The guy who arguably killed the gas-guzzling engine for the masses actually spent a huge chunk of his life obsessed with them. It is a bit of a contradiction, isn’t it? You’d think the CEO of Tesla would only ever be seen behind the wheel of a silent, electric spaceship. But if you dig into Elon Musk’s history with four-wheeled machines, you’ll find a guy who loves the smell of gasoline and the roar of a V12 just as much as any old-school gearhead. He’s the type of person who would choose a rare supercar over a roof over his head, and in fact, he actually did that. This is not something you can expect from the richest man in the world who earns nearly a thousand dollars every second and recently crossed $500 billion net worth (in the current scenario).
From Beaters to Spaceships: Cars Driven By Elon Musk
Does Elon Musk drive a Tesla? You bet he does. If you were to spot Elon Musk driving around today, you’d most likely see him in a Tesla. That isn’t just for the PR. He’s famously used his own cars to test out “alpha” versions of Full Self-Driving software. Most days, he’s behind the wheel of a Tesla Model S Performance. It’s his bread and butter. He’s mentioned before that the “Raven” trim of the Model S is his most frequent choice because it’s fast and comfortable.
However, when he’s got his kids with him, he switches things up. He’s got a lot of children, so he jumps into the Tesla Model X. You know the one with the doors that open like a bird’s wings? He actually insisted on those doors because old Audi Q7 so much. He once joked that getting into the back of the Audi was like being a “dwarf mountain climber.” So, he built a car where the doors just get out of your way.
Lately, though, he’s been obsessed with the Cybertruck. It’s hard to miss that giant slab of stainless steel. He’s been seen driving prototypes to events and even taking it out for dinner in LA. He seems to love the polarizing nature of it. For Elon, a car isn’t just a way to get from A to B. It’s a statement about the future, and it perfectly suits to the most famous man in the tech world.
The Car That Defines Elon Musk: His Most Famous Ride
The Car That Started It All: The 1978 BMW 320i
Every young billionaire has a starting point. For Musk, it was a 1978 BMW 320i that he bought for $1,400 back in 1994. At the time, he was still finishing his education, and his today’s massive net worth was nothing more than a distant dream. It wasn’t a glamorous ride. By the time he got his hands on it, the car was already over fifteen years old. He’s talked about how he had to fix it himself because he couldn’t afford a mechanic.
The end of that BMW is actually a pretty funny story. He didn’t sell it or trade it in. Instead, he let an intern from his first company, Zip2, borrow it to run some errands. While the intern was out, one of the wheels literally fell off. That was the end of the road for the Bimmer. It’s a humble beginning for a guy who now sends cars into orbit.
The “First Love”: 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster
When Elon was just 17, he received a book about classic convertibles. While it was not one of his favorite books, he liked the Jaguar E-Type and decided right then that if he ever made money, that was the car he’d buy. Even Enzo Ferrari called the E-Type the most beautiful car ever made, so Musk had good taste.
Once he got a $40,000 bonus from his early business ventures, he went straight out and bought a 1967 Series 1 E-Type. But as they say, you should never meet your heroes. The car was a nightmare. He famously compared it to having a “bad girlfriend” because it kept breaking down. In fact, it broke down on the way home from the dealership. Despite the headaches and the constant repairs, he still keeps it in his collection. It’s a reminder of his early ambitions.
The McLaren F1 Disaster
This is the big one. After selling Zip2 for hundreds of millions, Musk had a choice. He could buy a nice house in Palo Alto, or he could buy a McLaren F1. He chose the car. He paid about $1 million for it, which was a massive amount of money in the late 90s. This was a car that could hit 240 mph and looked like a jet fighter.
He didn’t just keep it in a garage, either. He drove it everywhere. He put 11,000 miles on it, commuting between LA and San Francisco. The crazy part? He didn’t even bother to insure it. One day, he was driving with his business partner Peter Thiel. Thiel asked him what the car could do. Musk replied, “Watch this,” and floored it. He hit a literal embankment, and the car flew through the air “like a discus,” according to him. It was smashed to pieces. He eventually got it fixed and sold it for a profit years later, but that “watch this” moment is legendary in Silicon Valley.
James Bond and the “Wet Nellie”
Musk is a huge fan of movies, and nothing captured his imagination quite like the 1976 Lotus Esprit from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. In the movie, the car turns into a submarine. As a kid in South Africa, he thought that was the coolest thing ever.
In 2013, the actual prop car from the movie went up for auction. Musk bought it for nearly $1 million. He was actually disappointed to find out that it didn’t really transform into a sub. It was just a “wet sub” shell used for filming. He’s talked about wanting to put a Tesla powertrain in it and making it actually work underwater. Whether he’s actually done that remains a secret, but it’s one of the quirkiest pieces in his garage.
