As those of you who’ve seen “The best car songs… ever!” know, we at CarGurus are music fans as well as car fans. And while Michael Jackson got awfully strange and maybe a little criminal toward the end of his life, I love some of his music, and I think it’s a shame he so clearly never learned how to truly grow up despite – or perhaps because of – his absolutely massive success.
Maybe Jackson’s desire to live his whole life as a child explains why his car collection consisted mostly of vehicles that allowed him to bask in over-the-top luxury in the rear while someone else drove. Auto Trader UK assembled a slide show featuring some of Jackson’s cars in an article on a planned-but-canceled auction of Jackson items in February, including a 1999 Rolls Royce Silver Seraph limousine for which Jackson designed the interior himself, using lots of 24-karat gold.
Sadly, that limousine and a 1997 Neoplan Touring Coach (which doesn’t appear until near the end of the slide show) are the only really interesting vehicles in the bunch, and they are interesting mostly because they’re so over-the-top gaudy and gold (including the fixtures on the bidet in the tour-bus’s bathroom). No Ferraris or rare muscle cars, no hot rods, not even a well-preserved classic from the year of his birth – Jackson had the money, at least in the ’80s, to assemble a fleet of cool cars that would rival Jay Leno’s. But no, he built a 2,700-acre amusement park instead.
Based on the segment from Jackson’s film “Moonwalker” called “Smooth Criminal,” though, he did at least appreciate the futuristic looks of the Lancia Stratos – he morphs into a 1970 prototype version to escape Mr. Big and his cronies in the video. Of course, Michael probably didn’t handle the driving for that scene, and maybe one of his collaborators selected that car to feature. According to Wikipedia, that car now sits in a private showroom for Bertone, who did the exterior styling, in Italy. But surely Michael could have found – and afforded – one of the other 500 or so versions of the Stratus. Why didn’t he?
I guess the King of Pop and I don’t have too much in common. I wear two gloves at a time, I’ve never had and don’t want a pet monkey, I wouldn’t hang my child out a hotel window, and I don’t moonwalk at all well. But if I had enough money to start assembling a collection of cars, you can bet I’d have some beautiful Italian cars, some American muscle, and I’d drive those babies myself.
Thanks for sharing your enormous talent with the world, Michael, and may you find more peace in the afterlife than you did in this world.
If you had enough money to buy any single car on the planet to begin your car collection – we’re not looking for daily drivers here – which car would you select, and why?
-hollerin
Its true, michael was a great powerful & talented performer.he did push himself to the max.i also sing & at time think of the time,commitment & dedication michael put into his work,therefore inspired to do the same
Sticking to the question of which car i would buy? Aston Martin Vanquish.
Michael, like Whitney Houston were staggering talents. Pity we did not cherish their gifts that they so lovingly shared with us and the world. We will never see another talent like Michael’s in this lifetime.
P.S. Steve…For YOUR INFORMATION….Michael held a racing license for cars..smarty! He had since his early twenties. He drove his cars at times when he felt like it. YOU are so uninformed. You need to stay off all the blogs until you get over spewing your own “HATING VOMIT.” Your information should be presented in an objective manner..let your reading audience decide..JUST STATE CITED FACTS INSTEAD OF YOUR BIASED, UNINFORMMED OPINIONS
WHY do you have a NEED to portray Michael as “strange” “criminal” and any other negative light you can think of?? THE MAN WAS PROVEN TO BE INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES AGAINST HIM..and still people like you..HATERS continue to try casting him in a dim light. WHATEVER Michael bought..it is hIS business and none of yours. If he wanted to become an infant and eat baby food…IT IS HIS DAMNED BUSINESS!!!When I hear people like you, so uninformed, media manipulated thinking…I KNOW you did not KNOW mIchael Jackson…You only speculate.
GET IT RIGHT …Michael Joseph Jackson was and is the GREATEST ENTERTAINER THAT EVER GRACED THIS EARTH…. LIKE IT OR NOT HE HAS A MUSICAL and HUMANITARIAN PROWESS AND LEGACY THAT NOT EVEN YOUR HATING WORDS CAN DESTROY..in short…”YOU CAN’T TOUCH HIM” NO MATTER WHAT.
I always wanted to visit the neverland ranch. So sad that I’ll never have the chance. Do you think the things they say about him are true?
Great article, too bad about his cars, just imagine what he could have owned. Never was a big MJ fan, I was a big fan of the hair bands back in the day. For me some of his songs where the ones you listen to when noby else is around.
For my car, it would be the 1970 Mustang Mach1 Twister Special in Grabber orange, a very limited amount of these came out of a KC Missouri dealership.
The world was recently saddened by the sudden loss of pop icon Michael Jackson. In memoriam of this legendary and one-of-a-kind performer, Ztarlet Star Registry has dedicated an actual star in his memory – as a symbol of the bright light that Jackson brought to the music industry and his millions of loyal fans across the globe.
http://digg.com/celebrity/Michael_Jackson_Immortalized_with_Dedication_of_Star
Digg this!
Great tribute, Steve. Michael Jackson gave us some great memories.
Regarding my first collector car purchase when I’m rich: Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. And then a pet monkey.