There are a few well-known names in the fashion world that come to mind. Ralph Lauren is one of them. Lauren is one of the most famous people in the world. His fashion empire, the Ralph Lauren Corporation, is worth a lot of money. Most people don’t know that Lauren is also a businessman and philanthropist, but he also has a huge collection of cars. To be exact, Lauren is worth more than $6 billion, making him one of the richest men in the United States. He began collecting cars with a 1971 Mercedes 280SE 4.5 roadster in the 1970s. These days, his collection is worth a lot of money. If he has that much money, why wouldn’t he have a huge collection of rare and one-of-a-kind cars?
Even though Lauren was born in the US, his parents came here from another country. After he turned 18, Lauren chose to join the army. He finally got a job at Brooks Brothers as a sales assistant in the men’s tie area. Learning more about fashion gave Lauren the confidence to start his own business, Ralph Lauren Corporation, in 1967, focusing on making men’s ties. That being said, the fashion mogul quickly grew his business to include more areas of the fashion industry. Lauren quit his job as CEO of his company in 2015, but he is still very important as Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer.
Ralph Lauren Car Collection
15. Atlantic Coupe Bugatti Type 57SC
Only four Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupes were ever made, and we know of only three that are still around. The fourth one belonged to Jean Bugatti, but it was lost after he died. Ralph Lauren owns one of the three in the world. The French company made the car’s body in the shape of a teardrop out of aluminum to keep it light. Many people might say that this Bugatti model was the first supercar because it could go as fast as 123 miles per hour. In 2010, an amazing $40 million was paid at auction for one of these very rare items.
14. 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK named “Count Trossi”
This 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK is another rare piece in Lauren’s collection. It was specially ordered by Count Trossi, an Italian racecar driver and builder. It is said that less than 40 of these cars were made. There is a supercharged 7.1-liter inline-six engine under the hood, but at low speed, the car runs naturally aspirated. The fan makes a loud howl when you step on the gas and open the throttle.
13. Ferrari 250 GTO from 1962
Lauren also has a rare ’62 Ferrari 250 GTO. This type of car was made from 1962 to 1964 so that it could be homologated into the FIA’s Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. GTO actually stands for Gran Turismo Omologato. The “250” in the name of the car refers to the size of its engine. For example, a Ferrari has a 250cui V12 engine that makes just under 300 horsepower. During its two-year production run, only 36 of these Ferraris were made.
Of those, 33 were Series I cars with bodywork from 1962 to 1963 and only 3 were Series II cars with bodywork from 1964. Four of the Series I cars were given bodies from the Series II. Privately, one of these Ferrari 250 GTO models went for $70 million, which means that this may be the most valuable car that Lauren has. It got even better: Enzo Ferrari gave his blessing to all of them.
12. Ferrari 375 Plus
Lauren also has a 1 of 5 Ferrari 375 Plus in her collection, which is another very expensive car. Since a Ferrari 375 Plus sold for $18.3 million at auction in 2014, this one is another important addition to his collection. This old Ferrari did well by winning important races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Carrera Panamericana, the 1000km of Buenos Aires, the Agadir Grand Prix, and Silverstone. This Italian beauty is powered by a Lampredi V12 engine that can make 325 horsepower.
11. McLaren F1
Ralph Lauren doesn’t just own one McLaren F1; he has two to choose from. From 1992 to 1998, only 106 of these F1s were made. The design was very advanced for its time. It is hard to think that this car is almost 30 years old because it looks so much like new, high-profile cars. It has a BMW S70/2 V12 engine that makes 618 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque. The power is sent to the road by a 6-speed manual gear.
With a top speed of 240.1 mph, the McLaren F1 became the fastest production car in 1998 and went into the Guinness Book of World Records. That title was taken away by a Koenigsegg CCR in 2005, more than a decade later. The Bugatti Veyron then took it over. It doesn’t include rare cars like the Dauer 962 Le Mans from 1993, which was clocked at 251.4 miles per hour. This highly sought-after hypercar has some unique features, like a gold metal heat shield and a seat in the middle. Why not have two McLaren F1s?
10. Porsche 550 Spyder from 1955
She also has a very rare 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder with a mid-engine. Only 90 of the German sports cars were made during the three years they were made, from 1953 to 1956. The 550, which was also made to win races, proved to be a strong competitor. When it was first raced, in May 1953, at the Nurburgring Eifel Race, the car won first place. The car kept doing well, and it usually got one of the top three spots. This car has an aluminum inline-4 naturally aspirated engine, which is also known as the “Fuhrmann Engine.” It sends power to the back wheels through a 4-speed manual gear. This Porsche race car was definitely not slow; it could go as fast as 140 mph.
