19 Nov 07
There is a story, probably apocryphal, which tells us a lot about the nature of exclusivity and the lengths people are prepared to go to get it. There was once a stamp so rare only two examples existed. Their owners had resisted all offers to sell and, instead, each bequeathed their stamp to the other in their wills. In time one died and the other inherited the second stamp, which he promptly and publicly burned, instantly quadrupling the value of his, which was now unique.
It goes some way to explaining why people will pay a million euros before local taxes for this Lamborghini Reventon, the rarest, most exclusive and exotic car ever to be made by this legendary constructor of rare, exclusive and exotic cars. It is not the raw materials it contains that have persuaded these people to part with such a mind-boggling amount of money, nor the way those materials have been brought together. It is the fact that only 21 will ever be built that has proven so compelling.
Think about it for a second: one of those cars, the car you see here, is the factory prototype and will never be sold and, of the remaining 20, exactly half will go to the US. Which leaves just 10 to supply the rest of the planet. So, if you own one, the overwhelming likelihood is it will be the only one in your entire country. It may even be the only one on your continent. It is not certain how many are coming to the UK but it will be one at the most and, more likely, none at all.
It is statistics like these, much more than power outputs or maximum speeds, that set collectors of cars like the Reventon salivating. The fact is all the fun goes out of shopping when you're so rich you can buy anything you like, so the focus shifts to acquiring possessions that others cannot have, however rich they are. To its owner, the real value of the Reventon lies not in how fast it goes or how great it looks, but the expression on the face of your multi-squillionaire neighbour when he realises that no amount of money will put one in his garage. Sad, but true.
