If you've ever seen an expensive abandoned car, by now, you know that it really hurts deep down to even think about that moment again, especially if you’re driving a car that hasn’t attained that status. You just wonder why the owners did it. At least they should've shown a little humanity by either auctioning it or giving it away. This is just not right. At a certain point, the laws should've favored the ownership of an abandoned car by the first person to get the car keys after a given time. If that was to happen, maybe it could've been easier to own a good expensive car, that kind of a car that can make a girl stop you at the green light and give you her phone number. You get the feeling, right?
I’m pretty sure parking such cars in a garage couldn’t have been so hard. At least, it could've given the public mental relaxation rather than spending some time trying to figure out who abandoned such a car. However, some of these cars have an interesting story behind them. If the owners were to give the reason behind the abandonment, I'm pretty sure they'll have an explanation. Anyway, let’s get right into it, shall we? Let’s have a look at these fancy cars that were let down by their owners in a sad way, similar to leaving a child in the middle of nowhere without a caring guardian.
20 Rolls-Royce Phantom - $450,000
Well, it’s pretty sad even to know that this Rolls-Royce was a special edition. I mean, how could the owner just leave this kind of car out there in the streets? This is barbarism! This Rolls-Royce was once a car many could look up to. Yes, it's the Centurion Rolls-Royce edition, which was one of a kind in the whole world. Right now, it's homeless because of an irresponsible owner. Some of the people who came across it felt that they could create a little space for such a car in their home’s driveway, but maybe the owner could reclaim it.
Anyway, a Rolls-Royce doesn't deserve that kind of embarrassment. The company could've spared it from such fate and rebought it again just to keep the ‘Rolls-Royce’ status optimum. Maybe even the company could've been shocked to know the whereabouts of such a car. By now, it's unrecognizable, and it just looks pitiful. Nobody has even gotten near it even for a spare part due to its ‘homeless’ condition. As a matter of fact, the public might be pitying such a car or sympathizing with it.
19 Jaguar XJ220 - $500,000
Wow! It really hurts to see such a car discarded like a lollipop’s wrapper. A Jaguar was left like that in the desert to be soaked in the sand. Seriously? Even in the jungle, the jaguar cat is given some good respect. It's not treated like the other newbies. Still, that doesn't change the fact that this car, which is hard to come by, was left to die of thirst in the desert of Qatar. Actually, it's the only Jaguar XJ220 in Qatar. Get ready for this because it'll surprise you to the core—this car had a mileage of 559 before it was abandoned.
The car wasn’t even old when it got abandoned. It still had that fresh power from the automotive company.
If the car’s designer could've seen it in this abandoned, dirty, wrecked, and sad state, maybe he could've opened a case on the owner of the car. A nice piece of work such as this car should be taken in and treated with respect. However, the opposite of what's expected befell this Jaguar. Although the owner might've thought of it as ‘worthless,’ it would've been nice to keep it elsewhere.
18 Ferrari Enzo - $1.1 million
This is a model of a Ferrari that we usually see in music videos, and it’s sitting around without an owner. Favors should've been done by the owner to leave this car maybe in a photo shoot studio. People would've loved taking pictures beside a vintage Ferrari such as this. It was in a police impound for some period of time before fruitless announcements were made to look for the owner. The police were shocked that such a car could be sitting idle, steaming under Dubai’s hot sun with no one behind the steering wheel. Surprisingly, only 400 Ferrari Enzos were produced, and this car was very rare to find. While another wrecked Ferrari Enzo was being remade to be sold in an auction, this right here, which looks perfect, was just sad and spending a miserable time under the heat.
It gets better—the last model of this car to be manufactured was sold at a whopping price of $6.5 million. But the good news is, this abandoned Ferrari got itself a new home. At the moment, it's under a storage unit since nobody could stand seeing it under the scorching sun.
17 Lamborghini Miura - $483,210
Just the name itself triggers a sad feeling. An abandoned Lamborghini sounds like a joke, but this is more than serious. Apparently, this Lamborghini belonged to a very famous superstar who was called ‘Greek Elvis,’ and it was presented to him as a gift. Well, Aristotle Onassis, who was one of the richest men in the world, was deeply fascinated by the pop star’s work, and he awarded him with this Lamborghini.
Surely, a gift such as this doesn't deserve to be preserved in this way. So, this car was driven time and again, and when the mileage got to around 52,118, it had some mechanical problems. The engine had some issues, and the best alternative that ‘Greek Elvis’ took was to leave it in the parking lot of a hotel. 3 decades passed without anyone noticing the Lamborghini Miura rotting in the parking lot, and after it was moved to another storage facility, the Lamborghini got lucky since it was about to be put out of its misery.
In 2012, 30 years from when it was abandoned, the Lamborghini Miura was placed for bidding in an auctioning event. Luckily, it was sold at a good price for such a vintage car.
