$6M Lamborghini Veneno Sets New High-Water Mark for Online Auctions

Veneno is Spanish for “poison”. While the headlights on the Lamborghini of the same name resemble a snake’s fangs, the Veneno badge refers to a famous fighting bull that gored a matador to death in 1914. Based on the Aventador, the Veneno was ultra-exclusive from the get-go. The price tag was about $4M and production was limited to 13 cars. One of them sold this week for $6M, the most anybody has ever paid for a car through an online auction.

Built to celebrate Lamborghini’s 50th anniversary and unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, the Veneno made a big buzz in the mid-2010s due to just how extreme it is. There’s the price and there’s the low build number, but it also looks like it’s part fighter jet, part barely-street-legal prototype race car, especially with its deep scoops, numerous aero appendages, and LMP-style adjustable rear fin. The race-ready bits aren’t just skin deep, either, as the pushrod suspension and sticky tires help it to pull 1.41G in the corners, while the 740hp, 6.5-liter V-12, and liberal doses of carbon fiber help push it to 60 mph in under 3 seconds and to a top speed of 221 mph.

Of the 13 Venenos built, which the company dubbed a “few-off” production run, four are coupes and nine are roadsters, the latter of which Lamborghini unveiled in 2014 on board an Italian Navy aircraft carrier. The car sold this week is reportedly the second Veneno roadster, finished in matte black over a bright green and black leather interior. Its first owner was a member of the House of Saud. In 2020, it appeared at the RM Sotheby’s Paris auction but failed to sell at a $4.34M high bid, and it was subsequently at a dealer asking $9.5M. The odometer today shows 1778 km (1105 miles), and aside from a few small blemishes visible in the photos, it looks nearly new.

It sold this week from Dubai via SBX Cars, a new online auction platform started by Alexandra Hirschi, aka “Supercar Blondie.” The site focuses on lower-volume, higher-value collector cars and despite only being live for a couple of months, they achieved a record price for an online auction sale with this ultra-rare Lambo. It beats out the previous online auction record, a $5.36M LaFerrari Aperta that sold on Bring a Trailer two years ago, by nearly $700K. It should be noted that the car didn’t meet its reserve during online bidding on SVX but sold immediately after the auction. These immediate after-sales happen often in both live and online auction settings.

This also isn’t an overall record price for a Veneno. Bonhams sold the seventh Veneno roadster in 2019 for CHF8.28M (about $8M). But even that lofty price might not stay at the top for long. One of SBX’s upcoming auctions is a rarer Veneno coupe with even lower mileage (130 miles), so this article may not be relevant for long.

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