Elon Musk’s car collection over the years: from the million-dollar McLaren F1 he destroyed, to the Lotus Esprit submarine car from James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me
The road to the Tesla Model S has seen CEO Elon Musk work through a car collection most could only dream of – from a US$1,400 BMW to a vintage Jaguar E-type and a Ford Model T that first appeared in 2008 – so just which models does he have, and why did he send one into orbit for millions of years?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has had many, many different cars over the years. His first was a 1978 BMW 320i, which he paid just US$1,400 for, and at one point, a McLaren F1 was his daily ride – before he totalled it on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley in 2000.
These days, Musk is usually seen cruising around in a Tesla Model S – unless, of course, he’s taking the Tesla Cybertruck out for a spin.
Here’s a closer look at Musk’s car collection over the years.
The first car Musk bought was an old 1978 BMW 320i that he snapped up for just US$1,400
Musk said in a Forbes video that he bought the car in 1994 and fixed it up himself. He had it for two years until one of the wheels fell off, an unfortunate incident that happened after one of the interns from his first company, Zip2, was driving it.
When Musk got his first bonus from Zip2, the software company he co-founded with his brother, Musk used the money to buy a 1967 E-Type Jaguar
Musk explained in a Forbes video that when he was 17 he was given a book of classic convertibles. The convertible he liked best from the book was the Jaguar E-Type, so he told himself if he ever could afford it he would buy one.
When he got that initial bonus check of US$40,000, Musk bought the car.