,000

It's difficult to imagine that a company that started out building kits to turn your Pontiac Fiero (a horrid little pseudo sports car) into a Ferrari replica could also come up with the Ultimate Aero. But that's what happened when US-based SSC (Shelby Supercars Company) got serious a couple of years ago.

The Ultimate Aero uses a twin-turbo 6.3-litre V8 that, while it started life with a Chevrolet part number, is a 1000-plus-horsepower proposition.

Typically of the North Americans, the idea was to bump the Bugatti Veyron off the top of the top-speed ladder. This it did in 2007, when Rick Doria took the SSC to 412.28km/h.

SSC ULTOMATE AERO IN PICTURES

2009 SSC ULTIMATE AERO