The collection you see before you is one that should never have been. Back in 2016, the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, a man by the name of Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who also happened to be the son of African dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, was investigated for money laundering and unfair management of public interests. His assets were seized in Geneva, including 25 luxury and high-performance cars. The cars will actually go up for auction this September, and what you see here is a fraction of them.
Though Mangue was acquitted of the charges, his cars were kept in the seizure. Though we can't speak for the man's character, he certainly had pretty good taste in cars. Some of the cars included in the auction will include a McLaren P1 ($1.5 million to $1.8 million), a super-rare Koenigsegg One:1 ($1.8 million to $2.4 million), an also super-rare Lamborghini Veneno ($5.3 million to $6.3 million) and a relatively affordable Bugatti Veyron ($720,000 to $920,000).
One of the most notable in the set is the Lamborghini Veneno. Based on the Aventador, only fourteen of these vehicles were made (9 roadsters, 5 coupes), and the Aventador's beast of a 6.5-liter V12 was boosted from 691 horses to 740. The bump in power was made possible by enlarging the air intakes and modifying Aventador's existing exhaust system for increased airflow. The model up for auction is roadster painted in two-tone white and dream and has a hair over 200 miles on the odometer. The original price of the Veneno was an eye-watering $4.5 million, so this thing has appreciated in value.
The blazing yellow McLaren P1 was one of the most prominent hypercars around when it debuted in 2013. Only 375 were built between 2013 and 2015, and the cars sold out in a little over a month. This one is trimmed in bright yellow paint and ample amounts of carbon fiber, and has one of the most rigid chassis on earth. This P1 has about 640 miles on the odometer. It'll hurtle to 60 mph from a dead stop in 2.4 seconds and will hit 100 mph in 4.9 seconds.
If it's TRULY rare you're looking for, the blue and carbon fiber Koenigsegg One:1 easily qualifies since more than twice as many Venenos were built. Only six of these beauties were made by the brand, and the One:1 was the world's first "mega car" because it's power-to-weight ratio was 1:1. 1,341 horses to 1,341 kilograms (one megawatt of power). Only 370 miles are on the odometer.
Who would've guessed the Bugatti Veyron would ever be called a bargain, but in this field of rare cars, it actually is the "affordable" one. The 1,000 horsepower from the W16 (16 cylinders) allowed the car to get to 250+ mph and a 60 mph from a standstill in 2.5 seconds. This Atlantic Blue version has 3,000 miles on the odometer, and should net under a million, so it's depreciated quite a bit from its original price of $1.7 million. Regardless of that fact, it's still a very coveted car and one of the fastest on earth.
Other remarkable car brands in the auction include Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes-Maybach and Porsche. The expected take for the lot is expected to reach $13 million, of which the cars above comprise the majority of the value. It's truly a rare auction that emerges out of unfortunate circumstances.
