Eric Clapton, also known by his stage name “Slowhand,” is one of the most prolific and successful musicians in the world. The English rock and blues guitarist is the only three-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. He’s undoubtedly one of the most influential and important guitarists of all time, ranking #2 in Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,” and #4 in Gibson’s “Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.”Updated May 2022: Eric Clapton's collection spans many wonderful vehicles, and we've found another to add to the list. We've updated this list to include another car in Clapton's awesome collection. Luckily for us, Eric Clapton is a fanatical classic car collector, most notably Ferraris. For someone who already reached superstardom, his dream was to have a classic car collection. He’s owned numerous cars throughout his lifetime, some of them gifted to him by friend and fellow-superstar George Harrison of The Beatles, and some bought by himself.For whatever reason, Ferrari is the company that Eric Clapton has been drawn to the most. It’s a bit surprising that “Slowhand” would love cars that are so fast and aggressive and exotic, but that just shows the two very different sides of the English rocker. Thirteen of the cars listed here are Ferraris, and while they are his favorites, he also has a soft spot for cars from across the pond in the States, as he’s mentioned in many of his songs. Some of these cars were used as inspiration for songs of his, others were used just to sit and be admired, but the best of the bunch were bought to be driven.
21 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
Eric Clapton sold his Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera just before selling his Ferrari 599. The Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera was a high-performance version of the Gallardo and was unveiled in 2007. It used carbon fiber to reduce weight over the original model.
In addition to weight reduction methods, the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera had a 5.2L V10 odd-firing engine. This engine was tuned to make a further 10 horsepower over the standard Gallardo, and rated at 562 horsepower overall. We wonder what could have caused Clapton to part ways with the famous Lamborghini.
20 1967 Custom Mini Cooper
Back in 1967, Clapton was gifted with a one-of-a-kind Mini Cooper from his friend George Harrison, of The Beatles fame. At the time, Harrison was helping to fuel Clapton’s love for collector classics.
The Mini was designed by legendary coachbuilder Harold Radford, who became famous for taking modest Minis and turning them into cars as luxurious as Aston Martins. After all the luxury additions were added to this car, it became as expensive as an Aston Martin, too. It was adorned with Indian peace symbols and was showcased in The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. Clapton eventually gave the car back to Harrison, but while he had it he considered it one of the greats of his collection.
19 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso
One of the standouts of Eric Clapton’s collection is his 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso (“Lusso” means “Luxury” in Italian). Only 350 of these cars were produced, between 1963 and 1964, making them extremely rare. Even though it’s a GT car, it wasn’t ever intended to compete in sports racing.
The Lusso is considered one of the most elegant Ferraris ever created. It uses a big “Colombo” V12 engine that gave it 240 hp and a top speed of 150 mph. The 250 GT Lusso was the last of Ferrari’s fabled 250 lineage, which began in 1952 with the 250 S. Therefore, the Lusso heralded a new generation of Ferraris, such as the 275 and 330. The 250 Lusso is often valued at over $10 million.
18 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
Eric Clapton once stated in an interview that his favorite car was the 250 Lusso, but this 612 Scaglietti was a close second. This incredible 2+2 grand tourer held a special place in his heart while he drove it around the open roads of Europe, even though many Ferrari enthusiasts think it’s too mild to be considered a proper Ferrari.
It was produced between 2004 and 2010 and designed by Pininfarina to replace the smaller 456 M. The car’s design, especially the large side scallops and the headlights, pays homage to the custom 1954 Ferrari 375 MM. It runs on a 5.7-liter Tipo V12 engine, gifting the car with 532 hp and a top speed of 198.8 mph.
17 Ferrari Enzo
The Ferrari Enzo is one of the most coveted Ferraris ever produced, built between 2002 and 2004. With only 400 built, it was one of the most exclusive models the car company ever manufactured. In fact, when it first debuted, you needed to be invited by Ferrari to own one. And not only was Eric Clapton invited, but he was actually the first person in the UK to get one.
While most Enzo owners had their car shipped via flatbed truck, Clapton picked his up from the factory and drove it home. The Enzo was named after Ferrari’s founder. It runs on a 6.0-liter V12 engine, gets 651 hp, can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.14 seconds, and has a top speed of 221 mph, making it one of the fastest road-legal cars ever produced.
16 Ferrari 365 GTC
This was the car that began Eric Clapton’s love affair with Ferrari. When George Harrison bought and brought this car to Clapton’s house, Clapton was in love at first sight. He bought the car and had it painted to its original white color after he’d had it painted silver in 1981.
