Extravagant, unique and attention grabbing vehicles have been a staple of celebrity culture since long before social media made it instantly easy to show off a killer ride. A look back, in honor of #ThrowBackThursday, at the best celebrity rides you may remember illustrates that fact and in some cases shows that what may have been extravagant a decade or two ago seems downright practical compared to the superstar whips of today.
Notorious B.I.G
A #ThrowBackThursday tribute to the most famous car owned and driven by legendary rapper Notorious B.I.G is both nostalgic and tragic. B.I.G’s blue GMC Suburban SUV is instantly recognizable as the car in which the groundbreaking hip hop super star met his end in a drive by shooting. Photos of the side of the large SUV covered in bullet holes continues to make the rounds online, almost two decades after the fateful event. Before becoming infamous for such a tragic reason, the Suburban was a symbol of the rapper climbing out of his humble beginnings through hard work and talent, and reaching a level of wealth that allowed him to care for his family and himself with luxurious style. A number of celebrity ride enthusiasts point of the classic photos of Notorious B.I.G posing proudly next to his Suburban, and the other rides with which he was pictured, set the stage for the ubiquitous “hip hop star posing with custom vehicle” photos seen daily on social media.
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur, whose tragic shooting death made a car infamous, also made the celebrity rides history books by showing off his proudly acquired set of luxurious vehicles. Much like his sometimes-rival Notorious B.I.G, Tupac made it endlessly cool to pose next to his tricked out vehicles as a symbol of his rise from poverty to epic wealth. His most famously photographed vehicle, the black and chrome Hummer, actually helped boost the vehicle’s sales almost immediately after the photos were printed. While no one will ever forget the black BMW sedan in which Tupac Shakur was fatally shot, for #ThrowBackThursday we should all remember a grinning Tupac posing proudly in front of his classically gorgeous Rolls Royce and Mercedes Benz.
Michael Jackson
Another celebrity deserving of a #ThrowBackThursday vehicle review is the late, great, Michael Jackson. Not only was Michael Jackson the ‘King of Pop,’ he was also the king of finding unique and extraordinarily lavish ways to spend his extreme wealth. Jackson’s fleet was enormous, with 75 vehicles titled to him specifically and several others owned by his various subsidies, companies and properties.
Michael Jackson was known to use customized shuttle cars to get staff, guests, and himself around the expansive estate of his Neverland Ranch. One of these shuttle cars had a picture of Jackson airbrushed on the hood as Peter Pan over a scene depicting visual aspects from the story of perpetual childhood, including Captain Hook’s pirate ship. On another of these estate traversing cars, Jackson had characters from the Simpsons added to the standard black paint job. When leaving Neverland Ranch, Jackson preferred to travel in high-privacy luxury SUVs, complete with tinted windows and enough room for his children, bodyguards, and any other staff members along for the ride. The black and white SUVs were much more subtle than just about every other thing owned by the pop icon, but they served an important purpose in keeping photographers safely at bay.
The best #ThrowBackThursday celebrity rides remind us that famously wealthy characters have been spending their money on memorable vehicles for a long time, long before social media made every celebrity purchase instantly viewable.
