Most expensive stolen cars 2024
More than £5m worth of exotic cars stolen last year including Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls Royce models...
While the vast majority of the 61,343 cars stolen in the UK last year were mainstream models aged between three and six years old, a small minority were supercars and other exotic vehicles from brands such as Ferrari and Lamborghini.
Between them, these 100 or so high-end cars have a value of more than £5 million, which is a sizable chunk of the £11.7bn insurance companies paid out in claims last year.
The priciest model to be taken in 2024 was a nearly new Ferrari Purosangue with a value of around £375,000. On its own, it’s worth 75 times more than the most frequently stolen vehicle, the 2016 Ford Fiesta, which has an average value of £5000.
The top three priciest cars taken were all SUVs, and while nine out of the top 10 were less than eight years old, one blue-chip classic car was included: a 1987 Aston Martin V8 Volante worth around £150,000. It’s one of fewer than 1000 produced and of one of just a few hundred on the road in the UK.
Nine of the 10 cars in our most expensive list were stolen from England, three of them from London. That reflects the fact that car theft is far more of a problem in England than it is in the rest of the UK. In fact, Greater London is the country’s car-theft hot spot, with 14,106 cars taken from the capital last year.
The most expensive cars stolen in 2024
1. 2024 Ferrari Purosangue
Value £375,000
The Italian car maker’s first SUV, the V12-powered Purosangue is the ultimate driver’s choice for anyone who wants a combination of room for all the family and supercar performance.
Unlike rivals, such as the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley Bentayga, the Purosangue isn’t built on underpinnings shared with any other more humdrum model. That’s one reason why it sets the benchmark for SUV handling; the other is its incredibly powerful V12 engine.
The Ferrari SUV only went on sale in the UK in right-hand drive format in late 2023, so the 2024 example that was stolen from Hertfordshire was one of a very small number on our roads.
While the basic list price of the Purosangue is £313,000, most cars have at least £60,000 worth of options added, and nearly-new examples are being offered for sale for around £375,000.
Read our Ferrari Purosangue review
2. 2023 Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Value £270,000
While the Purosangue is the ultimate driver’s SUV, the Rolls Royce Cullinan is the best luxury SUV you can buy.
The Cullinan takes its name from the largest diamond ever discovered, which graces the Crown Jewels. It has effortless performance and a wonderfully opulent interior that’s extremely refined.
The only engine option is the 6.75-litre petrol V12 that’s found in the Rolls-Royce Phantom, but that’s not a problem because it’ll dispatch the 0-62mph dash in 5.2sec and is eerily silent at low revs.
While the Cullinan’s new price starts at £298,800, that’s just the starting point and many cars have tens of thousands of extras added.
However, they’re around in higher numbers than the Ferrari Purosangue (there are around 400 on UK roads, compared with 200 Ferraris), and that means there are some relative bargains to be had if you’re buying nearly new. Hence our valuation of £270,000 for the example that was stolen from Essex.
Read our Rolls Royce Cullinan review
3. 2024 Lamborghini Urus Performante
Value £260,000
The Lamborghini Urus shares many of its oily bits with the Bentley Bentayga W12 and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, but it’s faster than these stablemates and it has more agile handling. The only engine available is a 657bhp V8, which gets to 62mph in just 3.6sec.
The interior is fairly roomy and there’s the option of having four or five seats, making it a more practical proposition than the four-seat-only Ferrari Purosangue.
The top-spec Performante version comes with upgraded aerodynamics and is constructed using lighter materials, so it’s slightly faster than the standard model.
While the entry-level Urus starts at £209,000, the Performante costs around £7000 more new, but that’s before you add any extras. It’s a rare beast on the secondhand market, so the asking prices for nearly new examples are around £260,000.
Read our Lamborghini Urus review
4. Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica
Value £250,000
The Huracan is essentially a completely re-engineered version of the legendary Italian specialist’s smallest supercar, the Gallardo. The Technica version is one of the last, and most exciting models to be launched by Lamborghini before the best-selling, naturally aspirated, non-hybrid model is replaced by an all-new hybridised supercar.
The performance from its 631bhp engine, which is a sharper version of the Audi R8’s V10, is sensational, and the handling is playful and progressive making it confidence-inspiring and addictive to drive on a twisty road.
The Huracan Technica cost £212,000 new, but used examples currently command a premium over this price. The Huracan Tehcnica here is one of two stolen from Belvedere in south east London in 2024, the other was a 2022 Evo.
