(Image via The German Car Blog.)

One of the world’s most prestigious car auctions has produced some very impressive figures this year. Part of the famed Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance, Gooding & Company’s auction has set several world records since its inception in 1990. Now it has hosted the auction of the most expensive car ever sold in the US.

The Concourse d’Elegance was started in 1950 and has since become the world’s premier auto show. Other events include the Tour d’Elegance—a “driving event,” not a race—and an exhibition by the Automotive Fine Arts Society. Of course, the main event is the Concourse d’Elegance itself, in which the best cars in the world are judged for historical accuracy, technical merit and style.

The auction, which follows the main event, was expanded this year to two days. The final tally added up to $64.2 million–$4.2 million more than last year’s auction. Among the expensive autos sold at this exclusive auction were a collection of twelve Bugatti cars sold for $15 million, a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB “California” Spider for $3.63 million and three cars from Oprah Winfrey’s personal collection for $716,000.

Then, of course, there’s the most expensive car in the world. A 1937 Bugatti Type 37SC Atalante Coupe, the production year marks it as one of the original cars produced under the Bugatti name. The original company was founded in 1909 and closed its doors in 1963, sold for its production of airplane parts rather than automobiles. The Bugatti name was eventually reunited with the automobile industry, however, and now graces a limited line of luxury autos from Volkswagen AG.

The most expensive car ever sold in the US was auctioned for $7.92 million. It wasn’t the most expensive car in the world, however. That honor belongs to a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder sold for $10.9 million.

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Cigar tobacco is grown in many places throughout the Americas and Caribbean, but certain cigars manufactured in Cuba are widely considered the best cigars in the world. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. As expensive cigars are symbols of wealth and success, the world’s most expensive cigars may hold far more value than their price tag suggests.

Altadis’ Behike

When Altadis of Spain launched their “Behike” cigars, they were the most expensive cigars in the world. The expensive cigars were reportedly named after the tribal chief or sorcerer of the Cuban/pre-Colombian Taino tribe. A mere four thousand of the limited edition Cohiba brand cigars have been released and each box includes forty expensive cigars and allegedly retails for around $18,846. Yes, the expensive cigar will cost you $420 for each smoke.

Gurkha’s His Majesty’s Reserve

They’ve been outdone, however, by Gurkha’s premier cigar, His Majesty’s Reserve. Rightfully touted as the most expensive cigar in the world, these cigars aren’t just made with premium tobacco—they’re also infused with a generous portion of Louis XIII Cognac in a process that retains the flavor of the tobacco. Louis XIII Cognac, as you may know, is one of the finest cognacs on the market today.
Each year, fewer than 100 boxes of His Majesty’s Reserve cigars are produced and Gurkha’s president oversees their allocation to retailers. At $750, just one of these most expensive cigars will probably cost more than your vintage smoking jacket, but for the true aficionado, it may be a smoke too good to pass up.

Pininfarina’s Aresline Xten

How much time do you spend in your office chair? For some, the comfort offered by an office chair is important as that of a bed. After all, anyone with a desk job can spend over half of their day in one or the other. If that sounds like your typical day and you happen to be a millionaire, then the world’s most expensive office chair may be right for you.

Created by Pininfarina, an Italian car design firm best known for designing luxury cars like Ferraris and Cadillacs, the Aresline Xten could be the most comfortable chair ever made. The Dynamic Synchronized Tilting system allows users to tilt the back and the seat independently while the Technogel in the cushions makes them conform to the shape of the user. The chair is also made from a durable fabric called Dynatec, which is also used by Olympic athletes.

The most expensive chair in the world is priced at $1.5 million. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, it’s also only offered in the UAE—as if there’s a market for luxury items in places like Dubai.

Hadi Teherani’s gold office chair
(Photo by Nawaf Al Mahmood,
courtesy of Fahad, Inc.)

If you’ve considerably less to spend on your office chair but you still want something expensive, then check out this chair by award-winning designer and architect Hadi Teherani of Germany. As far as we know, it’s the world’s second most expensive office chair at a (relatively) low price of $65,000. Instead of high-tech features and rare leathers, this chair is just well-designed. Of course, it also features silver and gold plating. That can’t hurt the price.

If you’re interested in purchasing one of the most expensive office chairs in the world, check your company’s expense account policy first. You never know, they might approve it.

If you think “most expensive trailer park” sounds laughable at best, then you need to check out these luxury trail—uhm, mobile home parks in Malibu. Located in the same areas as the multi-million dollar homes of celebrities, these two parks both include homes that sell for over $1 million.

The Paradise Cove mobile home park started as an RV camp, but was expanded to the current 271-unit park in the early 70s. The park includes a guard house, a small clubhouse, an RV storage area, a playground for children and, of course, both tennis and basketball courts. Paradise Cove is also home of the Paradise Cove Beach Café, a restaurant that boasts its own beach and cove.

Paradise Cove pier

The Point Dume Club, named for the bluff on which it resides, is a guarded and gated community with 297 units, a pool and both tennis and basketball courts. It was built in 1970, with streets carefully laid out to give residents some of the best views in California.

A mobile home in Paradise Cove can be purchased for up to almost $1.4 million while one in Point Dume was reportedly sold for $2.2 million. Luckily for the buyers, owners of mobile homes in the world’s most expensive trailer parks don’t pay property taxes.

Paintball was originally inspired by Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game, a short story in which a Russian big-game hunter, bored with hunting animals, turns to hunting humans for sport. Since its inception in 1976, the game has exploded in popularity. Each year, over 10 million people play paintball in the US alone. It’s little [...]

