Mel Gibson has become one of the most controversial figures in Hollywood over the last decade or so, but it wasn’t always that way. In the 1980s, when he starred in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon films, he was a rugged heartthrob that Hollywood loved. When he starred in 1995’s Braveheart, he truly became a legend, and by 1998, with Lethal Weapon 4, he was the highest paid actor in the world.

Unfortunately, he took a tumble due to some questionable behavior and remarks and was blacklisted by the Hollywood elite for many years, only recently getting a second chance. He’s also found himself in the back of a cop car quite a few times and has had some serious car problems that were of his own making. In 2006, for instance, he was picked up for driving under the influence and then launched into a verbal tirade against the officer that included some inflammatory remarks. This was the beginning of his fall.

Later, in 2010, he ruined his awesome Maserati on a hillside, but he was picked up by a friend that time—he hadn’t been imbibing. He’s been under investigation for domestic accusations and custody disputes, and it seems like all the bad things that happen to him get aired out pretty quickly by the tabloid media. Mel Gibson will always be under tight scrutiny now because of his checkered past.

Despite all that, he’s still many people’s favorite actor and director. He’s made some incredible films and he’s owned some pretty awesome cars. But because of his past issues with vehicles, maybe it’s best that he doesn’t get behind the wheel of some of these…

Here are 15 cars Mel Gibson owns that should (maybe) be taken away from him.

15 Smart Fortwo

via Daily Mail

Back in 2015, Daily Mail made the claim that Mel Gibson was on a budget, saying that the actor was worth $400 million but drove to lunch in Malibu in a $12,000 Smart car. He was first seen with his dark silver car in 2011 and Daily Mail went on to say that the car was a sharp contrast to the $110,000 Maserati Mel ruined in 2010. Celebrity Cars Blog also snapped a picture of the actor stumbling out of the Smart car before promptly taking a fall with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest purchase after all, despite being one of the “greenest” cars out there…

14 1981 Chevrolet C30 Silverado

via IMCDb.org

Mel Gibson was considered a true heartthrob of Hollywood back in the 1980s, when he was made famous by starring in action films like Lethal Weapon and The Road Warrior (the second of the Mad Max films). At about the time as he was filming Mad Max, where he played the rugged lead character, he was driving around in this similarly rugged 1981 Chevy Silverado, which sported style that suited him perfectly. He was a unique actor back then and this car was even featured in the original Lethal Weapon, which made for a pretty fresh take on a cop flick. Cars like these are what helped Gibson stand out early in his career.

13 Mercedes-Benz S500

via Car4Rent

This four-door Mercedes-Benz S500 is a full-size luxury sedan, powered by a twin-turbocharged and intercooled, DOHC 24-valve V6 engine. It produces 362 horsepower and has plenty of power behind it, being able to hit 0-60 mph in 5.4 seconds. It also gets 22 mpg, which isn’t bad for such a powerful car, thanks to its 9-speed automatic transmission (with a manual shifting mode). All of that is to say that, after hearing about Mel Gibson’s crashes (his Maserati in particular), nothing is really safe in his hands. The S-Class ranges from $90,000 to $250,000 in price, and we hope this one doesn’t end up in a ditch.

12 Bentley Arnage

via Vins Motor

There’s no doubting that Mel Gibson has a good taste in cars—among the cars sitting in his garage are multiple Mercedes-Benz and Lexus cars, plus this sweet Bentley, which tops them all in price. The Arnage was produced for 11 years, from 1998 to 2009, and it was the first Bentley since the 1950s that was powered by a 4.4-liter BMW V8 engine with a Cosworth twin-turbo installed (rather than the typical 6.75-liter Bentley V8). It also cost around $250,000! On top of that, the car suffered from poor fuel consumption and a quickly depreciating cost, so maybe it’s best if Mel doesn’t stick with this one for too long.

11 Mercedes-Benz C-Class

via Mercedes-Benz

The majority of the cars Mel Gibson has owned have been built by Mercedes-Benz. He’s had two C-Classes, though this is the weaker of the two. This four-door compact executive car was powered by a turbocharged and intercooled, DOHC inline-four engine, which gave it 241 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. It could reach 60 mph in 6.1 seconds, so it wasn’t as quick as his aforementioned S500, but it got better mileage at 25 mpg. It’s also one of the cheapest Mercedes models you can buy, starting at just $41,400 for a 2019 model, so maybe this isn’t the car that Mr. Gibson should get rid of. At least if he spins it, he won’t be losing much.

10 BMW 7 Series

via Video Blocks

If you have as much money as Mel Gibson does and you buy a whole lot of Mercedes cars, chances are you’re going to get curious and check out the competition. Hence, the BMW 7 Series, another luxurious car sitting in Mel’s garage. Costing about $83,000 to start, the 7 Series is a long-running full-size luxury sedan that’s been around since 1977. The modern G11 7 Series has a multitude of engine options, including a 2.0-liter turbocharged I4, a 3.0-liter turbocharged I6, a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, and a monster 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 in the M760Li (which is about $150,000). All of these cars are appropriate for Mel Gibson to drive, and they might be good enough to turn him away from Mercedes.

9 Mercedes-Benz CLS500

via MHT Wheels

The Mercedes-Benz CLS500 is one of the more unique cars offered by the company, starting at $64,900. It was referred to by Mercedes as the “world’s first four-door coupe,” according to Car and Driver. It comes equipped with a 7-speed shiftable automatic transmission and a plethora of V8 engine options. It was based on the Vision CLS concept, a futuristic concept car that seemed more in line with some futuristic space opera than the roadways of the world. Mel doesn’t have a worry in the world when he’s behind the wheel of this guy, but he just needs to be careful not to abuse that 382-hp, 5.5-liter V8 and end up in bad shape somewhere!

