Celebrities and their cars

Elvis Presley

1957 BMW 507

A chassis number and a 1958 insurance document helped BMW establish which 507 Elvis drove in Germany.

Janis Joplin

1964 Porsche 356 C 1600 SC Cabriolet by Reutter

Joplin called the Porsche a 1965 in a surviving letter, while its chassis-backed auction record identifies a 1964 car and traces Dave Richards’s mural.

Steve McQueen

1968 Ford Mustang GT fastback · S-code 390 V8

The Bullitt production bought two sequential Mustangs: ’559 was the hero car McQueen drove on screen, while ’558 took the destructive jumps.

John Lennon

1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V

Chassis 5VD73 changed from Lennon’s black Mulliner Park Ward commission into the psychedelic Phantom he donated to Cooper Hewitt in 1977, before its later museum care.

Ralph Lauren

1938 Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic Coupé

Bugatti’s own history identifies Lauren with the last Atlantic produced: chassis 57 591, the ‘Pope Atlantic.’

Andy Warhol

1979 BMW M1 Group 4 Art Car

Warhol painted BMW Art Car no. 4 directly on an M1 Group 4 racer. The same no. 76 car then finished sixth overall at Le Mans.

Dale Earnhardt

1998 Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR Cup race car

Earnhardt drove RCR’s black no. 3 Chevrolet to his only Daytona 500 victory. The preserved race-winning car remains at the team museum.

Jay Leno

Blastolene Special ‘Tank Car’

Builder Randy Grubb records selling the one-off Blastolene Special to Jay Leno. A public-domain Army photograph shows Leno driving that individual car at Fort Irwin in 2015.

Lewis Hamilton

2020 Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance /01

Mercedes identifies W11/01 as Hamilton’s car for the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix. He drove it from pole to victory at Mugello.

Queen Elizabeth II

1971 Rover P5B 3.5-Litre Saloon

The British Motor Museum identifies this dark-green 1971 P5B as the late Queen’s personal property and now records it only as a private loan.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

1939 Lincoln Model K ‘Sunshine Special’

The U.S. government leased this Brunn-bodied 1939 Lincoln for Roosevelt’s official use. It was built for visibility, then armored after Pearl Harbor.

Henry Ford

1896 Ford Quadricycle Runabout

Ford built his first gasoline car with four collaborators, sold it to fund a second machine, then reacquired the same Quadricycle eight years later.

Eleanor Roosevelt

1936 Ford Phaeton convertible sedan

After Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death, Eleanor Roosevelt used his hand-control-equipped Ford until late 1946, then presented the exact car to the presidential library.

George Harrison

Mini Cooper S · Radford Mini de Ville conversion

Harrison’s Cooper S was converted by Radford, painted with yantras and Sanskrit mantras, and appeared in The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.

Nick Mason

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO · chassis 3757GT

Mason bought a 16-year-old ex-competition 250 GTO in 1978, then kept using it on road and track instead of turning it into a static trophy.

Stirling Moss

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR · no. 722 · W 196 S

Moss and navigator Denis Jenkinson turned their 7:22 start time into the name of a record-setting Mille Miglia winner—and the original car kept moving long after 1955.

Pope Francis

1984 Renault 4 · 30 hp · four-speed column shift

Father Renzo Zocca’s well-used Renault crossed his Verona parish for decades before he gave the exact car to Pope Francis in 2013.

Pope Francis

2018 Lamborghini Huracán RWD Coupé · chassis ZHWEC2ZF1HLA06894

Lamborghini donated this white-and-gold Huracán to Pope Francis, who signed it and directed its auction proceeds to charity. The record supports a gift and sale—not driving or personal use.

Jim Clark

1965 Lotus-Ford Type 38/1 · no. 82 · Indianapolis 500 winner

Clark’s no. 82 Lotus-Ford carried Formula One thinking to Indianapolis—and the exact winner survives as a named museum object.

John F. Kennedy

1961 Lincoln Continental presidential limousine · X-100

Kennedy rode in an open midnight-blue parade car; the same individual Lincoln survives in the armored black form created after his death.

Esther Mahlangu

1991 BMW 525i Art Car · E34 · no. 12 in the BMW Art Car series

Mahlangu turned one white 525i into the twelfth BMW Art Car, joining a modern sedan to a painting tradition carried by Ndebele women.

Elon Musk

First-generation Tesla Roadster · Falcon Heavy demonstration payload · 2018-017A

Musk supplied his own midnight-cherry Roadster for Falcon Heavy’s first flight; the exact car then became catalogued payload 2018-017A.

