Yahoo Autos $27 Million in Confiscated Supercars Sold at Swiss Auction
In Switzerland this weekend, bidders snapped up a private collection of supercars confiscated from the vice president of Equatorial Guinea.
The cars were seized by Switzerland's government in a money-laundering investigation, the New York Times reported.
The top seller was a Lamborghini Veneno with only 202 miles on its odometer; it went for more than $8 million.
Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue had an enviable collection of international supercars. They fit well with his lifestyle, which reportedly involved an enormous mansion in Paris, a pricey art collection, and a secure post as vice president (and son of the president) of Equatorial Guinea.
He had those cars, but he doesn't anymore; not since a group of nongovernmental organizations sued Obiang's father and other African heads of state, accusing them of embezzling money from their impoverished countries. The luxury cars were part of the collateral damage and were seized beginning in 2011 and 2016, the New York Times reported today.
This past weekend, the Bonhams auction house sold the cars on behalf of the State of Geneva, with proceeds slated to be donated to charity in the former owner's homeland.
Among those sold were:
2014 Lamborghini Veneno, $8.3 million. The Veneno is based on the Aventador and makes 734 horsepower from a 6.5-liter V-12. The car, off-white with a beige interior—and with the (former) owner's initials on the front and the doors—is number seven of only nine built and had been driven only 202 miles.
2015 Koenigsegg One:1, $4.6 million. As its name suggests, it makes 1360 horsepower while weighing 1360 kg (2998 pounds). There were only six One:1 cars made, and this dark-blue example was driven only 371 miles.
2003 Ferrari Enzo, $3.2 million. C/D's first drive of an Enzo, back in 2002, was of one in this same dashing fly-yellow color. We gave its price at the time of the review as $650,000. This example is the second to last of the 400 Enzo cars that Ferrari made. The auction house called it "one of the nicest we have seen," and that's not surprising considering it was driven only 13 miles.
2010 Lamborghini Reventón roadster, $1.9 million. The roadster, one of 15 built, was delivered new to Switzerland, is presented as being in "as new" condition, and has been driven less than 1500 miles.
2015 Porsche 918 Spyder, $1.3 million. We called this "the quickest production car yet" when C/D's testing in 2014 took it from zero to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds. This car has been driven for only a few seconds, then, as its odometer shows less than 362 miles.
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