If you buy an expensive car today, it’s absolutely normal for you to treat it like a newborn baby. In fact, you will get your car waxed, washed, buffed, and even sealed on a regular basis. If anyone scratches your expensive and beautiful car by mistake, it will feel like your world has come to an end. Some people who own luxury and expensive cars go as far as using 3 parking spaces to park their car in a busy parking lot, just to avoid anyone from hitting their expensive car with a car door by mistake.

Owners of these expensive cars maintain their car properly. They change their oil frequently with the help of expensive mechanics. They’re even careful of the kind of gas that fills their car. Thus, you will be surprised to know that some people abandon super expensive cars like that to rot. This can be disheartening considering the fact that these cars are worth a whole lot of money, which many may never be able to afford in their lifetime. All these boil down to the question; why will anyone in their right mind abandon such super expensive cars? They should’ve just given them out or even auctioned them.

There should definitely be an explanation for it. Some sound like a good reason, while some explanations didn’t make any real sense. In this article, we will be looking at 20 super expensive cars that were left in the streets by their owners. You’ll get to know why these cars were abandoned, and in some cases what became of these machines.

20 Lamborghini Miura

In 1969, Aristotle Onassis, the wealthy ship mogul and the late husband of Jacqueline Kennedy, bought a Lamborghini Miura S for Stamatis Kokotas who was known as the “Greek Elvis.” Greek Elvis was a good rally driver, so Onassis was his official Sponsor. He used the Miura to run a few thousand miles before the engine was due for an overhaul. Thus, Aristotle Onassis sent the car over to Lamborghini for an overhaul, and it was parked in the underground parking lot of the Hilton Hotel in Athens, France.

Apparently, Onassis had a conflict with Lamborghini about the cost of service and Greek Elvis was no longer interested in the car.

Thus, the car remained parked in that same spot for over 30 years till it was spotted in 2012 and auctioned and sold for the almost the same cost price of $483,210.

19 Ferrari F40

The Ferrari F40 is probably the single most sought after car by collectors in the world. At least in terms of modern vehicles anyway. This car was a monster, and despite older Ferraris fetching huge prices at auction, this machine is sure to become the most expensive car ever one day soon. The one collecting dust in this photo may not be worth so much, however. Seeing a machine this valuable in such a state is just plain sad. The Nissan next to it looks like a better ride.

18 Aston Martin DB4

A rich Massachusetts resident bought this Aston Martin DB4 in 1970. This car was used for only a short time of about 2 to 3 years. After which it was parked at a home of the owner. Apparently, the car was still sound and functional at the time it was parked. In fact, it had a power and super engine that wasn’t tested.

No doubt, this must definitely be the true definition of waste.

The car had a purpose to fulfill, but it completely lost its purpose and couldn’t fulfill its destiny all because of its complacent owner. This $400,000 Aston Martin DB4 stayed in one position for 45 years, before some car enthusiasts found it all dusty and rusty.

17 Ferrari Enzo

Compared to the US and other western countries, it‘s a big offense to live in debt in Dubai. When you owe a debt you can’t pay, it can land you behind bars. Surprisingly, it’s very easy to acquire debt in the UAE even if you’re a high paid earner since you can purchase many things once you have a good line of credit. Thus, a situation whereby many high paid foreigners abandon their assets and flee to avoid a jail term is no surprise. One of such cases was that of the $1.1 million Ferrari Enzo that was abandoned in the parking lot of the Dubai Airport by a British citizen who was over loaded with debt and didn’t want to serve time. The above example was actually left to collect dust in China.

16 Lamborghini Countach

This Lamborghini Countach was found in Japan abandoned by an irresponsible owner who doesn’t value its worth. It’s heartbreaking to see a car of such level and caliber abandoned in such a bad state. To discourage bandits from stealing the car, the owner made it dusty and removed one of its tires and replaced a plank of wood in its stead.

The $500,000 Lamborghini Countach was parked in a public car parking lot in Tokyo, Japan.

Surprisingly the interior of this beautiful machine is still looking clean, which suggests the car was properly maintained when it was used by the owner.