Michael J. Fox

1981 De Lorean DMC-12 ‘Time Machine’ Hero Car · NHVR no. 29 · HAER CA-2377

Fox shared the screen with one specific De Lorean Hero Car; that exact production car survives on museum loan after a documented restoration.

Don Garlits

1985–1986 Swamp Rat XXX · Top Fuel dragster

Garlits designed, built and raced Swamp Rat XXX; the exact championship car survives as Smithsonian object nmah_1276317.

Wilbur Shaw

1938 Maserati 8CTF Boyle Special · serial 3032 · 1939 and 1940 Indianapolis 500 winner

Shaw drove serial 3032 to consecutive Indianapolis 500 victories; the restored survivor is NHVR no. 3 and HAER IN-112.

Shirley Muldowney

1986 pink Top Fuel comeback-era dragster · photographed at the NHRA Chief Auto Parts Nationals

Eighteen months after her 1984 crash, Muldowney returned in a pink Top Fuel car; a licensed 1986 event photograph preserves one actual dragster from that comeback season without pretending to know its chassis or owner.

Michèle Mouton

1983 Audi quattro A1 · Group B rally car · Deutsches Technikmuseum display

Mouton’s Audi career with Fabrizia Pons includes the 1981 Sanremo victory; this 1983 A1 museum car illustrates her competition association without implying ownership or that it was the Sanremo car.

Mark Donohue

1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder · chassis 003

Donohue developed and drove chassis 003 to six straight Can-Am wins and the 1973 title, then returned with the same car for Porsche’s 1975 Talladega record run.

Michael Schumacher

2004 Ferrari F2004 · race no. 1 · British Grand Prix weekend

A licensed track photograph fixes Schumacher’s no. 1 F2004 to Silverstone’s 2004 race weekend without pretending that the image proves a chassis number or personal ownership.

Paul Newman

1979 Datsun 280ZX · SCCA C Production · no. 33

Newman drove this individual no. 33 Datsun 280ZX to six regular-season wins and the 1979 SCCA C Production championship at the Road Atlanta Runoffs.

Eric Clapton

2012 Ferrari SP12 EC · one-off

Ferrari created the one-off SP12 EC for Clapton after his years with three 512 BBs, turning that affection into a 458 Italia-influenced Special Project.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Amphicar · Lagoon Blue · exact model year unverified

A White House photograph records Johnson driving the individual Amphicar at Haywood Ranch; the National Park Service documents the Lagoon Blue car and his famous brake-failure prank.

Elvis Presley

1955 Cadillac Series 60 Fleetwood Special

Graceland’s history follows the actual Fleetwood from a blue-and-black touring car to the pink-and-white gift to Gladys Presley that inspired thousands of tributes.

Ayrton Senna

1991 McLaren Honda MP4/6 · race no. 1 · Phoenix

Senna’s no. 1 McLaren Honda won the 1991 season opener in Phoenix; this photograph shows him driving an actual MP4/6 during that Grand Prix without claiming its chassis or exact session.

Carroll Shelby

1962 Shelby Cobra prototype · CSX 2000

CSX 2000 was Shelby’s sole prototype and factory demonstrator, repeatedly repainted for publicity before his trust sold it in 2016.

Ferry Porsche

1948 Porsche 356 “No. 1” Roadster · Sport 356/1

Ferry Porsche conceived the mid-engine Sport 356/1 and first drove its new chassis in 1948; the surviving No. 1 later changed owners, was modified and repaired, and is not the separate non-running 2018 replica.

R. Buckminster Fuller

1934 Dymaxion Car No. 2 · 4D Transport

Fuller designed the rear-steering, front-drive Dymaxion project with Anna Biddle funding and Starling Burgess engineering; Car No. 2 became its demonstrator, survived a 1935 rollover and is the only original the museums still account for.

Carroll Shelby

1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe prototype · chassis CSX2287 · NHVR no. 1 · HAER PA-650

Shelby American commissioned and built CSX2287 around Peter Brock’s aerodynamic body concept; the exact prototype survives with its individual identity and preservation history documented.

Chuck Berry

1973 Cadillac Eldorado convertible

Berry’s red Eldorado was part of his personal Cadillac fleet and was driven during filming of Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll before entering the Smithsonian collection.

David Scott

1971 Apollo 15 Lunar Roving Vehicle · first car driven on the Moon

Apollo 15 commander David Scott and lunar-module pilot James Irwin drove the mission’s battery-electric Lunar Roving Vehicle across the Hadley-Apennine site; this exact Moon car is distinct from training vehicles, replicas and the later Apollo 16 and 17 rovers.

