A potted history of celebrities and their motor cars
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Celebrities and their cars have been around for decades. Movie stars, sports stars, royalty, musicians, artists, politicians and a host of other personalities use cars as much as much as anyone -the only difference is that whenever they get in their car there’s often a photographer around taking a picture.
There has always been a great interest in celebrities and the cars they drive, but with such a huge multimedia entertainments industry these days, there's now far more pictures of a star next to a car than ever before.
Henry Ford was probably one of the first to recognise the importance of celebrity car photographs and as his own fame and notoriety increased, the more he would appear in Ford’s own publicity pictures for any new car launch or record of achievement by his company - helping to generate even more sales.
This idea of buying cars for the publicity it created continued throughout the 1920s and 30s. In Hollywood, in particular, many of the new movie stars would purchase the most eye catching or exotic car available specifically to enhance their own image in the media, as opposed to something which personally appealed.
Clark Gable
Some celebrities though were much more interested in the finer qualities of the car they bought. At the beginning of the 1950s, Hollywood film star Clark Gable regarded himself as a true car enthusiast and became one of the first Americans to purchase the new Jaguar XK120. This proved fantastic publicity for Jaguar as the subsequent pictures of Gable in his beautiful open top sportscar appeared throughout the media at the time, which helped to increase sales of the car significantly.
Steve McQueen
In later years, actor Steve Mcqueen also caught the car bug. He purchased many exotic sportscars and drove and raced them wherever he could. One of his most iconic was an extremely rare Jaguar XKSS which he used to drive to the sets of some of the films he was working on and which too attracted the eagle eyes of the era’s photographers.
Over the years, manufacturers and dealers have increasingly realised the marketing potential of actually giving cars to celebrities or at least paying them to be photographed next to their car. The idea is that each time they drive that car, the more likely they are to be photographed with it and if the picture is then published in a mainstream newspaper or magazine, it’s more likely to encourage sales amongst potential customers.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Sometimes good PR happens by accident. When world footballing superstar Cristiano Ronaldo crashed his brand new £200,000 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano near Manchester Airport in 2009, the picture of the smashed car appeared in the news media across the world. And while a picture of a wrecked car would not have been
Inevitably, as movie stars and other celebrities have got richer, many purchase more and more cars. It’s not uncommon for the super wealthy to have 20 or more cars in their collection. US television talk show host Jay Leno is one example of a diehard petrolhead with many very rare cars housed in his own car "museum". He has also been writing and commentating about cars for years.
During the 20th Century, Liberace and Elvis Presley were major entertainment celebrities who both had a keen interest in automobiles and both owned a large number when they died. Many of their cars were big, brash and colourful, mirroring the personality of their owners.
Of today’s leading British celebrities, Rowan Atkinson and Chris Evans are amongst some of the most enthusiastic car owners and both regularly attend leading car shows and other events. Atkinson is one of the few owners of a McLaren F1, while Evans spent over £5 million in 2008 adding a black, 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder to his collection. The car is one of only 56 built and formerly belonged to actor James Coburn. For Evans though, this was no quick publicity stunt, investment gamble or a piece of art to be kept in storage. Instead, he realised a childhood dream of being able to own, drive and appreciate a truly legendary car from one of the world’s leading sports car manufacturers.
Multimedia stories from history
Motoring magnate Henry Ford often apeared in pubicity pictures with his cars as his fame increased
The Queen has a number of highly desirebale cars in her official collection
Prewar record breaker Sir Malcolm Campbell poses with his Rolls Royce Phantom 1
Fellow British Olympian Matthew Pinsett
poses next to a Rover 75 V8 Contemporary SE
Olympian Steve Redgrave agreed to work with Audi
as the deal benefitted his charitable organisation
In 1957, Elvis Presley took ownership of a BMW 507
Elvis owned many cars in his lifetime. Some,
as above, were more flashy than others
Marilyn Munroe was another who would always help a manufacturer if she was photographed in one of their cars
Renault benefitted greatly when Brigitte Bardot
agreed to help promote its new Floride car in 1959
The Mini was the cool car of the 1960s and Monte Carlo
rally winner Paddy Hopkirk helped generate its appeal
In 2003, when Ford gave footballer Wayne Rooney a new Sportka they also created a special number plate for him
American TV talk show host Jay Leno owns many
rare cars. Above, he is driving an Hispano Suiza 8
Sir Stirling Moss has driven some of the greatest ever cars. Above, he poses next to a Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR
Also in 2003, English rugby star Lewis Moody took delivery of one of the first Renault Coupe-Cabriolet' cars in the UK
Another symbol of the 1960s was the VW bus
seen above with British pop group The Who
Above, 007 super hero Sean Connery poses
with the famous Aston Martin DB5 in 1963
A later Jamed Bond, Piers Brosnan, with a BMW
Z8 in the 1999 film The World is Not Enough
Flamboyant personality Jimmy Saville has owned many cars, but some, as above, have been more low key than others
In America, Liberace's collection of cars were legendary and many were decorated in his unique colourful style
Winston Churchill was given a new Land
Rover for his 80th birthday and used it regularly
The success of the film the Italian Job meant
Michael Caine became synonomous with the Mini
Film now showing
Novelty film featuring a special car built for the the ultimate Hollywood celebrity, Mickey Mouse
Duration: 1 mins. 36 seconds
Motoring through history
Follow the evolution of the motor car with a free, online, informative illustrated history of the automobile, go to:
www.motoring-history.com
Film provided courtesy of www.auto-history.tv
(c) Universal Motoring History Enterprises
Above, A-list celebrity Angelina Jolie in her role as
Lara Croft inside a specially adapted Land Rover
Tennis ace Maria Sharapova, has also helped
to ensure excellent publicity for Land Rover
Steve Mcqueen in a Ford Mustang in the film Bulitt. In real life, Mcqueen was a fast car fanatic
Mash star Alan Alda was a keen sportscar enthusiast and
in the 1970s lived close to the US headquarters of Triumph
Former US football and movie star OJ Simpson was another celebrity owner who helped to raise Triumph's US profile