Six Of The World’s Finest Car Collections

Car enthusiasts around the world love to share in each other’s passions, and revel in the rare and extravagant. Here’s a look at six of the world’s finest car collections.

Jerry Seinfeld

The American millionaire comedian who made a career by staring in a sitcom about absolutely nothing has established one of the largest Porsche collections the world over. His $1,393,985 garage houses 47 ultra rare Porsche models, including the very first and very last 911 ever sold. The centerpiece of his collection is his $696,938 Porsche 959, which is one of only 337 ever built. It was not considered “street legal” by American standards until 1999 because Porsche refused to give four models for crash tests. It’s now drivable under the U.S. “Show and Display” law that limits its mileage to 2,500 miles each year.

Nick Mason

Pink Floyd’s drummer favors Italian super sports cars to a spectacular degree. He has around 40 cars, and he can tell you the back story of each one. What makes this class car buff unique is that he actually drives his collectables on a regular basis.

Building the bridge between classic rock and classic cars was an easy one for Mason. Each entry of his collection is notable, but his $36 million Ferrari 250 GTO certainly takes the cake. The only band member to appear on every single Pink Floyd album originally meant to keep the location of his prized collection a coveted secret, but Chris Evans broadcasted its on the radio. The collection is in the West Country, supposedly somewhere in Cirencester.

Chris Evans

English Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans is having a love affair with a Ferrari. Reportedly nine of them, actually. He captured the world’s attention when he bought Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder for $8.96 million in 2008, and again in 2010 when he picked up a 1963 Ferrari 250 GT for $19 million. And he’s not afraid to drive them, either.

He reportedly raised $1,282,394 for Children in Need’s ‘Drive and Dine Extravaganza’ by holding an auction for listeners to bid on a chance to drive one of two packages of his prized vehicles: the Magnificent Seven included seven Ferraris, and the Famous Five features a collection of classics, including a 1965 Aston Martin DB5 — the very car that made an appearance in the James Bond film Goldeneye. The drive’s destination was the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England.

Not only does Evans have one of the world’s finest car collections, he also has one of the finest philanthropist hearts out there. Well done, Mr. Evans.

Hassanal Bolkiah

The Sultan of Brunei has one of the most extravagant car collections in the entire world. His obscenely massive barrage of more than 7,000 vehicles is said to be worth nearly $300 million and has been reported to include more than 530 Mercedes-Benzes, 350 Ferraris, 360 Bentleys, 180 BMWs, 175 Jaguars, 160 Porsches, 130 hand-built Rolls-Royces, and 20 Lamborghinis.

His collection actually features the world’s most expensive Rolls Royce, the Star of India. He reportedly purchased it for around $14 million. The Sultan currently holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Rolls-Royces in the entire world. His family made up almost half of all Rolls-Royce purchases throughout the 1990s.

Ralph Lauren

The place the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren keeps his automobile collection is more reminiscent of a museum than a garage. Many of the rare models owned by Lauren have actually been featured in museum exhibits. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts featured his collection in 2005, and in 2011 the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris displayed 17 of his most rare pieces. The collection comprises more than 70 automobiles, most of which are housed at his Katonah, New York estate.

Jay Leno

Longtime king of American late night comedy Jay Leno does not kid around with his car collection. This not-so-modest assembly of 200 automobiles includes models ranging from motorcycles and electric/smart cars to classics and sports cars. His garage employs four full-time mechanics who operate a complete workshop in his spectacularly sprawling warehouse complex nestled in sunny Burbank, Calif. He says his favourite is his 1995 McLaren F1. He’s known for taking a very hands-on approach to caring for his cars, so he likely has very effective car insurance on his collection.

There’s no Jay walking in this neck of the woods; he’s more likely to call up his staff to prepare one of the vehicles to take for a spin.

Each of these car enthusiasts collects automobiles for their own reasons, and they each have their own style of ownership. What would you do with 500 Rolls-Royces, or 47 Porsches?