The World's Top 10 Car Collectors

Nick Mason is the long-time drummer for legendary, and super influential, rock band Pink Floyd. And his time in the band has given him the resources to afford an impressive car collection. When Nick Mason isn’t playing drums in Pink Floyd, he is busy tending to the more than 40 rare and high-end vehicles he owns. Nick has a particular fondness for Italian sports cars. Some of the most impressive cars in Nick Mason’s collection include a Bugatti T35, an Aston Martin LM18, a Ferrari 213 T3, McLaren F1, Porsche 962, and the infamous Ferrari 250 GTO that is valued at more than $20 million. Nick Mason is not shy about showing the cars off to other collectors or letting people see them at automotive shows around the world.

Ralph Lauren is known as a fashion mogul who has done wonders for the polo shirt. However, in his private life, Lauren is an avid car collector. And he has used his fashion sense to amass a stunning collection of cars—all of them the color red. Lauren owns Ferraris, Alfa Romeo roadsters, Bugattis, Mercedes, Bentleys, Jaguars and McLaren F1 sport cars—more than 60 cars in total. And 98% of the cars in his collection are red in color. In addition, Lauren has had a special garage made at his New York estate where the cars sit on an all-white platform that is raised on a black carpet. This makes for an impressive sight to behold. Clearly Lauren knows what he likes— especially when it comes to colors.

Jay Kay is another successful musician better known as Jamiroquai. And, in addition to an impressive collection of hats, Jay Kay has a wicked car collection—about 70 vehicles in total. Regardless of what you think of his music, you have to respect Jay Kay’s rides. The British-born Grammy award winning singer counts Porsches, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, Bugattis, Maseratis and Aston Martin cars in his collection. He also has a Mercedes 600 car that was once famously owned by French fashion designer Coco Chanel. There seems to be no limit to this singer’s appetite for cars. He says that he is constantly on the hunt for his next big car purchase. The rarer and more exotic, the better for this music impresario.

Dmitry Lomakov is a businessman and head of a prominent Russian family. He made his money in mining, notably Potash. But his real passion in life is classic and antique cars. And Dmitry Lomakov has so many cars in his collection that he has built a museum to house them. Lomakov runs the Classic Cars and Motorcycles Museum in Russia, which has a stellar series of antique cars, many of which have historic significance. There are a total of 120 antique cars and motorcycles in the museum, notably a 1914 Peugeot motorcycle, the last of its kind, as well as other Russian-made vehicles that no longer exist such as the 1977 Chayka GAZ-13. However, the Crown jewel in the Dmitry Lomakov collection is Adolf Hitler’s infamous Mercedes-Benz convertible that he traveled in during his reign as German Chancellor. Dmitry Lomakov bought Hitler’s car at a private auction, attracting international media attention in the process.

Gerard Lopez is best known as a venture capitalist who put his money into developing Skype (pretty good move there). He has since taken his fortune and gotten involved in Formula One racing. Today, Gerard Lopez is Chairman of the Lotus F1 Team. And the Luxembourg-born businessman’s love of cars also extends to his personal life. The self-made man has a truly amazing car collection, which has been showcased on automotive television programs around the world, like BBC’s Top Gear. The collection includes vintage muscle cars and hot rods, as well as classic Porsche, Peugeot, Bugatti and other exotic cars. The entire collection of more than 80 vehicles is estimated to be worth more than $100 million. Here’s to Skype!

Who is Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, you ask? Only the richest man in India. And in addition to mansions and private planes, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani also has an astounding collection of European cars totaling about 170 vehicles in all. These are mostly sporty, yet elegant, cars such as Bentley, Maybach, Bugatti and Mercedes. Worth a reported $20 billion, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani owns a Maybach 62, Benz S-Class, Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls-Royce Phantom, just to name a few. These cars are proudly displayed in Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s 60-storey home, which he affectionately calls Attila, and which happens to be the world’s most expensive private residence at a value of $2 billion.

Ken Lingenfelter is an American business mogul who is the driving force behind Lingenfelter Performance Engineering. And Ken loves all things that have to do with cars. He currently owns more than 150 vehicles, including 20 Lamborghinis. He also owns rare Corvettes, Mustangs and Porsches. Ken Lingenfelter has so many cars, in fact, that he had to build a 40,000 square foot garage in Michigan to house them—complete with special climate control features to help keep the cars in pristine shape during the harsh Michigan winters. Ken Lingenfelter admits that his collection is pretty random and includes a lot of duplicate vehicles, notably Camaros and Corvettes, but he insists he can’t help himself. When he sees a car he wants, he buys it.

Comedian and former Tonight Show host Jay Leno is a noted car freak. He currently hosts his own TV program about cars called Jay Leno’s Garage. But did you know that Jay Leno has one of the world’s biggest collection of rare and antique cars? We’re talking ultra-rare. Super vintage. Jay Leno’s collection of more than 200 vehicles includes a perfectly maintained 1909 Baker Electric, a 1931 eight-liter Bentley, a 1909 Stanley Steamer, a 1934 Phantom II from Rolls-Royce, a 1927 Duesenberg Model X, and a 1925 Hispano-Suiza. Jay Leno also owns 22 steam-powered vehicles and 25 classic race cars. This is indeed a car collection to behold as it rivals any museum in the world. In fact, museum curators from all over the globe visit Jay Leno to view his car collection, which is estimated at around $350 million. Impressive!

His real name is Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan. But nobody can pronounce that, so most people call him the “Rainbow Sheik.” The important thing to know is that he is a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family and a billionaire. And all his cash has helped him to build one hell of a car collection. The moniker “Rainbow Sheik” comes from the fact that he owns seven Mercedes S-Class vehicles, each one in a different color of the rainbow. Additionally, he has also customized Mercedes monster trucks that are beyond enormous, a slew of Jeeps for the largest Bedouin Caravan, a Dodge Power Wagon, and whatever sensational cars he can find to match his larger than life personality. And if all this weren’t impressive enough, consider that he keeps his car collection inside a Pyramid. A real ancient Pyramid, which he had converted into a garage. I guess it’s true that money really can buy anything.

To say that Hassanal Bolkiah, aka the Sultan of Brunei, can buy anything he wants is an understatement. With a net worth of $20 billion, the Sultan owns the biggest royal palace on Earth, complete with diamond and gold encrusted bathrooms. With that kind of money and extravagance, it should not come as a surprise that the Sultan also has an impressive car collection. In fact, by some accounts, his car collection numbers 7,000 vehicles and includes more than 250 BMWs, 574 Mercedes-Benz, 452 Ferraris, 179 Jaguars, 382 Bentleys, 134 Koenigseggs, a slew of Lamborghinis, as well as Aston Martin, Cicero BDB Maestro…the list goes on. The Sultan also has a number of limited edition concept cars that were made especially for him, such as the Ferrari Mythos, Bentley Java and Porsche Carma. Our only question is: When does he find the time to drive all these cars?