What would you buy if you had $1 billion? Would you buy a mansion with a ridiculous amount of rooms and a pool the size of a football pitch? Would you invest it somewhere or create your own company? Or, would you spend a good chunk of that money on scarily speedy super cars and classic automobiles from the last century? As I’m sure you’ve guessed, the people included in the following list decided to go with the latter option and have accumulated some of the most astounding car collections filled with every sort of car you can imagine. Here are the eight biggest and most expensive car collections on the planet:
8. Ralph Lauren
Although you may associate Ralph Lauren with the fashion world above anything else, he’s also heavily involved in the motoring world. Ralph owns over 60 cars, including Ferrari’s, Alfa Romeo roadsters, Bugatti, Mercedes, Bentley, Jaguar and McLaren F1 models, and every single one of them is hot red. When exhibited to the world, the cars are placed on shockingly white platforms surrounded by black carpets in a New York City garage.
7. Jay Kay
Yes, you may think Jamiroquai front man Jason Luiz Cheetham’s one and only loves are his hats, but he actually has a rather large fondness for cars as well. Also known as Jay Kay, Jason owns almost a hundred cars including Porsche’s, Ferrari’s, Rolls Royce’s, Lamborghini’s, Mercedes (including Coco Chanel’s Mercedes 600), Bugatti’s, Maserati, Chevy and Aston Martin.
6. Dmitry Lomakov
Throughout his lifetime, head of the Lomakov family Dmitry has amassed an impressive collection of cars, which are now housed in a museum. There are 120 antique cars and bikes, the only remaining 1914 Peugeot motorcycle in the world is a particular gem, as well as Russian-made cars that are no longer found anywhere else in the world, like the 1977 Chayka GAZ-13. Lomakov received a lot of controversy a few years ago when he purchased Adolf Hitler’s Mercedes-Benz from a private action.
5. Gerard Lopez
Luxembourg businessman Gerard Lopez made his fortune after co-owning Genii Capital and Mangrove Capital Planters, a top-rated firm that helped build technology like Skype. Now, Lopez is the managing director of CS Fola Esch, chairman of the Lotus F1 Team and an avid car collector. His collection consists of various vintage vehicles and muscle cars, as well as a Porsche, Peugeot and Bugatti units.
4. Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani
Chairman, Managing Director and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani is the 36th richest man in the world with a net worth of $19.1 billion. So it’s no surprise that he has an immense collection of over 168 cars. The majority of his automobiles are European cars, comprising of Bentleys. Maybachs, Bugattis, Porsches and Mercedes.
3. Ken Lingenfelter
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWOawMM94F8]
Nestled in the quiet town of Brighton, Michigan Ken Lingenfelter’s huge 40,000 square foot warehouse is the home of over 150 American muscle cars, 20 Lamborghini Reventon’s and a few Corvettes, Mustangs, Bugattis and Porsches.
Son of a successful GM executive, Ken was able to build his car collection after making a fortune in the real estate settlement industry and, more recently, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering.
2. Jay Leno
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa_UGRN0wds]
American comedian and talk show host Jay Leno’s vehicle collection is thought to consist of over 100 cars and 90 motorcycles. His collection is a diverse masterpiece, containing both a 1906 Stanley Steamer and a McLaren MP4-12C.
Jay Leno has often discussed his love for cars and is well respected in the car community for collecting cars he loves rather than simply buying all the brand new flashy models. Amongst the automobiles, Leno’s garage also houses special equipment and tools he can use to restore his precious vehicles, from a sheet metal English wheel to a plasma cutter.
1. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc7jUgreZhg]
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah undeniably prefers the finer things in life, which may be why he was reported as having a net worth of $20 billion in 2008, the largest royal palace on Earth –complete with diamond and gold encrusted bathrooms – and the largest, most expensive car collection in the world. Luxury cars, classic cars, unique concept cars and exotic cars: they’re all there in his collection, which is estimated to be worth $300 million.
The sultan’s most expensive car is a $14 million custom Rolls-Royce Silver Spur Limousine which contains 24 karat gold. His entire collection of almost 7000 cars consists of 209 BMWs, 574 Benz, 452 Ferraris, 179 Jaguars, 382 Bentleys, 134 Koenigseggs, and a few Lamborghinis. His custom cars include the Ferrari Mythos, Pininfarina-designed Jaguar, Bentley Java and 4×4 Dominator, a Koenigsegg Agera CC GT and a Porsche Carma, all of which are one of a kind.