15 Bugatti Veyron

A close look at this Bugatti Veyron suggests that the owner “left the car for dead” allowing it to be covered with dust as a sign of its grand burial after it was involved in a minor accident. The minor accident is obviously not enough reason for this beautiful and super expensive car to be abandoned like this in such a poor state. Unless you have a money mine where you mint millions of US dollars monthly, it will be absolutely insane to abandon this $1.5 million Bugatti Veyron because of a minor dent at the back bumper.

14 1965 Jaguar E-Type

It’s funny to see a woman abandon an expensive car given to her as a gift. This was the case for the 1965 Jaguar E-type. A husband decided to surprise his wife with this car as a gift. Just for the record, this car has is worth $447,000 and it was left to spend over 40 years in a barn with nobody pressing its pedals.

We’d be safe to assume that the husband did something wrong to his wife for her to abandon this supercar.

According to the family; “some issues came up that didn’t give the wife the chance to have a good time with the car.” The most painful part about this car; it’s totally discoloured thanks to moisture and wind that gave it some rust.

13 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona

This $275,000 Dodge Charger Daytona was abandoned for such a long while that the ground thought it was great to be swallowed. It looked as if some archeologists tried everything they could to dig it out of the ground. If the car had stayed longer than it did, it’d probably become a little garden of plants. This is another car that was given as a gift from a husband to a wife and it was lying idle with so much dust on it. This is so disappointing for a car that can reach a remarkable speed of 205 mph. Also, this car is one of the surviving cars of the 560 Dodges that were built in 1969.

12 Bentley Continental

This Bentley Continental, worth about $322,000, was found ditched somewhere in the bushes of UAE. Like the Ferrari Enzo, this is another case of UAE car abandonment. This is the outcome when people choose to live extravagant lives and choose not to plan for the future. In UAE, there are strict laws against debt, hence the owner of this Bentley decided to have a clean slate and fresh start and he ditched the car after driving straight to the airport. This was his only option because he had run into so much debt. At the end of the day, the Bentley was turned from a supercar to a dust collector and eventually sold for pennies.

11 Bugatti Type 57s

Before the sad story of this model commences it’s important you know that only 17 of this model of Bugatti ever existed in the world. Regardless, this Bugatti Type 57S was put in garage detention for close to forty years. The good part to this car is that its abandonment resulted into something wonderful. At a time, there was a scarcity for this model that brought about a demand for the car.

Even though the owner had passed, the beneficiaries of the garage found the Bugatti 57S in there and did what they had to.

They sold it for a good price in an auctioning event. The Bugatti 57S is worth over $30 million.

10 Porsche 993

The Porsche 993 doesn’t just have a maximum power of 268 horsepower; it has a maximum torque of 243 lb-ft. It can also cover 0 to 100 mph in 12.1 seconds and has a weight of 3,080 lbs. the Porsche 993 is worth $150,000 and it was still abandoned and left to take up so much dust. The dust was so much that it was difficult to see through the windows. This car was found abandoned in Japan, the home of good car dealerships. Being in Japan, you’d imagine that the owner should’ve opted for getting a dealership to sell the car but rumours had it that the owner of the car didn’t get the chance to leave behind a caretaker before going to jail.

9 1961 Chevrolet Impala SS Bubbletop

The abandoned Chevrolet Impala SS is another sad story that left the police officer that found it completely heartbroken. Because the officer wanted to ensure that his efforts wouldn’t go down the drain, he announced that whoever owned the car had just ten days to reclaim it. With all the effort put in to get the owner, nobody claimed the car. Maybe the owner felt embarrassed to drive such a car that combined sad and happy emotions altogether. The car had broken headlights on one side and a good headlight on the other side. To crown it up, this car wasn’t able to bring in enough money from auctioning despite its worth of $100,000.

8 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB

This is yet another Ferrari that was abandoned in a garage. From the look of things, the owner cared less about what happened to this expensive supercar. This model was the first Ferrari that didn’t have spiked rims and it was busy decaying in a garage. The interesting part of this 275 GTB model is that it has a mileage of 13,000. When this is compared to the new Ferrari models, it takes less than a year to exceed that value, and this sweet car is lying fallow in a garage doing nothing.

