The World’s Top Car Collectors

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?