Dictator's son's super-rare supercar sale raises £21 million

A complex legal dispute leads to auction by the Swiss government - and the sale of some of the most exclusive supercars ever made

30 September 2019

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A collection of supercars belonging to the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president have been auctioned off for charity.

The cars were seized from Teoforin Nguema Obiang in 2016 as part of an investigation by the Swiss government into money laundering and misuse of public funds.

The 25 cars were auctioned with no reserve by Bonhams in Switzerland at the weekend as part of its Bonmont Sale. The majority of the proceeds are going to charities in Equatorial Guinea. Let's take a close look at what got sold:

All photos courtesy of Bonhams
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Lamborghini Veneno Roadster

The star of the show was a Lamborghini Veneno Roadster that sold for £6.8m making it the most expensive Lamborghini ever. The car originally sold for £3.2m when new. This Veneno was number seven of only nine roadsters ever built, and had only covered 200 miles from new.
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Lamborghini Veneno Roadster

The Veneno was built in 2013 as Lamborghini’s 50th birthday present to itself. Based on the Aventador, it has a 6.5-litre V12, with 739bhp and a top speed of 221mph. It can hit 62mph in 2.8 seconds.
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Koenigsegg One:1

The Koenigsegg One:1 was introduced at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show and only seven were ever produced. Power comes from a 1341bhp 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8. It was given the name One:1 as it has a power-to-weight ratio of 1:1. Koenigsegg claims a top speed of 274mph and a 0-248mph time of only 20 seconds.
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Koenigsegg One:1

The car went for £3.8m at auction, which is a bit of a bargain. The last time one of these came up for sale, in 2016, it was listed for £4.7m. Koenigsegg describes the One:1 as the world’s first ‘mega car’.
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Ferrari LaFerrari

This 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari fetched £1.8m at the auction, which is actually a steal. Autotrader has one listed right now for £2.4m. One of only 499 made, the auction car is described as ‘in new’ condition and had covered only 310 miles.
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Ferrari LaFerrari

The LaFerrari has a top speed of 217mph and will hit 62mph in 2.4 seconds. It’s also the fastest car ever around Ferrari’s Fiorano test track. The LaFerrari is a hybrid, with power coming from a 6.3-litre V12 and an electric motor, giving it 950bhp.
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Aston Martin One-77

The One-77 is the most exclusive Aston Martin ever with just 77 cars produced. It was unveiled at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show and quickly sold out. This car, number 35, sold for £1.3m.
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Aston Martin One-77

The One-77 is also the fastest ever Aston Martin. Power comes from a 7.3-litre V12, with a top speed of 220mph. It is made from a lightweight carbonfibre monocoque chassis with an aluminium body.
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Lamborghini Reventón Roadster

Obiang has a thing for Lamborghinis and among his collection was another rare car from Sant’Agata, the Lamborghini Reventón. Introduced at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, only 15 Reventón Roadsters were ever built.
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Lamborghini Reventón Roadster

This particular example sold for £1.6m. It had covered less than 1,500 miles. Based on the Murciélago LP640, the Reventón has a 6.5-litre V12 with 661bhp. Sixty is over in 3.4 seconds and the car’s top speed is 205mph.
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Bugatti Veyron 16.4

The original Bugatti Veyron was the world’s fastest car when it launched in 2005, with a verified top speed of 253.81mph. This particular example is one of only 450 ever made.
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Bugatti Veyron 16.4

Power comes from an eight litre, quad-turbo, W16, giving 987bhp. With only 3,142 miles on the clock from new, this example sold for £1.07m.
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Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 Series III Coupé

Launched in 1960, the Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 was a four-seater GT car produced in a limited run of 300 Series III cars. This particular example is number 118 and was fully restored in 2014.
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Ferrari 250 GTE

This 250 GTE went for £415,530. It is powered by a 232bhp, 3,0-litre V12 and came with disc brakes and a four-speed manual gearbox.
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Porsche 911 Type 964 Turbo S 'Leichtbau' Coupé

This is no ordinary Porsche 911, which might explain why it went for just shy of £1 million (the hammer fell at £939,051). The 911 Type 64 Turbo S 'Leichtbau' Coupé is one of the most sought after 911s with production limited to 86 cars when it was launched in 1993. This particular car has covered only 14,600km from new.
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Porsche 911 Type 964 Turbo S 'Leichtbau' Coupé

'Leichtbau' stands for light weight and Porsche removed the air-con, airbags, rear seats and power steering in its quest for lightness. This car ended up 180kgs lighter than a stock 964 Turbo. Porsche also added 61bhp to take the 964 Turbo’s power output up to 381bhp from its 3.3-litre flat six. The car was lowered by 40mm and given stiffer suspension.
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Ferrari 599 SA Aperta

Ferrari only produced 80 examples of the convertible 599 SA Aperta, a special edition version of the 599 production car built to honour the car’s designers Pininfarina. This particular car is rarer still as it comes with the optional carbonfibre hard top roof.
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Ferrari 599 SA Aperta

Built in 2011, the SA Aperta used the 661bhp version of the 6.0-litre V12 engine from the legendary 599 GTO. The sprint to 62mph takes 3.6 seconds. It sold for £813,647 and had covered only 1,636 miles.
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Ferrari Enzo

The hammer dropped at £2.5m for this Ferrari Enzo, built in 2003 and having covered only 13,000miles from new. Described by Bonhams as one of the nicest it has seen, this car was the penultimate of one of only 400 cars ever made. The Enzo has a 6.0-litre V12, producing 650bhp, which was 33bhp more than the McLaren F1, at the time the world’s fastest car. This gave the Enzo a 0-62mph time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 218mph.
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Rolls-Royce Silver Spur Armoured Touring Limousine

This is no ordinary Rolls-Royce Silver Spur. Coach built by H J Mulliner, this car was given the full treatment with armour plating and an extended wheelbase.

This 1998 example is described as needing ‘restoration and reassembly’. Regardless, it still fetched a not-inconsiderable £70,428 and comes complete with Equatorial Guinea registration plates. As standard the Silver Spur had a 6.7-litre V8.
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McLaren P1

The McLaren P1, launched in 2014, signaled a new era of hypercar with hybrid technology derived from Formula One. Combined with a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8, the P1 boasted a total power output of 903bhp.

The performance is astounding: 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 217mph. This particular car sold for £1.03m and had covered only 604 miles. Only 375 P1s were built.
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Porsche 918 Spyder

Like the McLaren P1, the Porsche 918 is another legendary hypercar of the modern age. Porsche combined a normally aspirated 4.6-litre race-derived V8 engine producing 599bhp with two electric motors to deliver an additional 282bhp.

Sixty two was over in 2.8 seconds with a top speed of 218mph. Only 918 cars were made and this one is number 251. It sold for £1.27m and had driven only 361 miles.
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Ferrari F12tdf Berlinetta

The F12tdf Berlinetta was a special edition version of the mighty F12, and was intended as a lightweight, track-focused model. Only 799 were built between 2016 and 2017. It uses the same 6.3-litre V12 as the F12, but with power turned up to 769bhp, while the weight was reduced by 110kgs.

This gave it a 0-62mph time of 2.9 seconds and a top speed in excess of 211mph. This car sold for £704,288 and had driven less than 500 miles from new.
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Rolls-Royce Seraph Long Wheelbase

Another of Obiang’s luxury limos, this stretched Rolls-Royce Seraph is one of only 127 and was built by the coachbuilder Park Ward. Power comes from the 5.3-litre V12 from the BMW 750i. It sold for £30,149 and comes with Equatorial Guinea registration plates.

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