9. Jaguar XKD from 1955
Ralph Lauren also has a 1955 Jaguar XKD in his collection. This factory-built race car was made from 1954 to 1957. It showed what it was made of at the 1957 Le Mans, where it finished in 5 of the top 6 spots. The engine in this old Jaguar is a 3,442-cc DOHC inline-6 with three Weber 45 DCO3 carburetors and a 4-speed manual gear at its back. With this setup, this classy Jaguar makes 250 bhp, and a 4-speed manual gearbox sends that power to the road. The Jag D-Type had a crosswise torsion bar, live rear axle trailing links, and an independent front suspension.
8. Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Spyder from 1958
Lauren has a lot of great cars, and a 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Spyder is one of them. This Ferrari was made for road racing because it has a V12 engine. At one point, this 1958 Ferrari model was thought to be the smallest and most aerodynamic race car on the market. They are very uncommon, so there’s a good chance you won’t ever see one in the wild. A prototype chassis sold for more than $16 million in 2011. These cars don’t even come up at sale very often. There were only 34 of these Ferrari 250 Testa Rossas ever made.
7. McLaren P1
Lauren has a lot of old cars in her collection, but this McLaren P1 is a brand-new plug-in hybrid racecar. The P1 made its big appearance at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. In the UK, it went on sale in October. All 375 of these cars had already been bought by the time November came around. Reports from the Telegraph say that the fashion icon bought this McLaren “to drive and not collect.” This fast car can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 2.8 seconds and can reach an amazing 217 miles per hour. Who wouldn’t want to drive a McLaren P1 with 900 bhp all the time?
6. The Jaguar XKSS
Again, this is an old Jaguar that Lauren has in her collection. On the street, this is a Jaguar XKSS, which is like a race car Jaguar D-Type. In 1956, the company stopped racing its D-Type cars so it could focus on making cars that people would actually want to drive. It was planned to make 25 of these XKSS types at first, but a fire broke out in the Brown Lanes plant before all of them were finished. The fire burned everything that was left. In March 2016, Jaguar finally finished making the last 9 copies of the Jaguar XKSS. It’s interesting to know that Steve McQueen owned one in British Green and called it the “Green Rat.” The car is now in the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California.
5. The McLaren F1 LM
With this F1 LM, Lauren has another McLaren in her collection. Five McLaren F1 GTR cars won first place, third place, fourth place, fifth place, and fifteenth place in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. This model was made as a salute to those cars. The “Le Mans” LM is built on the McLaren F1 GTR and rides on a standard F1 chassis. The car had to go through a lot of changes before it could be used on the road. There were only 6 of these cars made, and 5 were sold.
4. The Reventón Lamborghini
It makes sense that Ralph Lauren would own a very rare Lamborghini Reventón after seeing some of the other cars in his collection. This mid-engine racecar was based on the design of “the fastest airplanes,” or fighter jets. The Mclaren LP640 also has a 6.5L V12 engine, which this car has. The Reventón could go as fast as 221 miles per hour when it was being tested in the UAE. There were only 20 of these made, plus one extra (number 00/20) that was made for the Lamborghini museum. Lauren said that the car was like “thin, beautiful sculptures or the explosive architecture of a modern master like Frank Gehry.”
3. Jaguar XK120 Alloy Roadster
This curvy old Jaguar XK120 Alloy Roadster is another treasure Lauren has in her collection. That’s why it’s called the “120.” Its top speed of 120 miles per hour was very fast for its time. In fact, this Jaguar model used to be the fastest car that was made for sale. To put that number together again, only 120 were made with a body made of lightweight aluminum before the switch to steel. These days, the metal ones are worth more than the steel ones.
At that time, World War II had an effect on the auto business. Many companies shut down because they didn’t have enough money or fuel or materials. It got even worse when some of the factories were destroyed totally. During the tough times, Jaguar stayed in business by making a new type of fast cars that were also good-looking, reliable, and not too expensive overall.
2. Ferrari
“The Ferrari” is all that the LaFerrari means, and it was made to be the most powerful hypercar on the market. The Italian car company’s HY-KERS technology puts together both electric and gasoline motors in this, their first car with that feature. The electric motor in the LaFerrari makes more than 150 CVs, and the engine is a giant V12 that makes 800 CVs. Ralph Lauren’s LaFerrari is one of the rarer ones because the outside is shiny black.
1. The 918 Spyder Porsche
Ralph Lauren doesn’t just have one Porsche 918 Spyder; he has two of these crazy electric cars. This amazing Porsche 918 Spyder has a 4.6L V8 engine that makes 599 horsepower and two electric motors that make an extra 282 horsepower. This German beauty has an amazing 875 horsepower when you add it all up. With this hypercar, you can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds. Its top speed is over 217 miles per hour.
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