Amazingly, the body lines of the car are still smooth and appealing as well as the interior.

Hence, we can conclude that the car was pretty decent in respect of its abandonment. The 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB is worth $2.5 million, though other examples have gone up to $11 Million.

7 1967 Shelby Cobra 427

When this $2 million Shelby Cobra 427 was found in a barn, it appeared to be a house for all sorts of junk. These things were made to rest on the car as well as so much dust. Maybe the owner was having a tough time trusting at least one mechanic to fix the car. As a result of that, the car stayed broken for over 20 years. Somehow this car was lucky to be found because the house where it was located was about to be taken down for the construction of a new house. We can describe this car as “saved by the Neighbors” because it was their concern that stopped this car from being a scrap metal in a junkyard.

6 Koenigsegg Trevita

Even though the owner of this Koenigsegg Trevita decided to abandon it in a more serene environment than an open place where it’d have been consumed by weather, it still made no difference. The fact still remains that this $2 million car was left without a home. Surprisingly, there are three Koenigsegg Trevita in the whole world and this particular car is one of them. The owner parked the car in a parking lot in Switzerland where they pay an average of $1,000 every day. The car had already accumulated a large sum of money that was able to buy a new car before it was noticed by the public.

5 Aston Martin DB5

The $1,020,590 Aston Martin DB5 was abandoned in a poor state despite its rich value. The tires of the car were already rotten when it was discovered, to prove that it was left for an awfully long time.

The DB5 is the first model car that was able to cover a distance of 0 to 100 mph in less than 30 seconds.

This is an example of one in pristine condition, but one owner left there's to rust in peace. It was quickly overrun with weeds and plants, and is a reminder that just because a car is valuable doesn't mean the owner will respect it.

4 Shelby Daytona

This $4 million Shelby Daytona was a supercar that lost its super powers and muscles to go with it because it was abandoned for 30 years. What makes this really sad is the fact that only six models of this Shelby were manufactured. Back in the day, the Daytona could beat a Ferrari and there it was lying in such a sad state. If by any chance the designer of the Shelby Daytona had a chance to see the car in this state, he’d have never bothered going through the stress of making it legendary. This model is also one of the designer’s 6 achievements.

3 Jaguar XJ220

The Jaguar XJ220 is the dream car of any Formula one driver. If you meet any of them anytime ask them. Yet this car was dumped like a used napkin somewhere in the desert area of Qatar. Sadly, this car had only run a mileage of 1000km and it was treated like something that it’s not. If the manufacturers of this car see it in such state, they will definitely go into tears, because no matter the reason, a Jaguar should still be respected even if it’s in the Jungle of Qatar. It’s so bad to know that this $180,000 Jaguar XJ220 was one of the 281 models made in the production year.

2 Maybach 57

In 2012, this £300,000 Maybach 57 was found in the midst of Porsches in a Cannes car park. It had allegedly been parked in this location for 4 years prior to its discovery. The Big Benz seemed to be in remarkably good condition, considering the fact that it hadn’t moved for 4 years. The only thing missing from the exterior view is the Maybach hood ornament. It’s obvious that a ton of Spiders made the car interior their permanent residence, as thick spider webs blur were seen everywhere. Also, the air suspension looked like it had lost a little pressure when it was found. New, this car looks great, but abandoned not so much.

1 Rolls-Royce Centurion

It so disheartening to know, that the super luxury car, Rolls-Royce Phantom was abandoned in such a sorry state as this. To make matters worse, this particular car is a Centurion version which is one of its kinds. These are the kind of cars that the Queen of England, the President of US, and other top dignitaries rock on special occasions. To now find it sitting under the snow like a forgotten teddy bear is absolutely heart-breaking. An average Rolls Royce doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment, how much less this Rolls-Royce Phantom Centurion Version. This $350,000 car was allegedly disposed in 2010 at the request of a rich Las-Vegas businessman. Reason still unknown.

Sources: CarThrottle.com, SpeedSociety.com, TheRichest.com