Frank Lloyd Wright

1930 Cord L-29 Cabriolet · Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation-associated museum car

The museum’s Taliesin-orange L-29 has a documented Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation connection, but institutional sources disagree about Wright’s personal title and the purchase date; Joyride keeps that disagreement visible instead of turning association into ownership.

Ingrid Bergman

1954 Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Coupé Speciale · chassis 0456AM

Ferrari records the one-off 375 MM as commissioned by Roberto Rossellini for Ingrid Bergman; the surviving car became known as the Bergman Coupé and introduced Grigio Ingrid, but reviewed evidence does not establish that she took delivery or owned it.

Ken Block

1965 Ford Mustang Hoonicorn RTR · V1/V2 one-off custom build

Block, Hoonigan and RTR turned a 1965 Mustang reference into a tubular-chassis, all-wheel-drive film car, then rebuilt that same Hoonicorn from an 845 hp naturally aspirated V1 into the 1,400 hp twin-turbo V2.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

1959 Maserati 5000 GT ‘Shah of Persia’ by Touring · chassis AM103.002

After testing a 3500 GT, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi asked Maserati for more performance; the resulting Touring-bodied AM103.002 paired a 450S-derived V8 with a new model, not a dressed-up 3500.

T. E. Lawrence

1932 Brough Superior SS100 · George VII · GW 2275

Lawrence’s final Brough Superior, the SS100 he called George VII, is the surviving GW 2275—not George VI / UL 656, the earlier machine substituted by the film—and its later ownership and present custody remain unclaimed.

John Cobb

1933 Napier-Railton Special

John Cobb commissioned the Napier-Railton around a 24-litre Napier Lion aero engine, raced it to Brooklands’ unbeaten 143.44 mph outer-circuit lap record and still owned it when hired for Pandora and the Flying Dutchman in 1949.

Sir Malcolm Campbell

1920 Sunbeam 350hp “Blue Bird”

Malcolm Campbell bought Sunbeam’s 1920 V12 record car, rebuilt it, painted it blue and named it Blue Bird before taking it to 150.76 mph at Pendine Sands; the same surviving car is now in the Montagu Collection.

Ray Harroun

1911 Marmon Wasp · race no. 32 · inaugural Indianapolis 500 winner

Harroun helped shape the single-seat Wasp, including its cautiously described rearview mirror, and drove it to the first Indianapolis 500 victory; the surviving, mostly unrestored car remains a museum fixture while official records disagree on engine displacement.

Juan Manuel Fangio

1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R · chassis 00009/54

Fangio won in W 196 R chassis 00009/54 as an open-wheel 3-litre Formula Libre car; Mercedes later fitted the same chassis with streamliner bodywork for Stirling Moss at Monza.

Sir Jackie Stewart

1971 Tyrrell 003 · individual Formula One chassis

Tyrrell 003 won on its debut with Jackie Stewart, carried him to the 1971 drivers’ title and amassed eight victories from sixteen Grand Prix starts; the surviving individual car was photographed in museum display in 2012.

Sir Henry Segrave

1927 Sunbeam 1000hp · individual land-speed record car

Henry Segrave drove the twin-Matabele Sunbeam 1000hp to a 203.792 mph two-run average at Daytona Beach in 1927; the Montagu Collection survivor was photographed before its 2026 restoration and is on dated Petersen display.

Ed “Big Daddy” Roth

1961 Ed Roth Beatnik Bandit

Ed Roth and “Dirty Doug” Kinney built the Beatnik Bandit from Joe Henning’s initial design; Roth owned and promoted the one-off with his Rat Fink art before its museum life, distinct from the 1994 Beatnik Bandit II.

Ettore Bugatti

1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale Convertible · chassis 41121

Ettore Bugatti created the Type 41 Royale and The Henry Ford identifies him as maker of chassis 41121, but this Weinberger-bodied survivor also carries a documented cracked engine block repair and modification history that prevents an untouched-original claim.

Rudolf Caracciola

1938 Mercedes-Benz W 125 record car

Caracciola drove Mercedes-Benz’s heavily revised, ice-cooled W 125 record car to 432.692 km/h over the flying kilometre in 1938; its ice cooling and streamlined body supported the run, and the surviving machine was photographed at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in 2013.

Charles Stewart Rolls

1904 Rolls-Royce 10 H.P. chassis 20154

Charles Rolls’s sales partnership with Henry Royce brought the 10 H.P. to market in 1904; chassis 20154 survives, photographed in its later two-seat form in 1985 and documented in 2026 after a three-year restoration toward its original Park Phaeton presentation.

