Mercedes-Benz 300SL $1.8Million Prepare yourself for an avid collector. Comedian Jay Leno has amassed over 130 remarkable autos. (Where does one find a 130-car garage?!) He collects motorcycles as well. All told, his collection is worth $50 million. It’s a fun way to invest over 10 percent of his $350 million net worth! Nothing he’s acquired, from his McLaren F1 to his Ford GT supercar is as beloved as his 1955 race car-red Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. He found the 2-door coupe in a storage container out in the desert, stranded with neither an engine nor transmission since the 1970s. The original car was used for racing. The old Betty’s pretty powerful. It’s got a 3.0-liter V8 220 horsepower engine that reaches a speed of 130 mph. Leno had the car meticulously fixed up.
At $1.8 million, it’s worth much more than a new one. On his show, Jay Leno’s Garage, the legendary late-night host details the restoration process. Also in his collection, is a 1986 Lamborghini Countach with a Quattro V12, 5.2-liter engine. He’s the proud owner of two McLaren’s—a P1 and an F1. And, Leno has acquired a 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado, also restored on Jay Leno’s Garage. His actual garage? An aircraft hangar in Los Angeles serves as a warehouse.
Clint Eastwood
GMC Typhoon $30K Clint Eastwood is a Hollywood legend. His name is internationally recognized as the synonym for badass. Cars, guns and retribution. So, what does the man who played “Dirty Harry” drive? Unsurprisingly, muscle cars like the green 1972 Ford Gran Torino, the one Eastwood co-starred within Gran Torino, come to mind. Or, maybe, supercharged luxury Corvettes. The truth is, as he revealed to Jimmy Fallon one night, he drives a GMC Typhoon. A what? Exactly. The GMC Typhoon is a limited-production vehicle that came out in 1992.
He still has it. Don’t worry, it’s fast. With a turbocharged V6, the hulking SUV whips from 0-60 in 5.3 seconds! Alternatively, to balance things out, he buzzes around in an all-electric Fiat 500e. It can go 84 miles on a full charge. And, like the Typhoon, it’s affordable. The Fiat 500e costs about $32,000. If it seems a bit steep, just think about how you’ll save about a hundred dollars a month on gas!
Tom Selleck
Porsche 928 S4 $30K Magnum, P.I. aired from 1980 to 1988. Eighties TV couldn't be called, “Eighties TV,” without this handsome private investigator patrolling tropical resort towns in a flashy candy-apple red Ferrari each week. And would Hawaiian shirts have become a thing without Mr. Magnum? As legend has it, he was supposed to drive a Porsche 928 in the series, but his substantial 6-foot-4 frame could not squeeze into the sports car, and neither would the Porsche execs custom-provide an altered 928.
I’m sure the man whose mustache comes before him enjoyed the Italian-model upgrade. In 1988, however, Selleck got himself a custom Porsche 928 S4 5-speed—fully loaded with a beige leather interior and charcoal-black paint.
Conan O’Brien
Ford Taurus Priceless Conan O’Brien’s original 1992 emerald green Ford Taurus has made many appearances on his late-night talk show. At one point, he brought the beloved manual-transmission car that he drove before making it as a comedian onto the stage of Conan. With a State Farm agent at hand, he described the classic details of its vintage value and celebrity status, having been owned and driven by himself. (And Brad Pitt, it turns out.) As the original owner, Conan described the vehicle’s pristine condition.
Everything is in its original condition, he claimed. “They’re the original tires. A lot of people say, ‘change the tires,’ I say, ‘no, keep the original tires.’ So, it slides around the road a lot’.” A new Ford Taurus, pictured here, will run you about $40,000, Conan’s is incalculably valuable. The time Brad Pitt dropped the clutch and peeled out of an NYC parking spot in the almost 30-year-old Taurus crowned its immeasurable worth with celebrity added-value. Taking another layer off of the vintage bald tires probably helped too.
Jerry Seinfeld
Porsche 959 $1.8 Million Another avid collector is comedian Jerry Seinfeld. He’s a huge Porsche fan, but he doesn’t discriminate, except with Lexus. He despises the brand. Each new lineup makes him “very upset and angry.” His collection features a wide variety of automobiles. On his explicitly-titled Netflix show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, he and a fellow comedian cruise East Hampton in one of his rare or vintage automobiles and then stop into a local New York cafe to grab a cup of joe while amusing us with their clever chats. Seinfeld once owned 46 Porsches out of his 150-car assemblage. He stores his treasures at a $1.4 million garage in Manhattan.
In 2016 he dumped $22 million worth of his collection, including 17 Porsches. But not his pearl white 1983 Porsche 959! The rare 1980s classic is revered and envied throughout the Porsche community. His is one of 337 models built. It’s similar in design to the popular 911 but boasts a sleek spoiler, an elongated but dainty body, pronounced wheel wells, and the distinctive “G” gear. The “G” gear shifts it into all-wheel-drive for mud or other terrain challenges. It hits a top speed of 197 mph, and bolts 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. It’s his crown jewel. Funny part? It’s not even street-legal.