10 Most Expensive Cars That Were Found Abandoned, Ranked

Abandoned cars are either a painful affair or a dusty lottery ticket, depending on who finds them. There are enthusiasts and car lovers worldwide who are on the hunt for cool and rare barn finds. Some of these abandoned cars are worth millions of dollars, as this list of cars proves. This list includes dilapidated and hidden cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ford, Jaguar, BMW, and even DeLorean.

Unsuspecting YouTubers stumbled upon some of the cars on this list while hardcore fans hunted others for years. This list also includes some abandoned cars with million-dollar price tags and priceless backstories.

HotCars scouted YouTube, blog forums, and various testimonials online to find some of the most expensive abandoned cars. Details, including the current worth of these special cars, come from credible sources like Hagerty, Motortrend, Car and Driver, and various auction websites. This list of expensive abandoned cars is organized in ascending order based on their current value, with the most expensive and exotic car listed at the end.

10 Mr Dick’s Mouse Infested DeLorean

Current Value: $34,000 To $101,000

The original DeLorean DMC 12 wasn’t really a “performance” car despite looking like one. Its wedge design, gullwing doors, and stainless steel body combined to create a futuristic-looking car. The DMC 12’s famous role in the Back To The Future movie series cemented its “futuristic” tag, and it can be considered the second-most popular movie car after James Bond’s Aston Martins.

This low-mileage single-owner DeLorean was found stored away in a barn in Wisconsin. YouTuber DeLorean NATION got close to this specimen. While the car had ‘become one with the barn’, it still had the original NCT tires with threading that looked close to new.

The car was covered in dust, and the interior was in fair condition, but the real trouble was with its rodent infestation, which was evident from the insane amount of droppings and foul odor in the cabin. According to Barrie Wills, only 9,080 DMC 12s were made over three years. Today, these “88 mph time machines” are quite sought after. According to Hagerty, a 1982 DeLorean DMC-12 is worth over $50,000 in good condition.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from DeLorean Directory)

9 Mr Shivonne’s 1980 Ferrari 512 BB

Current Value: $170,000 To $345,000

Also called the Ferrari Boxer, this was one of the coolest Prancing Horses of the late 1970s and early 1980s. According to RM Sotheby’s, only 929 carbureted models were produced from 1976 to 1981. Its 5.0-liter Flat 12-cylinder engine was derived from Ferrari’s Formula 1 team, hence the crazy hype for this car.

The above-showcased specimen is a 1980 model and has been sitting in a barn for over 28 years. This car didn’t flaunt all BBs’ standard dual-tone layout, with the bottom half painted black. The black lower section was repainted in red for a single-tone appearance.

Despite being unattended for nearly 30 years, this Ferrari’s moving parts were surprisingly good-conditioned, including the huge rear engine cover lift supports. Mr. Shivonne bought this Ferrari and a Lamborghini Miura at an auction in Georgia. While we aren’t sure what happened to the Lambo, this Ferrari is surely getting a new lease of life, as he has hinted at bringing a mechanic to run it back to life. According to Hagerty, a good-condition 1980 Ferrari 512 BB is currently worth $210,000.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from RM Sotheby’s and Ferrari)

8 1967 Shelby GT500

Current Value: $118,000 To $219,000

The 1967 GT 500 was one of the earliest models to start the Ford-Shelby tuning partnership. Its V8 was crowned with a cast aluminum intake manifold and equipped with two 600-CFM Holley carburetors. The Shelby GT500 came with a 140-mph speedometer and an 8,000-rpm tachometer, both dialed over the standard Ford Mustang. The cabin also came with cool Cobra badging.

This particular barn, the Shelby GT500, was bought in 1973 and stored away in 1980. It saw sunlight after 44 years, and the condition was not so good. There was rust, damaged panels, and dents around the car. But it was still solid for a barn-find car. This particular model had outward-positioned lights in the grille. There was another iteration of the GT500, which also came with in-ward lights. According to Hagerty valuations, a good-condition 1967 Shelby GT500 is worth $164,000.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from Car and Driver and Conceptcarz)

7 Jaguar XJ220

Current Value: $292,000 To $606,000

This abandoned Jaguar XJ220 came in as quite the shocker when images of this rare British supercar were circulated on the internet in 2010. Snapped by a UAE-based auto magazine, Crank and Piston, one-of-281 XJ220s is seen lying abandoned on the side of a road, covered in dust and grime. The car is said to be a low-mileage XJ220 with just 560 miles on the odo. It has been over 14 years since we saw this painful set of images. There hasn’t been a credible update on what happened to the car and its fate today.

Claimed to be from Qatar, this abandoned XJ220 is now worth over $600,000 for a pristine-condition model, according to Hagerty Valuation. The XJ220 was Jaguar’s first-ever supercar that took the fight to the likes of the Porsche 959 and the Ferrari F40.

This Jag was initially destined to pack a V12 (as the concept prototype packed a 6.2-liter unit) but was downsized to a V6 in the production model. It has a top speed of 212 mph and a 0-60 mph time of 3.6 seconds; the Jaguar XJ220 was the World’s Fastest Production Car until 1993 when the McLaren F1 came by and swept the title. Today, a good-condition Jaguar XJ220 is worth over $350,000, per Hagerty Valuations.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from Fastestlaps and Motortrend)

6 BMW M1

Current Value: $380,000 To $780,000

The BMW M1 started the M-fever, and it’s been over 50 years since this legendary sports car launched. It is also one of the rarest BMW sports cars, with just 453 models. This rear mid-engined sports car packed a six-cylinder motor capable of hitting speeds of up to 165 mph. So, it sure comes as a shocker that a dust-riddled M1 was unearthed in Southern Italy.

