Anyone with money can buy a nice car or two. Assembling collections as fantastic as these takes taste.
Top Photo Credit: The Smoking Tire
10.) Ralph Lauren
I read a story somewhere (maybe on Jalopnik?) that after some guys were following Ralph Lauren driving his Bugatti Veyron, he stopped and showed them the car just like one gearhead to another. What I know is that thanks to him, I've seen and heard a Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic in action. And there's more. Automatch Tom:
"You can't drive a painting," he said to me—and he makes much of his desire to treat his cars as more than just aesthetic objects. "I drive these cars—they don't just sit here," he said at least three times as we walked through two floors of classic Porsches, Ferraris, Morgans, Jaguars, Aston Martins, and Mercedes-Benzes. He loves the fact that every car he has bought has a history, whether as a racing car or as a prototype or, as with his 1971 Mercedes 280SE, in his own life. He bought the Mercedes for $13,000 not long after he had begun his business as an independent designer. It was an extravagance that offended his backers, given how far from profitability he was then, but Lauren saw it as a chance to make a statement. "I walked into Mercedes on Park Avenue and said I wanted that car, but with a tan top and tan leather seats and a silver body," he said. "They told me that they didn't make it that way. But then they did it."
Read more about it in Vanity Fair.
Suggested By:Automatch Tom
9.) Magnus Walker
Magnus Walker's mission is to have one of every 911 from 1964 to 1973, but in the meantime, he pushes his daily driver favorite as hard as he can. It's not a bad life, is it?
Suggested By: Stef Schrader
8.) Roger Rodas/Paul Walker
I'm not sure how much of AE Performance's collection belonged to Paul Walker, but it's a real shame he's not around to enjoy it anymore, not to mention Rodas. The diversity makes it special.
Suggested By: e36cosmosm3
7.) Jack Olsen
Jack Olsen's garage is so cool, it has its own website.
Suggested By: jarvik7
6.) Jim Glickenhaus
Jim Glickenhous would remain just another ultra rich car collector is he wasn't recreating Ferraris for racing purposes too. That instantly puts him in a very different category, which can be summed up as the awesome one.
Suggested By: SennaMP4
5.) Myron Vernis
Myron Vernis is the most eccentric car collector in the world, and we love him for it.
Suggested By: Máté Petrány
4.) Bruce Canepa
A man with more experience in racing, building and collecting cars than most. He has a soft spot for Porsches too. That seems to be the case with most of these guys, actually.
Suggested By: 80CobraKid is also 89IntegraKid
3.) Ken Lingenfelter
He has a Vector. Case closed.
Suggested By: ImSam
2.) GR1M Racer
Jeff and his friends can build "rails and funnycars, fixed boats, tractors, and semi's" at his house. Beat that, billion dollars!
Suggested By: GR1M RACER : Wrong Most of the Time
1.) Jay Leno
Jay Leno has the connections, the money and the taste to restore, create or just keep the most amazing cars ever for another generation to see. Not to mention the current one. A frequent guest at Cars and Coffee, who never comes empty handed.
Suggested By: DC1
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!