With fame comes fortune, and that leads to expensive car collections. Some celebrities have more questionable taste in cars, like Will.i.am, but others have impeccable taste like those on the list below.
Although these 8 celebrities we’re going to talk about today also have overpriced flashy vehicles like Lamborghinis and Ferraris, they have some standout additions to their Japanese-built collections. There is a huge cult behind it JDM Sports cars because they are built exclusively for the driver and are therefore usually not as luxurious and extravagant as the supercar brands mentioned above. Take Cardi B, for example, who can’t even drive but keeps a massive collection of exotic cars to rap about in her songs.
However, these celebrities get their vehicles out of storage and use them for what they were built for: drive and enjoy.
9 Rowan Atkinson (2002 Honda NSX)
Actor Rowan Atkinson loves cars almost as much as a businessman loves hairspray. That’s right, Mr Bean himself is a car fanatic, well he owned a McLaren F1 at one point but after crashing it twice decided to sell it for a miraculous profit. When it comes to Japanese cars, Rowan doesn’t have a lot of choices in his collection, but he does have one of the most influential Japanese supercars of the late ’90s and early 2000s, the Honda NSX.
Often confused with a Ferrari, the NSX was Honda’s first supercar, but although it was their first attempt, it was extremely successful, having a 3.2-liter V6 capable of producing up to 290 hp and going from a standstill to 60 mph could reach in less than 5 seconds.
8th Jay Leno (1970 Mazda Cosmo 110S)
Ah, the king of all car collectors, Jay Leno. It used to come as a shock to most people that Jay Leno has a massive car collection, surpassing even the collections of Elon Musk and Bill Gates, but now that his show Jay Leno’s Garage has become a viral sensation, the cat is out the pocket. One of his favorite cars to drive and look at is his Mazda Cosmo 110S.
This was the first Mazda to feature a rotary engine, and Jay couldn’t keep his hands off it because of its slenderness and haunting beauty. Jay is also praised by motor enthusiasts for not being afraid to stretch the legs of his cars; Click this link to watch the episode where he drives his Cosmo in all its glory.
7 Daniel Wu (1968 Honda S800)
The S800 was Honda’s second ever production car and it’s a very rare sight to see them alive today because they’re more than half a decade old, but Daniel Wu has one of the coolest S800 models on the planet. Far from stock, his Honda is built by two big names in the automotive industry, SEMA, DJ Designs and Pandem.
The entire kei car was built from the ground up, with new fenders, a new roof, modern Toyo wheels and a stunning black paint job that perfectly complements its styling. Not so fun fact, if Daniel Wu hadn’t nearly died in 2019, the S800 you see today might never have existed at all.
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5 Bucky Lasek (Subaru WRX GC8, aka “Buck-it”)
The story behind Bucky Lasek’s vintage WRX is actually phenomenal. He bought the GC8 WRX from Craiglist for $600 and then aspired to create the ultimate rally racer that could also be used as a daily driver. He swapped the stock engine for slightly more powerful, a turbocharged four-cylinder from a 2002 STi, and rebuilt it to produce over 400 horsepower.
He also transformed the entire interior to match the race car look of the exterior and of course also added a sick widebody kit. If this isn’t one of the coolest WRX builds ever, we don’t know what is.
4 Sung Kang (1973 Datsun 240Z aka Fugu Z)
Sung Kang, or as most of us know him, Han from the Fast and Furious franchise is an absolute gearhead in front of and behind the camera, and his modified Datsun 240Z shows it. Nicknamed the Fugu Z, it began life as a 1973 240Z that Sung bought from Craiglist after seeing it rot in storage; However, his intention was not to restore the OEM condition.
Sung’s 240Z received an aggressive Rocket Bunny widebody kit, as well as a 2.6-liter RB26 straight out of a Skyline GT-R. They removed the turbos and replaced them with individual throttle bodies, and after the Fugu Z was put on a dyno, it produced 245 hp, which is more than adequate if you ask us.
3 Ruteldge Wood (1986 RWB Porsche)
Rutledge Wood was one of the hosts of Top Gear USA and his car collection ranges from vintage pick-up trucks to this RWB-built widebody Porsche. RWB, short for RAUH-Welt BEGANG, is a tuning company that specializes in turning older Porsche 911s into wide, floor-scraping performance behemoths.
And along with Randy Allgood and the geniuses at the Kenwood Rod Shop, Rutledge is one of the very few people on this planet to have his hand built by Akira Nakai. They took his ’86 Carrera, painted it green, gave it matt gold Forgeline wheels and replaced its Porsche heart with an American Chevrolet LS3 with 525 hp.
2 Paul Walker (1989 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R V-Spec)
The late Paul Walker was no stranger to unique and rare sports cars, particularly those built in Japan, but his R34 GT-R has to be the coolest of them all. This Skyline is no ordinary R34 either, it was imported from Japan hence the Spec V badge and was different from other Skylines found in the States.
His silver R34 came from the factory with a 276 hp twin-turbo straight-six, but was upgraded during its lifetime with an HKS intercooler, a new body kit and a carbon fiber hood. Paul ended up selling his first V-Spec for a newer white V-Spec II, but his original silver GT-R remains a legend to this day.
1 T-Pain (Nissan 240SX S14)
In the real world, T-Pain is not only a hardcore rapper, but also loves cars to the last detail, especially drifting. One of his favorite drift cars is his S14 Nissan 240SX, and its exterior is plastered with shocking Rick and Morty-inspired wraps, more specifically Pickle Rick.
Unfortunately there’s not much to report in terms of performance, so we can just assume it still has the standard 2.4-litre inline-four engine it came with from the factory, but at least T-Pain is enjoying it to push his comic cars around the track.
Bill Gates’ car collection will surprise you
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About the author
Marnus Moolman
(86 published articles)
Marnus Moolman is a young aspiring automotive writer from South Africa who is making a name for himself despite his young age. He is currently studying to obtain a bachelor’s degree in accounting to pursue his lifelong dream of running his own auto detailing company.
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