* Picture is for illustration only

Hong Kong's roads read like pages ripped from a luxury car magazine. Hundreds of ultra-flash motors from Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches to Aston Martins, Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, inch through traffic on the city's clogged and smoggy roads.

Even taxes of 120 per cent don't deter Hong Kong's uber-rich from splashing out on the latest super-expensive 'boy's toy' - with dealers seeking to import as many supercars as they can get their hands on.

In the lead-up to Christmas, Marchy Lee's CarPro showroom contained a Lamborghini Murcielago LP650-4. There were only 50 ever made and this was the last one on sale in Asia. Price on the road? A bank account-buckling US$800,000 (S$1.12 million). Or, there's always the cheaper option, a stunning black and gold Ferrari 430 Scuderia - a snip, at US$520,000.

'You buy this car, you want to be driving on the road and for some people to take a good look,' Marchy said from the Murcielago's driver's seat. 'There are a lot of supercars in Hong Kong, even though it's a very small place. 'A few successful Hong Kong businessmen own 30 or 40 supercars. They are big boys and they need to buy toys. So these are their toys.'

But it's not just the boys. Nicole Wang, a banker, zips out of a parking spot in Hong Kong city centre in her Audi R8 - worth around US$300,000 - straight into a traffic jam.

'I chose this car because it suits my character,' she said. 'It's not for middle-aged men. It's very special and very rare in Hong Kong - there are only about 50 here right now.'

Source: AFP