Who’s who of celebrity cars

The latest the Hagerty Power List is out and confirms what we all know, that a famous owner will boost the value of a car.

Launched in 2022, the Hagerty Power List is the definitive tracker of celebrity car influence, analysing the increase (and sometimes decrease) in value by comparing stars’ cars with their standard equivalent at the time of sale.

This year, the Hagerty Power List has grown. Nearly 400 sales of celebrity cars and bikes have been analysed from around the world, each with their own story to tell.

New categories have been added for Art Cars and Sporting Icons, while the Movie Stars category has been expanded to include TV personalities.

Using Hagerty’s vast amounts of market data, the sold price of selected vehicles were compared with the values of a standard car at that time.

When faced with a unique car such as the Batmobile, Hagerty valued the standard equivalent of the vehicle on which it was based on.

The end result was a list of famous people and films and the difference, or ‘delta’, between the value of their cars compared to a normal one.

Note that pure racing cars are exempt, as the added value created by the driver can be differentiated by its racing success, and advertised values of cars are no longer accepted as a true value, unless Hagerty knows for certain what it sold for.

This new ruling sees a few big hitters from last year slipping off the ranking.

The 2023 Hagerty Power List comprises seven categories: Art Cars, Racing Drivers, Movies and TV, Musicians, Royalty, Screen Stars, Sporting Icons. Category highlights include:

Arty farty

Given BMW’s longstanding links with the art car scene, it is no surprise that two of its models feature in Hagerty’s top five – the Jeff Koons 8 X, and the M1 Pro Car with a Frank Stella Polar Coordinates design.

The highest value increase in this category went to the Astro Cumulo Uber Express 1960 Cadillac by Kenny Scharf.

The elephant in the room is that the most famous art cars have not been sold in public.

The most valuable of them all is probably the 1979 BMW M1 racer painted by Andy Warhol.

If it ever sold, the top spot on the entire Power List may have to change.

Racing Drivers

As mentioned above, Hagerty does not include pure racing cars in the Power List calculations as there’s rarely a ‘standard’ equivalent to compare against, and comparison with a road-going version is often meaningless.

Hagerty also ignores sealed-bid auctions, which means Juan Manuel Fangio’s 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300SL, sold last year for a reported $5.5M, is also out.

This year’s winner is a 1976 Ford Bronco bought new by legendary Canadian F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve and untouched since his death.

It sold for €136,150 (£117,000), a huge 210 percent increase over the £37,730 that Hagerty would value a regular example in the same condition.

That sale took the top spot away from Carroll Shelby, who moves into second place.

Movie and TV highlights

Pixar worked together with Porsche to create a road-going version of Sally Carrera from the 2006 Cars movie, based on the current Carrera GTS.

The resulting car sold for $3.6M (around £2M) at a charity auction. That’s an increase of 2500 percent over the value of a standard new GTS, a result that placed the Cars star in third spot in the 2023 list.

There was no budging the two heavyweights at the top of this particular list, though: the Bullitt Mustang with watertight provenance, awesome lost-and-then-found story, and McQueen connection, is likely to be unassailable with its nearly 16,000 per cent increase over a standard Mustang.

The Risky Business Porsche 928 hero car is also in a very strong second place.

Freddie Mercury Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

Musical high notes

A 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow owned by Freddie Mercury sold for £286,250 last year against a standard Hagerty value of just £7500, and it’s no surprise that Mercury’s car now dominates the Musicians category in the 2023 Hagerty Power List.

That wasn’t the only new entry this year, however, with six additions to the top 10.

John Lennon’s 1956 Austin Princess, Johnny Hallyday’s modified 1979 Porsche 911SC, George Harrison’s Porsche 928, and Dean Martin’s Rolls-Royce are all listed amongst the newcomers.

One notable figure absent from the top 10 this year was Elton John, who slipped down to 11th spot despite having the largest number of cars tracked by the Power List analysts.

diana — The 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo S1

Royal affairs

During a year that was undoubtedly the most important for the Royal Family in living memory, including the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the most fascinating element of the Hagerty Royal Power List for 2023 is just how little change there was.

A 2012 Bentley Mulsanne, reportedly used exclusively by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, went on sale for a shade under £200,000, 150 percent of its Hagerty value.

A 1993 Rover Sterling 2.7, with the owner’s name on the order sheet showing simply as ‘Buckingham Palace,’ was auctioned at £6300, a 78 percent mark-up on the non-royal variety, and a 2010 Land Rover Defender 110 County, built for the Duke of Edinburgh, sold for £123,750, a massive 236 percent mark-up over the standard value.

But the most notable royal car sale of the year just re-established the automotive dominance of Diana, Princess of Wales, who leads the Royal Power List for the second year in succession.

Her 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo sold for an astonishing £722,500, setting not just a record for the Power List but also a marque record for a road-going Ford Escort.

Burt Reynolds Bandit Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

Screen magic

Burt Reynolds is straight in at number two thanks to the Bandit Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, given to Reynolds by the production company to thank him for the success of the 1977 hit movie Smokey and the Bandit.

Sold last year, the Pontiac raised $495,000 (£370,000), a huge 771 percent over the standard Hagerty Price Guide value for the model.

Simon Cowell sold his 1970 Triumph Spitfire for nearly six times its non-celebrity equivalent, and his 1965 MGB for $68,200 (£57,200), nearly twice its current Hagerty Price Guide value.

Jay Leno was also new to this list, with four of his previously owned cars showing a combined 706 percent uplift from the norm.

Bruce Willis and Sean Connery also both entered the top ten this year, the latter thanks to his own Aston Martin DB5, which sold for an impressive $2.425M (£2.02M), 155 percent over the top Hagerty Price Guide value for the model.

Paul Newman remained at the top of our list for a second year running, thanks to his 1988 Volvo 740 estate, which sold for $84,777 (£71,900) including premium, a huge increase over its current Hagerty value of just £3900.

Sporting greats

David Beckham’s Aston Martin V8 Volante caused a stir (advertised for £445,000) and Michael Jordan’s Mercedes-Benz S600 Lorinser described as the ‘Holy Grail of Michael Jordan memorabilia’ was valued at $135,000 (£87,900) back in 2020, when a non-celebrity car was worth around half that.

Muhammad Ali’s 1970 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow convertible sold for €132,250 (£118,000), and his 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider for $23,100 (£17,600), a combination of which put him in a strong third place.

Second was Tiger Woods, with a TGR EXP customised golf buggy that sold for $16,500 (£13,000), double its standard price.

Out in front, however, is Diego Maradona, who sold his 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 ‘Turbo Look’ cabriolet back in 2021 for €483,000 (£413,500), more than four times Hagerty’s normal value.

Add in the sale of his 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC, which bid to €150,000 (£133,000), and Maradona gains an unassailable lead.

Power List creator John Mayhead, said: “Hagerty monitors a huge amount of enthusiast car market data every week, and often we see record prices achieved throughout the year.

"Of course, the rarity and condition of the car counts for a lot, but The Power List shows just how much celebrity ownership can add to the value of a car and can push the values way beyond what a standard car might achieve.”

The full 2023 Power List

CHECKOUT: Diana had the golden touch

CHECKOUT: Calculating the price of fame

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