Business F1 Top 20 Petrolheads: Ralph Lauren, the Great Car Connoisseur

There's no one quite like Ralph Lauren, and there never will be another. The fashion entrepreneur has built his collection with the same spirit and taste he has shown over many years of success with his aristocratic clothing lines. In his garage in the New York State, which he has named D.A.D. Garage, after the initials of his sons David and Andrew and his daughter Dylan, he houses his collection of over 100 examples of what he calls the art of the automobile.

Ralph Lauren’s car collection ranges from classic pre-war cars to modern-day sports cars, including classic European sports cars and American muscle cars.

His collection is recognised as the most valuable in the world. Estimates put it at many hundreds of millions today but he began many years ago, driven by a pure and deep passion, to hunt them down and collect them by acquiring them when their prices were much lower than today. Certainly an investment superior in profit and stability to the best Wall Street operations. Ralph Lauren's fascination with cars was sparked by his childhood spent in the Bronx, New York, attracted by the world of luxury and fashion to the point of starting his own business making and selling ties inspired by the beauty of cars. His first car, a 1955 Pontiac convertible, was part of the advertising image of the happy American family, the one where everything seems serene and perfect. It was also useful for discovering the craftsmanship of American cars of those years and he learned about the stitching of the seats and the materials used for the interiors.

Ralph Lauren is a man and a brand strongly associated with cars and horses. The brand is worth $7 billion and he is worth $3 billion personally.

"I have always seen cars as art, art in motion. While my friends were into paintings, somehow I felt that the real beauty of owning a rare and beautifully designed car was the fact that you can use it. You can look at it, enjoy its visual qualities like with paintings. You can, however, also get into it and drive it, which means both enjoying the driving itself and going somewhere with it and being transported by a work of art."

So he started to build his car collection as carefully as he built his fashion empire that now employs almost 20,000 people. The company that bears his name, as Business F1 reports, is valued at over $7 billion on the stock exchange, has earned him a personal fortune of $3 billion and has allowed him the luxury of buying, using and even racing some of the world's most important and rare cars.

Ralph Lauren and his McLaren F1 LM which he loves to drive

Lauren's thinking, however, was counter-intuitive: He could have created his empire based on the sport he loved, namely motor racing. He wisely opted, however, with his trademark sophistication for polo, which uses less powerful but very elegant horses. This arrangement allowed him to make a fortune and cost much less than motor racing would have required. Each car in his collection tells a story, reflecting Lauren's keen eye for aesthetics. He has never bought a car he didn't like. It's almost impossible to summarise the most important cars in his collection, one would have to name them all: The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, a Testa Rossa Ponton Fender, two McLaren F1s - the mid-drive road cars that he often drives with great pleasure -, a 1929 Bentley 41⁄2-litre Blower and two Bugattis of immense historical value: the Type 57SC Atlantic and the Type 57SC Gangloff of 1937. And that's just the beginning, considering the unique 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK Count Trossi Black Prince.

The Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic owned by Ralph Lauren won the 2013 Coppa d'Oro at the Concorso d'Eleganza di Villa d'Este.

All of Lauren's automobiles are in perfect condition and working well. Most of the cars in his collection have been meticulously restored to their pristine condition. In 2005, part of his collection was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and in 2011, his most beautiful Ferraris were displayed at the Louvre in Paris. Lauren's car collection has increased the value of the Ralph Lauren brand simply by association. The same appreciation for the classic design of his cars is evident in his clothing lines. The meticulous craftsmanship and luxurious materials of his automobiles have influenced his fashion. The fine leatherwork and stitching of 1950s American cars are the hallmarks of his clothing. Lauren's colour palette is reflected in his cars with rich dark blues, rich dark reds and what are described as earthy browns. Moreover, he has named the colors of his clothes after his cars, such as Bugatti Blue and McLaren Orange.

The parallels between his car collection and the fashion lines, which are more closely associated with horses, are profound and he has captured the zeitgeist on many occasions in his life.

A truly unique fashion show that Ralph Lauren staged in the halls of his magnificent collection in the vicinity of New York City.