16 Bugatti Veyron - $1.5 million
It seems like the owner of this Bugatti gave it a ceremonial burial and covered it with some ash after it was involved in an accident. A clear look at this Bugatti’s rear indicates that this car was involved in an accident. So, the owner thought it would be better to leave it out there than repair it. The shocking part is that this is the second expensive car on this list to be abandoned in Russia after the Rolls-Royce.
So, what left this Bugatti in this wrecked state? Okay, so this Bugatti was involved in an accident with a car, which is just as sporty as itself. It was hit by an Aston Martin. A minor scratch on the rear side was enough to end the speedy and classy road life of this Bugatti. It would've been more comforting even to clean it regularly than to let it sit there covered in the dust and looking like a car-shaped island. Abandoning a Bugatti is like literary taking $2 million and lighting it up so that it can turn to ashes. Nobody in his sane mind could do such a thing, not unless he has a lifetime fortune to last even the next generation.
15 Koenigsegg Trevita - $2 million
The owner of this car must be given some credit because he left this car in a parking garage rather than leaving it out there in the monstrous weather to endure some hard conditions. Still, the car was abandoned! It doesn't matter if it was put in a secure place. So long as the engine hasn't been warmed for more than two months, that's abandonment. In the world, there are only 3 Koenigsegg Trevitas, and one of them is sitting in a parking lot without an owner to flaunt it.
A car which is so rare and super fast should be owned with some more respect.
Even the company which is renting the space out for the parking is more than shocked. 1,000 Swiss francs (equal to $1,000) is what the fee had accumulated to before the public noticed that it was there to stay for a while. Surprisingly, the owner of this car has a thing for breaking up with cars without lasting that long. It didn't even take a while before the owner bought another super fancy car and abandoned it. Yeah, it’s like he's distributing his eggs at different spots, which is quite confusing.
14 Shelby Daytona $4 million
A supercar with a nice reputation was abandoned for more 30 years seem like a joke, but it isn’t. Only six models of this Shelby were manufactured. If it were to relive its younger days, it could've been all in front of cameras and in big, expensive garages, but that time is gone. In the good old days, the Shelby Daytona was the ‘supercar’ to even beat Ferrari, and it pains to see it in such a traumatizing shape.
If the designer of this car could've seen it in this condition, he would've never thought of going through all the trouble to make it so legendary. The designer of this car was a former racer who won some championships with such a model. He even finished some tracks before the Ferrari, and 30 years down the line, one of his 6 achievements is sitting somewhere rotting and rusting. It would really hurt him seeing one of the Shelby Daytonas in such a state. A look of this car shows that it can do very well even in the present times. The wheels especially show some hidden strength, which could be unleashed at any moment.
13 Ferrari F40 $450,000
If you didn’t know how a Ferrari looked like back then in the days, you wouldn’t believe it if you were told that this is an old version of the Ferrari. How did this red Ferrari almost turn brown? What kind of fate befell the owner of this car? Shockingly, this Ferrari F40 belonged to the eldest son of Saddam Hussein. It was last spotted in a garage in Iraq. Probably, the mechanics were afraid to even to fix it or drive it; that may be the reason it sits there untouched. Anyway, the Ferrari was never picked up from the garage.
Unfortunately, the owner of this car, Uday Saddam, passed away before he even got the car out of the garage.
Still, he had a very large collection of cars, and this wouldn’t hurt him even if the Ferrari was left there to rot and rust for eternity. A Ferrari doesn’t deserve to be bored in a garage without some riding. The logo itself, which is a horse, represents speed and durability. Ironically, that Ferrari horse for this F40 is sitting around with nothing important to keep it busy.
12 Maybach 57 - $380,000
Astonishingly, this Maybach has been warming a parking slot for more than four years. This is just the same as leaving half a million in a public spot for the same period of time as this car. Offensive messages were written all over this car just to show how people were annoyed by this act. As a matter of fact, the messages were written regardless of the dusty body that this car has. Maybe even the interior is full of some cobwebs and some unthinkable old things.
Gosh! Even the Maybach sign, which is always on the bonnet, has been ripped off. Additionally, this Maybach car is almost touching the ground. Maybe even a part of the car has already touched the ground trying to look for closure due to the loneliness. The front and rear tires are deflated, and this is why the ground is almost possessing the car. If the parking space was to complain or take action on a car, then this car could've been kicked out of there with no hesitation. The car would've been out there in the streets hustling. This is a Maybach that's gone from riches to rags.
11 Aston Martin DB5 - $580,000
In the woods? Really? That’s the worst place to abandon such a car. It doesn't even match the serenity around it. If it was given a few more years of abandonment, it could've rotted together with the leaves covering it. To tell the truth, the tires have started rotting since the rear tires can’t be seen. Once again, we see a car that went from rags to riches. This Aston Martin DB5 was rescued from this unthinkable misery, and some changes and repairs were done so that the car could be restored to its former glory.
