Billed as the most valuable private car collection ever consigned for public auction, the so-called Pinnacle Portfolio has no shortage of standouts.
There is, however, one car that is more singular than others would be a 2006 Bugatti Veyron 16.4, wearing chassis number 001. It is the first of the 250mph hypercars ever offered to the public, and it is coming up for sale on California’s Monterey peninsula on 13 August.
Owning the first of any car, let alone one as significant as a Veryon, tends to result from an invitation from the manufacturer. All we are privy to know about 001’s current owner, however, is his gender.
“He reached a level of collecting, and now he’d like to move to the next level of collecting,” Ian Kelleher, managing director of RM Sotheby’s, says of the mystery man liquidating the Pinnacle Portfolio. At this rarified stratum, the next level would be populated with Ferrari 250 GTOs and the like – that is, the most valuable cars on the planet.
RM Sotheby’s has not published pre-auction estimates for all cars in the collection, though in 2008, Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport number 001 was auctioned by Gooding & Company for $2.9m at Pebble Beach. Given the unchecked appreciation of Veyrons – engineering showcases producing in excess of 1,000 horsepower – it seems safe to say the first in the Veyron line would bring significantly more.
Should a prospective buyer be outbid, he or she might find solace in Veryon chassis number 300, also up for sale.
Among other hypercar highlights is a 1998 McLaren F1 LM, one of five built, with a pre-auction estimate of $12m-$15m