15 1968 Ferrari Dino 206 GT
This was one of the first Ferraris Clapton added to his collection. This classic Dino was one of the first 150 examples of the car, all built with left-hand drive only. It has been argued as being his muse for the song “Layla,” though during the recording of that song, Clapton crashed his prized Ferrari.
It has since been restored, and he auctioned it off in 2017 for just under $1 million. The car used a transverse-mounted 2.0-liter, all-aluminum, 160 hp V6 engine with dual overhead camshafts. It could reach 180 mph. Later Dinos used a 2.4-liter engine, though that car is even rarer than Clapton’s Dino, as significantly fewer were produced.
14 Porsche 911 (997) Turbo
Though the majority of Clapton’s cars are Ferraris, he also has a few Porsches, including this new-aged 911 (997 Series). These cars were built from 2005 to 2012, drawing on the more classic 993 for detailing. The new headlights reverted to the original bug-eye design, and the interior was revised to hint at strong links to earlier 911s.
The turbocharged version of the car featured a 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged engine, produced 480 horsepower, and had VTG (variable turbine geometry), which combined low-rev boost and quick responses with the high-rev power of a larger turbocharger. It could reach 0-62 mph in 3.4 seconds and had a top speed of 194 mph.
13 1991 Ferrari F40
Clapton was seen driving around the stunning Ferrari F40 in public for a number of years. The car was built between 1987 and 1992 as the successor to the Ferrari 288 GTO. It was designed to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary and was the last Ferrari personally approved by Enzo.
It was the company’s fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car for sale at the time. Originally, only 400 were to be produced, with a retail price of $400,000, but 1,311 actually ended up being made. Some buyers spent as much as $3.6 million to get their hands on one. It used a 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine, could reach 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds, and had a top speed of 197 mph.
12 1938 Cadillac Fleetwood
The Cadillac Fleetwood was Eric Clapton’s first car. As far as first cars go, you could do much worse. It was a right-hand side driver that was built specifically for the London Motor Show of that year. Clapton eventually bought the car for 750 British Pounds, which was a good deal even back then.
However, Clapton wasn’t able to drive the car at the time, so it just sat on his property to be admired. According to his autobiography, Ben Palmer used to take Clapton for rides in his Cadillac, but Palmer said the car was a nightmare to drive because it was too big and had no power steering.
11 1932 Ford Victoria Hot Rod
Besides the quick and rare sports cars that Eric Clapton loves, he also has an affinity for muscle cars and cars from the States.
This 1932 Ford Victoria was equipped with a Rousch V8 engine and has been meticulously restored to its original condition. The 1932 Ford Victoria was a pretty well-known and popular model in 1932, designed by Edsel Ford. It was a smaller version of the Lincoln Victoria coupe, and priced at $495, though we have a feeling you might need to add three or so zeroes to get one in this condition nowadays.
10 1949 Ford Coupe Hot Rod
The 1949 Ford Coupe was Ford’s first all-new automobile design introduced by the Big Three (GM, Ford, Chrysler) after World War II. Popularly called the “Shoebox Ford” for its slab-sided, “ponton” design, the 1949 Ford is credited with saving Ford and with ushering in modern streamlined car design.
Save for the drivetrain, this car was completely new from the 1948 model. It had a modern ladder frame supported by a coil spring independent suspension in front and longitudinal, semi-elliptical springs in the back. It used Ford’s popular 226 CID L-head straight-six engine or a 3.9-liter Flathead V8, with 90 and 100 horsepower respectively. Clapton had his hot-rodded and then restored to its original glory.
9 1949 Chevrolet Advance-Design Pickup
The Advance-Design was a truck series by Chevrolet that was their first major redesign following World War II. It was a larger, stronger, sleeker design in comparison to the earlier AK Series. It first became available in 1947 and was sold with minor variations until its discontinuation in 1955. The truck used the same basic cab configuration on all the trucks, including the Suburban, panel trucks, canopy express, and cab overs.
These trucks are now classics, and newly restored ones can fetch six figures. Clapton had his modified, reportedly, though the specifics are unknown. Either way, this is the perfect example of the kind of car that Clapton sang he “got off to” in his song “I’ve Got a Rock ‘n Roll Heart.”
8 Ferrari 512BB
The Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer (BB) was a classic car produced in Italy between 1973 and 1984. It replaced the front-engined Daytona and was the first in a series of Ferraris to use a mid-mounted, flat-12 engine.