When future archaeologists study the remains of the 21st century, our stadiums may be some of the most some of the most visited historical sites. Like the Colosseum of Rome, these structures aren’t just places of human struggles for the entertainment of the masses; they’re also works of art. Currently, London’s Wembley Stadium is the [...]

Does your purse-ridden poodle get hives just looking at a standard doghouse? If so, then he may be in luck as the world’s most expensive doghouse will appeal to even the princeliest pup’s sensibilities.
This unique doghouse, featuring the face of Japan’s famous feline, was created by Sanrio for a sales event at a department store [...]

Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi
The competition is fierce as two giants in the hotel industry vie for the right to call their package the most expensive vacation in the world. The two competitors, Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi and The Leading Hotels of the World, both offer $1 million vacation packages.
Lead Hotels’ package, “Around the [...]

Yubari melons
Have you ever considered melons to be luxury items? Perhaps you should have. After all, a pair of cantaloupes just sold for quite a hefty sum in Japan’s Sapporo City Central Wholesale Markets.
The world’s most expensive cantaloupes are a pair of Yubari melons and were the first auction of the 2008 season. They had [...]

Forget that cheap golf bag you’ve been using. If you need a bag to go with your expensive golf clubs and expensive golf ball marker, and you really want to impress people then what you want is the most expensive golf bag in the world.
The Damier Geant Golf Bag, created by Louis Vuitton, is named [...]

Despite everything you’ve heard about the housing market, the residents of these swanky streets aren’t sweating it. That’s because they live on the most expensive residential streets in the world. A recent survey by Wealth-Bulletin places the following five streets at the top of the list.
5. Avenue Montaigne, Paris - $5,046 per square foot.
Site of [...]

Since the original release of the franchise’s first movie in 1977, Star Wars has become one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. Six movies, hundreds of novels and comics, video games, a pair of tabletop role-playing game lines and thousands of toys—there’s no end to the products an avid Star Wars fan [...]

Originally released in 1952 as a collection of body parts and accessories that could be attached to a real potato (or many other fruits and vegetables), Mr. Potato Head has become one of the most widely recognized toy brands in the US. It was more than ten years before a plastic potato body was added [...]

1959 No. 1 Barbie
The first Barbie dolls were introduced by Mattel, Inc. in 1959. Produced in Japan, their clothing was hand-stitched by home workers. Creator Ruth Handler based them on a German doll called Bild Lilli, which was itself based on a comic strip character. Since then, of course, the Barbie doll has become a [...]

Views on neckties tend to vary widely. To some, a necktie is a symbol of success and/or authority. To others, it can be seen as a leash or even a phallic symbol. Some think that only men should wear them, others see the tie as unisex. Regardless of what you may think of ordinary ties, [...]

For years, audiophiles have been dishing out dollar after dollar to attain the highest level of sonic perfection. Have they achieved it or have their efforts been a total waste? There are many who will argue one way or the other but, whatever the case, expensive speaker cables aren’t going away.
Pear ANJOU Speaker Cables - [...]

Watch collecting may be one of the most expensive hobbies in the world, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. Many antique timepieces are a testament to the brilliance of early and modern innovators.
Vacherin Constantin’s Tour de l’Ile - $1.5 million
Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin marked its 250th anniversary in 2005 with the world’s most [...]

A pair of designer sunglasses can easily become one of the most expensive accessories in your wardrobe. With sunglasses priced at hundreds and even thousands, there’s evidence aplenty that a good designer will never lack for work.

A pair of Moss Lipow sunglasses
New York artist Moss Lipow may not have been trained in the design of [...]

It’s being claimed by some that Pixar’s latest offering, Wall-E, is the most expensive silent film ever made. While it’s true that the film’s staggering $180 million budget places it within the top 20 most expensive films of all time, the film is not technically a silent film.
The story of the last—and loneliest—robot on earth, [...]

Have you ever heard of The Quarrymen? No? Well, it may shock you to find out that that a vanity record pressed by this group is worth something like £100,000 ($200,000 USD). Even more surprising, the world’s most expensive record is a single—a cover of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day.”

If you’re wondering how [...]

Nowadays we may be able to snap pictures with our cell phones and pens and whatnot, but it wasn’t so long ago that you actually had to carry around a dedicated camera in order to capture that perfect moment. Recently, Germany’s Westlicht Photographica Auctions, known for their high class photographic collectors’ items, sold one of [...]

Marc Newson’s nickel-plated board
(via 360Guide.info)
The original surfboards were a Hawaiian invention made from local wood. Not only were these boards over 15 feet long, but they were quite heavy as well. Nowadays, surfboards are usually made from polyurethane foam covered in a few layers of fiberglass cloth and then coated with polyester resin.
The world’s [...]

In 1986, The Economist published a humorous attempt to quantify the purchasing power of different currencies. The article was so successful that they’ve published a new survey every year since the original was published. It’s called the Big Mac Index and, for our purposes, the most important thing it can tell us is where to [...]

A desktop computer can be an expensive investment, but most of that expense usually goes to the monitor and the gear inside the case. After all, an extraordinarily expensive case is still only $600 and nobody’s going to put a case like that over hardware that costs less than two or three times as much, [...]

A six-pack of beer—it’s cheap, popular and alcoholic. At least one of those things isn’t necessarily true and, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know which one I’m talking about. Belgian beer company InBev advertises their Stella Artois brand as “Reassuringly Expensive.” Just how expensive is it? Well, a six-pack of their recent Nobilis brew [...]