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If a car has been owned by somebody famous or appeared in a movie, it’s naturally going to be worth a bit more to prospective buyers with a taste for pop culture.
But how much more? And which celebs bring the biggest returns?
Since 2022, classic-car and valuation specialist Hagerty has produced what it calls a Power List, that analyses the increase (or decrease in some cases) in value of cars with celebrity provenance against their standard equivalent, at the time of sale.
This year, nearly 400 sales of celebrity cars and bikes have been assessed from around the world, in various categories.
Using Hagerty’s own market data, the sold price of selected vehicles is compared with the value of a standard car at that time. When faced with a unique car, Hagerty values the standard equivalent of the vehicle it was based on.
The 2023 Hagerty Power List comprises seven categories: Art Cars, Racing Drivers, Movies & TV, Musicians, Royalty, Screen Stars and Sporting Icons. We have some category highlights – but you can also find a link to the full report at the bottom of the story.
Musicians
A 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow owned by Freddie Mercury sold for NZ$610,252 last year against a standard Hagerty value of just NZ$16,000, 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 ten this year was Elton John, who slipped down to 11th spot despite having the largest number of cars tracked by the Power List analysts.
Art Cars
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.
But 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
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.
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 NZ$248,180, a 210 per cent increase over the Hagerty value for a regular example in the same condition.
Movies & TV
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 around NZ$6.08m at a charity auction. That’s an increase of 2500 per cent 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.
Royalty
This is a year that was undoubtedly the most important for the Royal Family in living memory, including the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. But there was little change in the value of royal cars.
A 2012 Bentley Mulsanne, reportedly used exclusively by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, went on sale for a shade over NZ$425,000, 150 per cent 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 NZ$14,430, a 78 per cent mark-up on the non-royal variety, and a 2010 Land Rover Defender 110 County, built for the Duke of Edinburgh, sold for NZ$263,820, a 236 per cent mark-up over the standard value.
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 NZ$1.54m, setting not just a record for the Power List but also a marque record for a road-going Ford Escort.
Screen Stars
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 NZ$788,797, 771 per cent 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 $121,943, 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 per cent 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 NZ$4.3m, 155 per cent over the top Hagerty Price Guide value for the model.
Paul Newman remained at the top of the list for a second year running, thanks to his 1988 Volvo 740 estate, which sold for NZ$153,282 including premium, a huge increase over its current value of just NZ$8300.
Sporting icons
David Beckham’s Aston Martin V8 Volante caused a stir and Michael Jordan’s Mercedes-Benz S600 Lorinser described as the “Holy Grail of Michael Jordan memorabilia” was valued at NZ$187,392 back in 2020, when a non-celebrity car was worth around half that.
Muhammad Ali’s 1970 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow convertible sold for NZ$281,941, and his 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider for NZ$37,520, 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 NZ$27,741, 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 NZ$881,534, more than four times Hagerty’s normal value. Add in the sale of his 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC, which bid to $283,540, and Maradona gains an unassailable lead.
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