Stars and their cars

FEATURES Stars and their cars Staff Reporter Posted Wed, 17 Jun 2009

Stars are just like us. Except they're rich. And have expensive cars. Like Paris Hilton's pink Bentley � a Christmas present to herself.

"I've just always wanted a pink car," the airhead said. "I think when you're a little girl and you have the Barbie Corvette you're always like: 'Oh I wish I had a car like this one day,' so I think it just comes from being a fan of Barbie for so long."

Likely a bigger fan of He-Man's rival Skeletor, rapper T-Pain recently bought a Cadillac hearse and has had it painted orange with a blue roof. A matching blue coffin in the back rounds off the look.

But despite their whacky wheels, neither could claim to be as crazy about cars as Jerry Seinfeld, the guy from Jamiroquai, a US talkshow host, and, yes, Mr Bean himself.

Jay Leno

US talkshow host Jay Leno's following is as big as his chin. His garage is even bigger. Appropriately named 'Big Dog Garage', the 1580m� structure comes complete with a fully equipped machine shop and kitchen. Tinkering with cars is hungry work.

And he's got plenty to tinker with � his cars range from a Baker electric car and Stanley Steamer (both dating from 1906) to a McLaren F1 supercar and the "Blastolene Special", a 6.4-metre-long V12 dragster that was featured in the game 'Gran Turismo 4'.

But all are bought to drive rather than display, to the extent that his Stanley steam-powered car earned the distinction of being the oldest car ever to receive a speeding fine.

Favouring American classics, his 107-car collection includes such rarities as a 1964 Studebaker Avanti, a 1932 Packard Twin Six 12-cylinder coupe and a 1956 Chrysler Imperial, alongside several vintage Bugattis and Lamborghinis.

His favourite though is a 1955 Buick � the first car he bought and the one that took him to California as a young struggling comedian.

"I believe we don't really own these cars," explains Leno of his obsession. "We just keep them for the next owners."

There are a few people who surely wouldn't mind being the next owners of his collection�

Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld is obsessed with Porsches. So obsessed that he forked out $1.4-million on a multi-storey Manhattan parking garage to keep them in. So obsessed that he was willing to pay $700 000 on a model he's not even allowed to drive.

One of only 200 ever built, his Porsche 959 isn't street legal � the German company refuses to give the United States Department of Transportation four cars to crash test � so the sitcom star and standup comic can't do much more than exhibit the 1980s road racer. Although there's nothing stopping him from sitting in the driver's seat, making "vroom vroom" noises.

Seinfeld, who during the '90s hired an airport hangar to store some of his cars, has close on 50 Porsches, including a pearly-grey 1955 Spyder 500, which is the same model and colour as the car in which James Dean crashed and died.

So obsessed is the man that his wedding present to himsel�, uhm, wife, was a 1958 Porsche 1600 Speedster, while Porsche posters featured prominently in his 'Seinfeld' apartment.

But he has heard of other manufacturers, although he clearly doesn't like their cars: last year he rolled his 1967 Fiat 500 after the brakes failed.

Jamiroquai's Jay Kay

Singer Jay Kay � you know, the one with the big hat � has a Mercedes Grocer once owned by Coco Chanel. But the Jamiroquai frontman is really more of a muscle car guy. In his fleet of 37 vehicles � including motorbikes and staff cars � are the likes of a Porsche 911 GT3, Aston Martin DB7, and four Ferraris including a rare black Enzo. Clearly in love with the Italian car, of which only 400 were ever built, he pays tribute to it on his song 'Black Devil Car'.

But earlier this year the singer landed in his own personal hell when a pastry chef pelted the prized Ferrari with stones, inflicting damage of almost �10 000. It was over a girl � which brings us neatly to the music video for 'Cosmic Girl', which Kay used as opportunity to show off three of his other cars.

And showing off is something the 39-year-old clearly likes to do. Once claiming to have hit 280km/h on a public road, he's twice had his licence suspended for excessive speeding � including an incident where he was, uhm, rushing home, worried that a female stalker was going to burn it down.

Rowan Atkinson

As Mr Bean he drives a lime-green and black British Leyland Mini 1000. As Rowan Atkinson he prefers something a little flashier. Like an Aston Martin or two, preferably taken from film sets. The DB7 Vantage from spy spoof 'Johnny English' is now parked in his garage as is the V8 Zagato from the relatively unknown '80s flick 'The Tall Guy'.

But like the accident prone character he's most famous for, Atkinson has had a couple of scrapes. He plowed the Zagato into a barrier while racing it at an Aston Martin Owners Club track event. But more painfully, he crashed his burgundy McLaren F1 into the back of an Austin Metro. Although he was travelling at less than 50km/h, the Gordon Murray-designed supercar, of which only 106 were ever built, had to go back to the factory for a rebuild.

Unsurprisingly though for an engineering graduate his interest extends beyond driving fast or crashing. He's written for motoring mags like Car and Evo, penned and starred in 'The Driven Man' about his car fetish, and has a licence to drive trucks.

Just don't expect to find him in a Porsche.

"They're wonderful cars, but I know I could never live with one," ol' rubberface has said.

"Somehow, the typical Porsche people � and I wish them no ill � are not, I feel, my kind of people. I don't go around saying that Porsches are a pile of dung, but I do know that psychologically I couldn't handle owning one."

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