By Thesupermat - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33435245

When it comes to sports cars, cost itself seems to be a selling point. If true, then the Icona Vulcano could well be one of the most desired among multi-millionaires. We say ‘multi’ because you would need more than one paltry million to get your driving mitts on this car: you’d need two million.

And even if you did have the requisite cash, you still might not be able to buy one – chiefly because it has been produced in a batch of one.

At £2.1m it is more costly than a Bugatti Chiron, a Lamborghini Centenario and even a McLaren P1 GTR.

So what makes it so special?

Modelled on the other-worldly Blackbird SR-71 spyplane, the Vulcana does indeed look unique. According to Top Gear, its titanium body took 10,000 hours to model.

Joining many an obscure European supercar, the Vulcana boasts a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 from General Motors – the engine used in the Corvette ZR1.

Only the Vulcana, say the manufacturers, will be faster than the ZR1. They also say it will be able to complete the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under 7:20. That means it will be quicker than the Nissan GT-R as well.

But for £2.1m, could you expect anything less?

If you want to catch a glimpse of the Vulcana (and see if you want to part with that spare two million under your mattress), it will be on display at the suitably ostentatious Blenheim Palace in September, as part of the Salon Prive Concours event.

But such a desirable object is not easy to create. Samuel Chuffart, the car’s designer, had his challenges when coming up with the look of the Vulcana:
 
“The most challenging design issue which we faced was how to create a balance between power and beauty,” he says. “If you make too much of the powerful features which are necessary to a super sports car, such as its cooling cutouts and blades which manage the air flow, they become graphically too dominant, and this makes the car less beautiful.”