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CrossCheck Reviews Celebrity Car Collections - Part One

Posted by Maria Shayna Tzouvelekis | Thu, Mar 03, 2016 @ 04:00 PM

Celebrities — we admire them so, looking up to their fame, fortune and physical presence. Long recognized for leading extravagant lifestyles, many of these public figures also own some of the hottest automobile collections in the world. Take a ride with us as CrossCheck reviews celebrity car collections in this two-part series. 

Impressive Car Collections 

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Ralph Lauren: Fashion Designer, Best Known for his “Polo” Collection

  • Net worth of $5.6 billion.1
  • Garage holds more than 60 cars including Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Mercedes, Bentley, Jaguar, McLaren F1, and many others.2
  • Factoid: His car collection is 98% red with contrasting white platforms inside a black building … talk about a pop of color. 
  • Most expensive car: 1958 Ferrari Testarossa valued at $1,800,000


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Ken Lingenfelter: Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, Corvette Enthusiast

  • Over 150 cars: many that he and his shop customized with Lingenfelter engines and body kits, like the 460 horsepower 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray that he upgraded with a 550hp engine kit.3
  • 40,000 sq ft garage in Michigan: 40% Corvettes including the extremely rare 1953 supercharged Corvette, 30% muscle cars like the 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator, 30% exotic such as the 1990 Ferrari F404 
  • Several vehicles in the collection are among the rare automobiles in the world, including a Bugatti Veyron, an Enzo Ferrari, and a Lamborghini Reventón5 
  • Recently acquired a 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari F150 6.3L V12 that is connected to an electric motor and produces a combined power output of 950hp.6
  • On select days, the Lingenfelter open the garage to the public and donate the proceeds to charity.

Celebs with Car Shows

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Jay Leno: Jay Leno's Garage Host, Comedian, Extreme Car Collector

 Comedian and long-time Tonight Show host Jay Leno is in love with the history and style of cars.

  • What would you do if you had $50 Million worth of merchandise and were recently retired from the Tonight Show? Jay Leno decided to host Jay Leno's Garage, a weekly series that takes viewers on automotive adventures with his team of mechanics who built the garage from the ground up and are in charge of restoring the collection to perfection. 
  • Leno's $50 million car collection is one of the biggest in the world; his multi-level garage is comprised of over 100 classic and historic cars and 90 motorcycles.7 
  • Car highlights include the fastest production car on the road, the Gordon Murray designed McLaren F1. It can reach speeds of 231 mph and is one of only 106 made, each valued between one and nine million dollars. The open cockpit roadster LCC Rocket, also designed by Murray, runs on a 1-liter motorcycle engine. This is the only one in existence. 
  • Extinct alternative energy cars that Leno regularly drives: the 1909 Baker fully-electric, a nearly-silent car with no cranking or gas needed; the 1915 Owen Magnetic runs on a gas engine and electric generator; and the 1925 Doble Steamer, one of 22 steam-powered vehicles8 owned by Leno, uses 525 ft. of steel coil and one spark plug. 


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Jerry Seinfeld: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld is now in his fourth year hosting Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee aimed at conversation with funny people inside awesome cars. Above is his James Bond episode with Seinfeld series co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus inside an Aston Martin DB5. 


  • Seinfeld will be selling a $10 million bundle of Porsches at the Amelia Island Auction this March, including this blue un-restored 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, a green 1958 Porsche 356A 1500 GS/GT Carrera Speedster, and a yellow 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 IROC (International Race of Champions) RSR. *18 of Seinfield's Porsches were sold at auction for $22 million according to Motor Authority. 
  • "Jerry had a poster of an airborne Porsche 930 hanging on the wall of his apartment in his hit television series, Seinfeld, which shows his love for the car maker dates back a number of years," reports Celebrity Net Worth. 
  • Seinfeld's garage is worth a cool $15 million, comprised of 47 Porsches located in his $1.4 million customized garage in Manhattan. He owns an ultra-rare 959, a 1955 550 Spyder, Porsche Boxsters and the first 911 ever produced.9

Classic Car Enthusiasts

James Dean sits behind the wheel of a sports car in a still from ‘The James Dean Story,’ 1957. (Credit: Warner Bros./Getty Images)

James Dean: Actor, American Heart Throb, Car Racer

  • The Man: Race car enthusiast, American actor and icon James Dean began competing in road races in March 1955, placing second in a white Porsche Super Speedster in Palm Springs, California. 
  • The Car: He was barred from racing by producers while shooting "Giant," but upon finishing, traded his Speedster for the powerful Porsche 550 Spyder. Dean was ticketed for speeding just two hours before he was pronounced DOA after a collision at only 24 years of age.
  • The Legend: His car is said to be cursed. Upon arrival at an auto shop, it rolled off a trailer, crushing an employee's leg. Purchasers of its parts were said to have died in fatal crashes, and the mechanic who was present at the time of Dean's accident also died in an auto accident. The whereabouts of the car are unknown.10 

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Bibliography

  1. http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celeb/ralph-lauren-net-worth/
  2. http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/the-10-biggest-car-collectors-in-the-world/?view=all
  3. http://www.lingenfelter.com/blog/ 
  4. http://www.ferrarimaseratiofatlanta.com/contentimages/media/dedf897fba7540624f96aa6154af1351.pdf
  5. http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/insane-o-car-collection-jay-lenos-350-million-fortune-bought/
  6. http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/the-10-biggest-car-collectors-in-the-world/?view=all
  7. http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/entertainment/jerry-seinfeld-and-his-15-million-car-collection/?view=all
  8. History.com

 

Written by Maria Shayna Tzouvelekis

Maria Shayna Tzouvelekis is an Inbound Marketer at CrossCheck in Petaluma, CA.