Moreover, this was the first model car to be put into production with an acceleration of 0-100 mph in less than 30 seconds. Nonetheless, after some major workouts in the garage by some experts, this car was put in an auction where it was to fetch a price that was 100 times more than the buying price. This doesn't mean that every abandoned car is this lucky; repairing such a car cost a fortune. Remember that the next time you think about abandoning your own car in the woods. You can’t help but think, "Didn’t this car get scared spending all that time out there in the woods?"
10 Bugatti Type 57S - $4.5 million
Only 17 such Bugattis ever existed in the world, and this one right here was put in garage detention for almost forty years. Beginning 1960, this Bugatti never saw the road again. After the owner bought it, only a few rounds were made, and then, it was set for misery. The good part is, it was stored in a garage, which is the least the owner could do to service it.
To find such a car, especially a vintage Bugatti, in these modern times is very difficult, and this is why the price escalated. Old is gold.
The abandonment came with something good out of it. Just as an old bottled wine gets better and smoother through years, it's the same case with this car here. The scarcity brought about demand. After the owner passed in 2007, the family that inherited the garage was shocked to know such a car existed. Luck struck the family that possessed this car when they heard that this car could fetch a good price in an auctioning event. Well, if everything went as expected they could've even fetched more than $ 5 million. Isn’t that amazing? It's just like a returned prodigal son.
9 1964 GT 40 - $7 million
Huh? This car looks as if it was buried alive and some part was left exposed. The abandonment is just on another unexplainable level. This car here was a racing monster back in the days. Many racing championships were led by drivers in this car, and here it is sitting unrecognizable in a barn somewhere. If you were told this is a 1964 GT 40, would you believe it? Of course not; you'd think it’s another raggedy ugly vintage car that just bored the owner. The car isn't raggedy. It was just treated that way for decades.
If it wasn't for the efforts of some little kids trying to help their parents, this car here would've been totally forgotten. Ironically, this super racing car was found when some kids were going to dispose of some garbage. Maybe it was trashed away with some other old belongings. It's really disgusting to see such a racing car being treated as garbage and being discarded with no efforts to fix it. The owner could've sold it as a second-hand car instead of letting it stay in that worse and unimaginable condition, especially in a barn.
8 1965 Jaguar E-Type - $150,000
It's disturbing how many people abandon cars they got as a gift. For instance, this car that was bought as a gift by a husband to his wife was nearly discolored by rust when it was discovered. So, the car spent more than 40 years inside a barn, and not once did anyone think of driving it. Maybe the wife was mad at her husband for something, so she abandoned the car and swore never to drive it. The family admitted that some circumstances just brought about the need to keep away from the car to focus on other responsibilities. Ironically, taking care of the Jaguar wasn't a responsibility they wanted to attend to.
However, the family got so caught up in raising kids that they forgot about the idling car they had left in the barn. Some years down the line, they realized that the car was also wasting its financial value by sitting in a barn and persevering under some harsh conditions. In an auction, this car could fetch a good amount of money. On the other hand, fixing and doing the major repairs to this car so that it could look new again was also costly and very hard. Classic cars should be treated more decently rather than being left out there for the mercy of storage units.
7 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona $200,000
It’s funny to notice that this Dodge was literary sinking in the ground due to the long time it was left out there. Maybe it was discovered by some archeologist trying to dig it out of the ground. If it was to stay there for a longer period, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see some plants growing out of the tires. Similarly, just like another car on this list, this Dodge was bought by a husband as a gift to the wife, and here it was found lying idle, full of dust and surrounded by plants in a farm in Alabama.
Such a car that can reach a demonic speed of 205 miles per hour shouldn't be on standby and stagnant for more than 2 months. Out of the 560 Dodges of this kind that were manufactured, this here got lucky enough to be amongst the surviving 395. If it weren't for the lucky volunteer who took it up and repaired it, it could've perished with the others. After some major repairs to get it back to its original look, this Dodge was set to be auctioned. Yes, it's quite impressive for such a car to be in the limelight again.
6 Chevrolet Dealer Warehouse With 36 Vintage Abandoned Cars - $1 Million
Maybe the owner of this dealership house was waiting for the time when possessing such classic cars would be the same as having a century-old original painting. Really, how could 36 Corvettes be covered in dust accumulated for 20 years? Fortunately, the dust acted as a blanket and protected the car’s paint job from rusting and other effects. One car that was in the collection had an estimated worth of half a million dollars. Yep, it outshone the other Chevrolets.
The discovery of all these cars was quite a surprise. Some of the cars will undergo some restoration so that they can look as appealing as they did back then in the '80s.
