Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Lists Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

Every Iconic Car Owned by Elon Musk: From a Vintage Model T to a McLaren F1

From his first used BMW to a million-dollar McLaren F1, Musk’s automotive history traces the road that eventually led him to Tesla.

As Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk is practically synonymous with electric vehicles, although his personal history began with gas-powered cars. In 1994, at age 23, Musk paid $1,400 for a used BMW 320i, which he repaired himself and drove for two years. Over the decades that followed, he also owned a 1967 Jaguar E-Type, a Porsche 911 Turbo and a McLaren F1 that cost close to $1 million. Then there was “Wet Nellie.” In 2013, Musk paid nearly $1 million for the Lotus Esprit submarine prop seen in the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. The car later inspired Tesla’s Cybertruck.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

While Musk has never published a complete inventory, interviews and social media posts provide a partial record of the classic and collectible vehicles the Tesla CEO has bought, kept and sold over the years.

Ford Model T (likely 1920s)

Of the two gas cars Musk most recently said he owned, the Ford Model T is perhaps the most unexpected. Musk first disclosed the vehicle in October 2017, writing on Twitter (now X) that he received it from a friend. Several automotive roundups describe it as a 1920 model, but none provides documentation. As of 2024, the antique Ford was still in his collection. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford built more than 15 million Model Ts. By the early 1920s, more than half of the registered automobiles worldwide were Fords. The automaker’s moving assembly line helped lower the Model T’s price from $850 to $260 — or roughly $5,000 today — putting car ownership within reach of the broader public. A century later, Tesla adopted a similar strategy. In his 2006 “master plan,” Musk said the company would begin with an expensive sports car and use the proceeds to develop more affordable models. The plan eventually took Tesla from its first production vehicle, the Roadster, to mass-market models like the Model 3 and Y. In 2025, Musk credited Ford for establishing the foundation for large-scale manufacturing. Responding to an X post in which Ford CEO Jim Farley........

© Observer