The Historical Nod: 1920 Ford Model T
You might not expect a tech mogul to care about a car that only has 20 horsepower and a top speed of 45 mph, but Elon owns a 1920 Ford Model T. It was a gift from a friend. The car is significant to him because Henry Ford was the last person to truly revolutionize how we move.
Musk often looks back at the Model T as the benchmark for mass production. He wants Tesla to be the modern version of what Ford was in the early 20th century. It’s a piece of history that sits quietly in his collection, contrasting sharply with the Ludicrous Mode Teslas parked nearby.
The Porsche 911 That Started Tesla
Believe it or not, a Porsche 911 is the reason Tesla exists today. Musk owned a 997-generation Porsche 911 Turbo and he absolutely loved it. He called it one of his favorite cars of all time. But he wanted it to be electric.
He actually went to a small company to see if they could convert his 911 to run on batteries. That search led him to the people who were starting a tiny company called Tesla Motors. He ended up investing in them instead of converting his Porsche. It’s a wild thought to think that if he hadn’t loved his Porsche so much, the electric car revolution might have looked very different.
The Car Currently in Orbit
We can’t talk about cars Elon Musk owns without mentioning the 2008 Tesla Roadster. This was the first car Tesla ever made, and Musk owned Serial Number 1. Most people would keep that in a climate-controlled vault. Elon, however, decided to use it as a “dummy load” for the first launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
In 2018, he launched that car into space. There’s a mannequin named “Starman” in the driver’s seat, and it’s currently floating somewhere past Mars. It’s probably the most famous car in the universe right now. He said he liked the idea of an alien race finding a car floating through the vacuum of space and wondering what on earth we were thinking. This looks like a stunt but surely one of Musk’s top inventions of its time.
Elon’s Car Collection at a Glance
| Vehicle | Model Year | Purchase Price | Key Specs |
| Tesla Model S Performance | 2019 | $111,630 (current) | 1,020 hp, 0-60 in 1.99s, 200 mph top speed |
| Tesla Model X Plaid | 2019 | $116,630 (current) | 1,020 hp, 0-60 in 2.5s, Falcon-wing doors |
| Tesla Cybertruck | 2019 (prototype) | $117,235 (current for cyberbeast) | 845 hp (Cyberbeast), Stainless steel exoskeleton |
| 1967 Jaguar E-Type | 1967 | $40,000 | 4.2L Straight-6, 265 hp, 150 mph top speed |
| 1997 McLaren F1 | 1997 | $1,000,000 | 6.1L V12, 627 hp, 240 mph top speed |
| 1976 Lotus Esprit | 1976 | Bought for $997,000 in 2013 | Underwater prop, 160 hp (original engine) |
| 1920 Ford Model T | 1920 | Gift | 2.9L Inline-4, 20 hp, 45 mph top speed |
| 1978 BMW 320i | 1978 | $1,400 | 2.0L Inline-4, 110 hp, His first car |
| Tesla Roadster | 2008 | $109,000 (original MSRP) | First production EV, Currently in deep space, 248–288 hp depending on version |
| Porsche 911 Turbo | 2012 | Starting at $134,650 (current) | 997 Generation, 480 hp, Inspired Tesla’s start |
| Audi Q7 | 2010 | Starts at $63,890 (current) | 4.2L V8, Inspired the Model X falcon doors |
FAQs About Elon Musk’s Cars
Yes, he still owns at least two. He keeps his 1967 Jaguar E-Type and his 1920 Ford Model T. However, he has said that his daily driving is 100% electric. He sold his famous McLaren F1 and his Porsche 911 years ago because he didn’t want to be a “gasoline car guy” while running Tesla.
His very first car was a 1978 BMW 320i. He bought it used for $1,400 in 1994. He did most of the repairs himself until an intern accidentally broke the car by driving it until a wheel fell off.
While he frequently uses a Model S, he is very often seen in the Cybertruck. Since the truck’s release, it has become his primary way of showing off Tesla’s engineering. He has been spotted taking it to restaurants and driving it to SpaceX and Tesla facilities regularly.
SpaceX needed a “mass simulator” (basically a heavyweight) for the first test flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket. Usually, engineers use concrete or steel blocks. Musk thought that was boring, so he decided to send his personal midnight cherry Tesla Roadster instead to give the world something more interesting to look at.
The available information says he owns seven vehicles including three Teslas (S, X, Cybertruck), a 1967 Jaguar E-Type, a 1976 Lotus Esprit, and a 1920 Ford Model T. He also technically owns the 2008 Roadster currently in space.
Apart from the Model S, X, and Cybertruck, he has also been seen driving the Model 3 Performance.