However, one of the Corvettes in there will be given some changes, which will take more than one year to become the most expensive 1953 Corvette in the world. Can you imagine that? What was abandoned, dirty, and forgotten is on the verge of being glorious again even in the 21st century. Well, there's always room for the forsaken even when it comes to vintage old cars that were seen as unimportant.
5 Porsche 993 - $150,000
Seeing an abandoned Porsche can make you go through the trouble of finding the owner and contacting him so that you could come to an agreement to keep the car. This Porsche has accumulated tons of dust; the interior is nothing but dust. You cannot even see through the windows because they're clogged with dust. It's just embarrassing. Of all the places in the world, this Porsche was abandoned in Japan, a country famously known for good car dealerships. Getting a dealership to sell such a car could've been easy, but the owner just left it there in a deep hibernation. Rumor has it that the owner went to jail and never had the chance to leave behind a caretaker.
Approximately, the car has been in that condition for at least 4 years. The tires have been deflated, and the rims are now touching the ground. Still, the car’s paint is still looking good, and a quick shower would bring it back to its sparkling look. If the owner is locked up in prison with no possibility of parole, you can probably take a guess what will happen to this car. What a sad story. You can only hope the owner gets released before it's too late to save the Porsche.
4 1961 Chevrolet Impala SS Bubbletop - $100,000
Even the police officer who found this abandoned car was heartbroken to see it in such a condition. To make sure that his efforts weren't fruitless, he announced that the owner had only ten days to reclaim it. Well, from the look of the headlights, nobody would like driving such a car without doing some repairs. Maybe the owner felt embarrassed to drive such a funny-looking car that's happy on one side and sad on the other side. It just doesn’t add up.
That car stayed there for a while, and it seems even the police officers weren't convincing enough to make the owner come back for it. Unlike other abandoned cars that were put into auctioning to bring in a lot of money, this right here wasn't that lucky. The fate that this car met was worse than being abandoned. If it was given a chance to talk, it would probably choose to be abandoned rather than to meet the unknown side of fate. Who owned this car? He could've saved it from all that humiliation and the stressful moments it must've undergone while sitting there all day surrounded by cops.
3 Lamborgini Countach - $500,000
Japan is once again a home to another Lamborghini Countach that didn’t interest the owner, so he thought it was better to leave it abandoned. A car with such a status shouldn't be sent off in such a way. Besides, the owner thought it was better to remove one rear tire and put a plank of wood for support just to discourage the efforts of bandits and thieves. It's in a public parking space in Tokyo, which surprisingly rents out space for about $430 per month. 10 months rent of that same space is enough to get this Lamborghini all fixed up if it had a very serious mechanical issue.
On the other hand, the interior still looks intact, and this gives a hint that this Lamborghini was once given good care. The seats still look clean and amazing, and the gear stick is still okay. So, why did the owner leave such a limited edition of the Lamborghini just like this without a reason? Well, let’s hope that he'll find the urge to drive this car again and that the tire that was removed will be reunited with its brothers and sisters once again.
2 1967 Shelby Cobra 427 - $2 Million
You won’t believe that this car was ‘discovered’ in a barn that maybe people thought had some other cheap materials in it. The Shelby Cobra has been housing various kinds of things that were made to rest on it, especially dust, since 1991. The main reason behind that was that the mechanic who had been assigned to fix the car passed away. Have you ever had that one mechanic you trusted so much that you’d rather have a broken car than have a stranger mechanic fix it?
It seems that the owner of this car had the same feeling, so he decided to let this car stay broken and abandoned for more than 20 years. Surely, there are so many mechanics in this world, and maybe, he could've found one who could've fixed this car properly. Well, this car was lucky to be found in this condition because it could've been worse than this. The house in which this Shelby Cobra was abandoned was about to be taken down so that a new house could be constructed. If it weren't for the concern of the neighbors, this car could've been scrap metal in a junkyard by now.
1 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB - $2.5 Million
Here, we come across another Ferrari that was abandoned in the same barn that the Shelby Cobra was. Clearly, the owner didn't care what happened to these two expensive cars, one of which was a Ferrari. The 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB was the first model Ferrari not to have spiked rims, and here it is rotting in a garage.
Can you believe that this Ferrari has a mileage of only 13,000? The current modern Ferrari models take less than a year to surpass that value, and this vintage car is just lazying around. The brighter side is that the Ferrari is just as fine as it was in 1991 when the owner decided that he wouldn't drive it anymore. It's not sagging, and the body lines are still smooth and appealing. The interior is also fine, and the carpeting and the seats have a good blue appealing color that hasn't faded over the years. This car was given a decent abandonment. You have to give some credit to the owner despite the fact that the engine hasn't been started for years.
Sources: Hagerty via Youtube, jalopnik.com, speedhunters.com, dailymail.com,