8 Porsche 968

via Stevens Creek Toyota

Undoubtedly one of the coolest cars in Mel Gibson’s collection is the Porsche 968, a car that ranged from $17,000 to $23,000 in the early 1990s. This car was only produced between 1992 and 1995, and it was the final evolution of the water-cooled and front-engined RWD models that began almost 20 years earlier (with the 924). The 968 was Porsche's last front-engined vehicle before the introduction of the Cayenne SUV in 2003. Its 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-four gave it 305 bhp, a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds, and a top speed of 175 mph. This zippy little car might not seem like Mel’s style, given that he likes his luxury cars a lot, but maybe, since he seems to like to go fast, he should invest more in cars that are built to handle that kind of driving.

7 Mercedes-Benz ML320

via Wheelwell

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class (currently marketed as the GLE-Class), is a midsize luxury SUV that’s been around since 1997. It’s slotted between the smaller GLC-Class and the larger GLS-Class. This $38,000 SUV is perfect for Mel’s friends and family to drive in and it’s a bit more inconspicuous than many of his other cars (except maybe the Smart ForTwo). The ML320 is a first-generation M-Class, running on a 3.6-liter V6 engine. It was certainly the hot new thing back in 1998 when it was first introduced, and when Mel Gibson was at the top of his game, with Lethal Weapon 4 under his belt that year and Braveheart just three years old.

6 Lexus LS430

via MyCarBoard

One of the reasons that Mel Gibson has always had a lot of money, despite being blacklisted for a while in Hollywood and his fall from grace, is because he’s very frugal with his money. You’ll notice that none of these cars are Bugattis or Lamborghinis. The Bentley Arnage is the most expensive he’ll go (which is still a hefty quarter-million). His 2006 Lexus LS430 is known for having all the features that made Lexus a great luxury sedan maker: a smooth V8 engine, a crisp outer interior, and spacious interior. A 2019 version will run you $75,300 new and it has actually foregone the 4.6-liter V8 for a new, 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V6.

5 Mercedes-Benz 500E

via Road & Track

The Mercedes-Benz 500E might not look special but don’t let that fool you. It’s one of the rarest Mercedes around, with only 500 models produced per year in the short time it was manufactured, from 1991 to 1995. Road and Track has called it one of the greatest sedans of the 1990s and that was in 2017, when they also said it’s aged very well. Its 326-hp, 5.0-liter V8 under the hood was nothing to sneeze at, making it much more powerful than other Mercedes sedans from the 1990s. This seems like the perfect incognito vehicle that Mel Gibson should drive and unless he’s already gotten rid of it himself, we don’t see any reason for this one to be taken away from him.

4 Maserati Quattroporte

via CarGurus

The 2008 Maserati Quattroporte in question is the car that Mel Gibson famously crashed in Malibu in 2010, after mysteriously drifting into a hillside. After crashing his $110,000 luxury car into the hillside and escaping injury, it seemed he started to slow his roll a little bit as far as luxury car buying went: he started to opt for Mercedes and BMWs and Lexuses. They’re still luxurious cars, of course, but they aren’t Maseratis. Also, the fact that this crash came on the heels of a long-running family-related investigation, this didn’t bode well for the actor and was the beginning of the end of his awesome career. He’s since made a comeback but it took a long time for him to get back in Hollywood’s good graces (if he ever truly will be).

3 Mercedes-Benz M-Class AMG

via MOMENTcar

This is the upgraded version of the ML320 SUV. In the late 90s, the SUV industry was in the midst of huge growth, with the introduction of many advanced models on the market. Mercedes capitalized on this trend by introducing their M-Class AMG, which was the official SUV of Jurassic Park 2. Sales were also helped by the fact that famous Braveheart actor and director Mel Gibson drove one. You can still find many of these little SUVs on the streets and can probably find a nice used one for a reasonable price. It featured a powerful 5.4-liter V8 engine made by AMG and had modified bodywork and other performance features that set it apart from the base ML320.

2 1990 Lexus LS400

via Car and Driver

Mel Gibson has always been a fan of Lexus cars, though maybe not as much as his penchant for Mercedes-Benz. The LS, in particular, which has been around since 1989 and is still produced today, has been a favorite of his for over 20 years. Back in 1990, a year after Lethal Weapon 2 but five years before Braveheart, Gibson was not the highest paid actor in the world. But the 1990 LS400 was a car he could afford, it looked cool, and it ran on a nice 4.0-liter V8 engine that made 250 horsepower. It had a quieter cabin than comparable Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars, a higher top speed, and it won Car of the Year Japan in 1989.

1 2005 Lexus LS400

via Featured: Emblems Pictures

Fifteen years later, Mel Gibson would get himself another Lexus LS400, but a third-generation model instead of the first. He must have liked the car so much that he just had to have another and after all, they only got better as the years went on. The 2005 LS400 was powered by a 4.3-liter V8, which put out 290 horsepower and started at $55,000, or $70,00 for all the optional features. This was a very nice luxury car and it’s still being made today, though it’s now in its fifth generation. The car exceeded projected sales, with Lexus moving over 140,000 units, and one of them belonged to Mel Gibson when he got in a little trouble as early as 2006.

Sources: Car and Driver, Road and Track, and Daily Mail.