Owning one or two cars is more than enough for most people. One daily driver and one family SUV we can call the perfect combo. Some people, however, want more, and can afford it. Some people collect vehicles for their beauty, performance, historical and monetary value. That is the reason some of the best car collections are owned by some of the wealthiest people.
The following people currently own are the biggest car collectors and own some of the best car collections in the world.
Jay Leno
The former host of The Tonight Show is also a host of “Jay Leno’s Garage” where he shows his personal extensive car collection, located next to the Burbank airport in California, and where he invites variety of auto enthusiasts to talk about cars. Jay Leno’s garage houses over 180 cars and 160 motorcycles, but these numbers change as he buys and sells vehicles often.
How much is Jay Leno’s car collection worth?
The value of Jay Leno’s car collection is between $50 to $100 million, depending on the specific cars he has at any given time. You can check out his website and YouTube channel for more details and to watch some of his interesting guests.
Miles Collier
Miles Collier had a passion for auto racing from an early age and that is no surprise since he was born into an American automotive dynasty. In 1986, he acquired the Cunningham Museum collection in Naples, Florida and with it the first Ferrari racing car ever sold in the U.S., as well as one of the six Bugatti Royales. The museum was renamed to The Revs Institute in 2008 and the collection to Collier Collection which has grown tremendously.
Some highlights of the collection:
Arturo Keller
The founder of the family winery, Keller Estate, in Petaluma, California is also a big name in the classic car collector scene. Last year he was rated the number one car collector in the world (in January 2022). His compilation of classic vehicles isn’t open to the public, but many of his vehicle can often be seen at some of the biggest auto shows. In fact, the Kellers have won the Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance twice. And Anna Keller, the daughter, can tell you that “You don’t miss Pebble Beach”! She can also attest that the car is more important than the wedding dress and that winning really is important.
Craig Jackson
Craig Jackson is the CEO of Barrett-Jackson Auction Company and he lives and breathes classic and luxury automobiles. He has a multi-million dollar private garage in Arizona that is ultra special and modern. It took two years to build and has leather walls and a state-of-the-art lighting system. This garage also has a round room with a capacity of 17 cars made to look like a 1967 Shelby wheel and a turntable in the center to display his favorites. The garage, of course, has a car shop for maintaining his collection, as well as space for his rare muscle cars, all of which he drives.
Some highlights of the collection:
- 1967 Chevrolet Corvette
- 1969 Camaro ZL1 Rally Sport
- 1988 Porsche factory Slant Nose
Evert Louwman
The Louwman Museum has over 250 automobiles. This is Evert Louman’s and opened its doors in 2010 in The Hague, Netherlands. He has the oldest private collection in the world. The museum houses many Le Mans race-winning cars as well.
Some highlights of the collection:
- 1886 Benz Patent Motor Car
- 1903 Spyker 60-HP
- 1964 Aston Martin DB5 (specially designed for the James Bond film Goldfinger)
Albert Spiess
Albert Spiess is the Swiss founder of a meat producer and exporter business of the same name. His collection of over 100 vehicles includes prototypes, concept cars, one-off vehicles and limited edition models crafted by luxury manufacturers.
Highlights of the collection:
- 1967 Lamborghini Marzal
- 1963 Lamborghini 350 GTV
- 1980 Lamborghini Athon (concept car, only one made)
- Lamborghini Countach LP 500 (recreation of 1971 concept car)
Who has the biggest car collection in the world?
The 29th Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, has the largest private car collection in the world, with over 7,000 vehicles and valued at over $5 billion.
Who has the biggest car collection in the U.S.?
Ken Lingenfelter of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering is the owner of “The Lingenfelter Collection” in Michigan. It is a private garage that contains around 250 cars, including American muscle cars and some rare and exotic automobiles.