Horatio Nelson Jackson

1903 Winton touring car “Vermont”

Jackson and mechanic Sewall Crocker drove this individual 1903 Winton from San Francisco to New York in 64 days; Jackson later gave the surviving car to the Smithsonian, where it is cataloged as TR.312831.01.

Carl Benz

1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen No. 1

Carl Benz designed the three-wheeled Patent-Motorwagen No. 1 as a vehicle and engine conceived together; the Deutsches Museum identifies its unique surviving original as inventory 4710 and says Benz later donated it to the museum. Bertha Benz’s 1888 journey used an improved vehicle, not this No. 1 artifact.

Ferdinand Porsche

1898 Egger-Lohner electric vehicle · C.2 Phaeton model

Porsche’s current museum record identifies this surviving 1898 Egger-Lohner C.2 Phaeton as Ferdinand Porsche’s oldest still-existing construction, with an octagon electric motor and twelve-position controller; it does not prove that this individual survivor was the one of four C.2-based cars that won in Berlin in 1899.

Harley Earl

1938 Buick Y-Job concept

Harley Earl guided the first concept car through GM’s Art and Colour section while George Snyder penned it; GM later recorded Earl using the one-off Y-Job as his personal vehicle.

W.O. Bentley

1919 Bentley EXP2 3-Litre · BM8752

W.O. Bentley’s engineering programme produced EXP2, the second experimental 3 Litre and oldest surviving Bentley; works driver Frank Clement won the May 1921 Whitsun Junior Sprint Handicap in the individual car, but no reviewed source establishes W.O. as its personal owner.

Donald Campbell

1960–1962 Bluebird-Proteus CN7 · Science Museum Group object 1981-1638

Donald Campbell drove the individual turbine-powered Bluebird CN7 to 403.10 mph at Lake Eyre on July 17, 1964. The surviving car is the rebuilt machine recorded by the Science Museum Group as object 1981-1638; the evidence does not make it Campbell’s personal property.

A.J. Foyt

1964 Sheraton-Thompson Special · Watson/Offy · race no. 1

Foyt drove Ansted-Thompson Racing’s Sheraton-Thompson Watson/Offy from fifth on the grid to victory in the 1964 Indianapolis 500, leading 146 of 200 laps; Joyride records that competition association without inferring who personally owned the car.

Al Unser

1970 Johnny Lightning 500 Special · car no. 2 · P.J. Colt/Ford

Al Unser started first and won the 1970 Indianapolis 500 in the individual no. 2 Johnny Lightning 500 Special, a P.J. Colt/Ford that led 190 of 200 laps. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum identifies the surviving car; the evidence records competition use, not personal ownership.

Amelia Earhart

1923 Kissel Speedster Model 45 “Goldbug” · “Yellow Peril”

Earhart and her mother drove her bright 1923 Kissel Model 45 about 7,000 miles from Los Angeles to Boston; the actual car entered the Forney Museum collection in 1961.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1952/56 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton · Petersen collection car

The Petersen Automotive Museum identifies this individual 1952/56 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton as a car used by President Dwight D. Eisenhower; Joyride records official-use association only, because no reviewed source establishes that Eisenhower personally owned it.

George S. Patton

1938 Cadillac Model 75 staff car

Patton was a passenger in this U.S. Army 1938 Cadillac Model 75 when it collided with an Army truck near Mannheim on December 9, 1945. The surviving car was repaired after the crash; the record does not make it Patton’s personal property.

Rosa Parks

1948 General Motors transit bus · Montgomery City Lines no. 2857

Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat aboard Montgomery City Lines bus no. 2857 on December 1, 1955; The Henry Ford later authenticated, acquired and restored the surviving 1948 GM bus.

Thomas Edison

1914 Detroit Electric Model 47 Brougham · serial 5426

A Smithsonian finding aid identifies the Detroit Electric pictured with Thomas Edison as the 1914 Model 47 Brougham, serial 5426, shipped to East Orange on December 19, 1913 with an Edison Battery but no motor; the Edison Innovation Foundation says this model was Mina Edison’s preferred vehicle.

William Howard Taft

1909 White Motor Company Model M steam touring car

Congress funded the first White House motor cars in 1909, and White supplied this seven-passenger, 40-horsepower Model M steamer for official presidential transport during Taft’s administration.

Woodrow Wilson

1919 Pierce-Arrow Series 51 presidential limousine · 120th of the series

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library identifies its Pierce-Arrow as the 120th Series 51, added to the White House fleet after its June 1919 finish and used by Wilson for official business from July 1919 through March 1921; friends then purchased the same car for his use after he left office.