Read our Lamborghini Huracan review
5. 2021 Rolls Royce Phantom
Value £215,000
The Phantom is often referred to as the most luxurious car in the world. Now in its eighth generation, it’s the pinnacle of the luxury car brand’s line-up.
It is a gargantuan saloon that’s nearly as tall as a Range Rover and is almost six metres long in extended-wheelbase form.
It’s powered, albeit in an extremely hushed way, but a 6.75-litre V12 that’s bolstered by a couple of turbochargers.
That means it is seriously quick: even though it weighs around 2.5 tonnes, it’ll glide past 62mph in under 5sec. However, its main attribute is comfort; it’s designed to cosset its occupants in a leather-lined cocoon. There’s virtually no road, engine or wind noise, and it’s surprisingly nimble considering its size thanks in part to its four-wheel steering system.
As you’d expect, many Phantom models are bespoke, made to the exact specifications of the buyer, and that means the starting price of £407,400 is only a vague indicator of the cost of most models. The stolen example in our list was taken from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. Without any details of the car’s specification, our value is an estimate based on the asking prices of cars of a similar age.
Value £190,000
The Bentley Continental GT name conjures up rose-tinted images of driving days gone by, when roads were empty and the super-rich could blast through Europe to the French Riviera. However, the latest version, introduced in 2003, was the first truly modern Bentley, and it is credited with increasing Bentley sales five-fold and keeping the brand alive.
The latest, fourth generation, model is rather a revelation because it’s a plug-in hybrid with a hybridised 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 rather than old-school 6-litre W12 engine. However, it’s still supremely swift and refined, with a sumptuously appointed interior.
The GT S in our list was stolen from London.
Read our Bentley Continental GT review
7. 2017 Ferrari 488 Spider
Value £180,000
If you like the wind in your hair as you speed around the country at break-neck speed, the 488 Spider may be the supercar for you.
It’s the open-top sibling to the 488 GTB coupe, which is absurdly fast, with precise handling and a characterful engine. The Spider shares these attributes, but it’s not as stiff as the hard-top model so it’s more disturbed by larger bumps and potholes.
The 488 Spider was discontinued in 2019, but there are around 600 secondhand examples on UK roads. The model’s starting price new was £204,400, but older examples are on sale for less than this. The 2017 example in our list was stolen from North Yorkshire.
Value £159,000
The Rolls-Royce Dawn is the convertible version of the Wraith – the enormous coupé launched with much fanfare in 2013. It’s a four-seat open-top in the Drophead tradition that’s slightly more sporting than the stately Phantom.
However, its suspension is set up less firmly than the overtly sporty Wraith, making the air-sprung cabriolet one of the most comfortable cars to drive.
The sumptuously appointed interior is surprisingly accommodating, with plenty of room for four tall adults with the roof up or down.
Production of the Dawn and Wraith ended in 2023, with the models replaced by the pure electric Spectre coupe.
While most Dawn models are likely to have cost around £300,000 new, secondhand examples are relative bargains, with some listed for half this price. One 2017 Dawn was stolen from Essex last year and a second from Surrey.
Read our Rolls Royce Dawn review
9. 1987 Aston Martin V8 Volante
Value £150,00
The aristocratic Aston V8 is a big, heavy car, but precise handling helps it to shrink around the driver and it hides its size well. It’s a genuine four-seater, albeit cramped in the back, with heady performance.
The Volante drop-top was introduced in 1986, supplementing the coupé version, and production was limited, with fewer than 1000 were produced. There are only a few hundred on UK roads, hence the high value of the car in our list, which was stolen from Lancashire.
10. 2022 Bentley Flying Spur
Value £140,000
The Bentley Flying Spur is the luxury limo for you if you want a more practical alternative to the two-door Continental GT. The 5.5 metre long behemoth has four doors and enough room for a well-heeled family of four and their luggage.
Up until 2023, there were three engine options: a 6.0-litre W12 with 626bhp, a 4.0-litre V8 with 542bhp and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that marries a 2.9-litre V6 engine with an electric motor for a total of 536bhp. The latter promises 25 miles of pure electric motoring, but don’t expect the fuel bills to be cheap after that. In 2024, those engines were dropped in favour of the same 4.0-litre, hybridised petrol V8 that propels the Continental GT.
As you’d expect, all versions have stunning performance, a lavishly appointed interior and lots of personalisation options, but the ride isn’t as glassy as it could be and visibility isn’t the best.
The example in our list is a V6 PHEV that was stolen from London.
Read our Bentley Flying Spur review
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