It was designed by Leonardo Fioravanti and was the first mid-engined road car to bear the Ferrari name and the Cavallino Rampante (prancing horse) logo. Clapton loved this car so much that he actually has three of them. The car was a major step for Enzo Ferrari, who felt that a mid-engined road car would be difficult for his buyers to handle, and he had to spend years convincing his engineers to adopt the layout. Good thing he did, because this is one of the most iconic Ferrari designs.
7 Porsche Cayenne Turbo
Besides the 911 Turbo that Clapton owns, he also owns a Cayenne Turbo, which is the only luxury crossover SUV in his garage. It’s been in production since 2002 and is the first V8-engined vehicle built by Porsche since 1995 when the 928 was discontinued. It’s also Porsche’s first off-road variant vehicle since its Super and Junior tractors of the 1950s, and the first Porsche with four doors.
The engines of these cars all feature direct fuel injection. The Turbo uses a twin-turbocharged 4.5-liter V8, can reach 0-62 mph in five seconds, and has a top speed of 171 mph. The Turbo was built to compete with the Mercedes-Benz 63 AMG.
6 Ferrari 275 GTB
Eric Clapton has been seen driving around in a red Ferrari 275 GTB, too. This car was a two-seater GT vehicle produced between 1964 and 1968. It used a 3.3-liter Colombo, 60-degree V12 engine that displaced 275 ccs per cylinder and produced between 280 and 300 horsepower. The car was produced by Scaglietti and was available with three or six Weber twin-choke carburetors.
It was more of a pure sports car than the GT name suggested. In a contemporary road test, Road & Track described the 275 as “the most satisfying sports car in the world,” and Motor Trend Classic has named the 275 GTB #3 on their list of the “10 Greatest Ferraris of All Time.”
5 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
The Ferrari 599 GTB is one of Clapton’s most coveted cars (though he’s said he likes the 612 Scaglietti better, an opinion most Ferrari enthusiasts would disagree with).
This grand tourer was produced between 2006 and 2012 as Ferrari's two-seater flagship, replacing the 575M Maranello. It was styled by Pininfarina under the direction of Ferrari’s Ken Okuyama. The bodywork featured optimized aerodynamics with distinct sail panels flanking the rear window, which helped direct and maximizes airflow. It used a 6.0-liter Tipo V12 engine, had 612 horsepower, a 0-62 mph acceleration time of 3.2 seconds, and a top speed of 205 mph.
4 Ferrari 360 Spider
The Ferrari 360 succeeded the Ferrari F355 in 1999 and was produced until 2005. Ferrari partnered with Alcoa to produce an entirely new all-aluminum space-frame chassis that was 40% stiffer than its predecessor, 28% lighter, and with a 10% increase in overall dimensions.
Along with a lightweight frame and a new Pininfarina body styling that deviated from traditional sharp angles and flip-up headlights, it used a new 3.6-liter V8 engine which generated 395 hp. The car’s acceleration from 0-62 mph was improved to 4.5 seconds (from 4.7), and was “ludicrously quick and sounded more like Schumacher’s weekend wheels than a street car,” according to Car and Driver.
3 Ferrari 575M Maranello
The 575M was a two-seater grand tourer that was produced between 2002 and 2006. It was an updated 550 Maranello, essentially, but with minor styling changes from Pininfarina. It was eventually replaced by the 599 GTB in 2006. The car included a renewed interior compared to the 550, with substantial mechanical improvements, including bigger brake discs, a larger and more powerful engine, improved weight distribution, refined aerodynamics, and an adaptive suspension set-up.
The car’s engine was the first Ferrari V12 to feature Magneti Marelli’s semi-automatic “F1” gearbox. Its engine gave the car 508 horsepower, a 4.2-second 0-60 mph acceleration time, and a top speed of 202 mph.
2 Ferrari Daytona
The Ferrari Daytona is another classic that Eric Clapton owned. It was a grand tourer produced between 1968 and 1973, to replace the 275 GTB/4.
It featured the 275’s Colombo V12 engine bored out to 4,390 ccs. Less than 1,500 of these cars were manufactured, making it somewhat rare, though the Pininfarina body styling was a bit less aggressive and impressive than other models. The car became famous through multiple media outlets when it was featured on The Carpenter’s 1973 album cover, and then prominently featured in the 1980s on NBC’s first two seasons of the hit television show Miami Vice.