Mint Classics states that this M1 was kept in the dark for over three decades. This specimen is an extremely low-mileage unit with just over 4,500 miles on the odo. This abandoned BMW M1 was thankfully restored by BMW Classic in Munich. It was put on sale in 2018. But the trail has gone cold ever since. We hope this car is in worthy hands today. As per Hagerty, a good-condition BMW M1 is worth close to $500,000.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from Motortrend)

5 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS

Current Value: $460,000 To $740,000

This is a very interesting story of a “missing” Ferrari. This 1974 Dino 246 GTS was found buried outside a house in LA. This was a case of theft, and the police traced the car back to its original owner—Rosendo Cruz. He supposedly bought the car as a present for his wife. They rode in it for just 500 miles before it was stolen. Later on, after unearthing the vehicle, the real reason came to light. This car’s disappearance was an act of Mr. Cruz, who wanted to commit insurance fraud. But things didn’t go as planned as his collaborators forgot where they hid the car.

The car is currently alive and kicking in the hands of its new owner, Brad Howard. He purchased it from Farmers Insurance, to which the original owner defaulted on payments. An interesting fact about this Ferrari model is that it lacked any Prancing Horse badges. A total of 3,569 Dino 246 GTS models were made from 1969 to 1974, making this a rare Ferrari. Today, the 1974 Dino 246 GTS, in good condition, is worth over $500,000, per Hagerty.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from Gooding Co, Fastestlaps, and Hagerty)

4 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing

Current Value: $950,000 To $2.1 Million

This particular Mercedes-Benz model is the car that highly popularized gullwing doors. The 300 SL Gullwing is one of Merc’s iconic sports cars, originally meant for racing. The low-slung design, extra-long hood with a 3.0-liter straight six, and the short rear section were all iconic design cues that set the 300 SL apart from its rivals. In fact, the most expensive car ever sold is related to the 300 SL Goldwing. It is a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, two of which were ever made, sold for a whopping $142,000,000 in 2022.

A total of 1,400 Gullwings were made from 1954 to 1947, of which 29 units featured all-aluminum bodies and are highly sought-after. This particular barn-find 300 SL is more special because it is a completely original and unrestored specimen, the 43rd production model off the assembly line. A good-condition ’54 300SL Gullwing is worth an impressive $1.35 million. As per Hagerty Valuation, the all-aluminum SL300 models that are even rarer are worth up to $8.2 million in concours condition.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from Fastestlaps and Car and Driver)

3 Stamatis Kokotas’ Lamborghini Miura

Current Value: $1.6 Million To $2.9 Million

The Lamborghini Miura was the world’s first production sports car to position the rear-mounted engine before the rear axle. It was a learning curve for all “experienced” supercars of the time. Its iconic V12 is also a legend, having survived for over half a century. The last iteration of it was seen in the Lamborghini Murcielago. The Miura, in short, is a legend of the supercar world.

Seeing a car of such stature abandoned and layered with dust is shocking. But this particular bespoke-parts-packed Miura has a cool story to it. This Lambo was a gift to rally driver cum singer Stamatis Kokotas by Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis.

This metallic brown Miura P400S had optional features like air-conditioning and electric windows. But the coolest features are its bespoke steering wheel badging and a set of rally lights laid out at the bottom of the front bumper. This car popped up at Coys Auction in 2012 but failed to meet the reserve. The trail has since gone cold. Today, a good-condition 1969 Lambo Miura P400 S is worth over $2 million, per Hagerty Valuations.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from Automobile-Catalog and GTPlanet)

2 Uday Hussein’s Ferrari F40

Current Value: $1.6 Million To $3.45 Million

This is the most notorious Ferrari F40 ever to exist. It was originally owned by Uday Hussein, the first son of Saddam Hussein. This F40 stormed the internet with a dusty photo of it abandoned in an Iraqi desert. Ever since the downfall of the Hussein empire, many collectors and Ferrari enthusiasts have been trying to get hold of this F40, but it somehow always slips out of the spotlight.

VinWiki and YouTuber Ratarossa have extensively followed this car around and even tried expensive methods to get it out of its misery, but to no avail. The current whereabouts of the Hussein Ferrari F40 is still unknown. The last video about this abandoned F40 by Ratarossa mentioned that he knows it has finally been shipped out of Iraq, but he can’t reveal much due to confidentiality issues. It’s been two years since that video, and we haven’t got an update yet. According to Hagerty, a good-condition Ferrari F40 is worth an impressive $2.4 million today.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from Continental Ferrari)

1 George Brand’s 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona

Current Value: $21 Million To $33.5 Million

The story of this long-lost Shelby Cobra Daytona is as dramatic as the racecar itself. This was the first of six cars that Shelby built in collaboration with Peter Brock to take on the aerodynamic racecars of Ferrari. This car is the most special of the lot as it was the only car Carroll Shelby built in America. The other five were completed in Italy. This particular specimen, the CSX2287, set a few land speed records and then retired. It was sold numerous times until it finally ended in the hands of Donna O’Hare.

However, since her ownership, the car was hidden away from the road and the public. Many approached her, including Mr. Shelby, to learn about the vehicle and even buy it, but she surprisingly even refused its existence! After she tragically passed away, the car came to light, and so did its dodgy ownership. A legal battle ensued, and finally, the car’s ownership was awarded to Kurt Goss, Donna’s close relative. But by then, her mother had already sold off the car for $4 million. Goss got a settlement amount of $800,000. Hagerty states this iconic Ferrari rival is worth an astonishing $24.8 million for a good-condition model.

Specs And Pricing

(Data sourced from Roadrington and Autozine)

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Sources: Fastestlaps, Automobile-Catalog, Continental Ferrari, GT Planet, Car and Driver Ride Reviews, Conceptcarz, Motortrend, DeLorean Directory, Hagerty, Ferrari, Roarington, and Autozine