Nothing in life can near objectively be called iconic. Sliced Bread, the button-down Oxford shirt, and Audrey Hepburn are indeed the exceptions that prove the rule. The Belgian-born British film star during her career became synonymous with beauty, style, and grace.

It is by no surprise then that her taste in cars echos this as she became associated with classic designs from the best luxury brands on the planet. Hepburn's lifestyle was emblematic of post-war excess, being driven by a chauffeur and in her life marrying Mel Ferrer and then Andrea Dotti.

Hepburn was frequently pictured with European luxury cars from prestigious brands such as Ferrari and Rolls-Royce in her role as an actor. But her personal collection was more quaint.

So, let's now look at what Audrey Hepburn drove and why her cars were so fancy.

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1950s Rides That Hepburn Owned

1956 Ford Thunderbird
Via: Greg Gjerdingen, Flickr - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

While married to Mel Ferrer, the two were pictured alongside Hepburn's white 1956 Ford Thunderbird, the car that Ford built as a response to the C1 Corvette. It featured sporty bodywork and a 150 MPH speed-o-meter that hinted at the racing potential hidden underneath the aggressively styled hood scope.

The Thunderbird had been advertised less like a racing car for the road, and more as a personal vehicle for the stylish cosmopolitan flaneur character. This kept with the aesthetic that Hepburn had developed after performing in films like Breakfast at Tiffany's and Charade.

The actor's relationship with stylish luxury cars continued after her marriage to Mel Ferrer. She owned a white Mercedes Benz SL W113, the iconic Pagoda body. Her car featured in the film Two for the Road and this only added further mystique to this classic model. Only around 20,000 were ever produced, and only 185 units of the most desirable 230SL trim.

Examples are sold for in excess of $200,000 despite the car's sluggish reputation. A Mercedes claiming to be this car came up online in 2007, sporting the white body and red interior that are known to have been Hepburn's favorite colors.

Her Chauffeur Rides

Fiat 1300
Via: Lucarelli, Wikimedia Commons - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

But many of the cars Hepburn is known for being around she did not actually own. Her chauffeur-driven cars were stylish, befitting of her status as a member of the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame. She was spotted getting out of Fiat 1300s in her time in Rome during the 1960s and into the much-coveted Alfa Romeo Spider.

On film, the star's relationship with cars grew, and so did the price tag. In Sabrina, the star appeared on screen with a 1924 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, used to chauffer Humphrey Bogart. This car recently sold for $475,000, but historically significant examples have sold for $7.1 million.

Originally called the 40/50h.p. by comparison to other vehicles at the time, not only was the Rolls-Royce a showcase of opulence but also of high-level engineering. In the film Roman Holiday she co-starred alongside a 1937 Fiat Topolino, an Italian family car with 13 HP. Unlike the Rolls-Royce mentioned earlier, these cars frequently sell for around $7,000 but having sold more than 400,000 cars, the car was the appropriate choice for a film set in Rome.

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Hepburn's Rides In Cinema

1966 Jaguar E-Type
Via: Steve Glober, Flickr - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Arguably the star's most memorable moment with a car comes from the promotional material for 1966's How to Steal a Million. Hepburn poses on the rear of a yellow Jaguar E-type, with Peter O'Toole in the driving seat. O'Toole's role as Simon Dermott casts him as a cat burglar in possession of the British sportscar.

The 1966 E-type produced 265 HP from a 4.2-liter inline-6 engine. With a price of $3,140 undercutting the competition from Porsche of around $9,800, the E-type was a common sight on British roads cementing its place in automotive, film, and cultural history.

Her work in the United States often placed her around equivalent American vehicles. One such example is the 1961 Imperial Crown and the Plymouth Taxi special from Breakfast at Tiffany's. The Imperial Crown is a highly prestigious car with the widest body and largest tailfins offered by the Chrysler company at the time.

It did not bear the company's name, being marketed as a more upmarket vehicle, in place with the young and appearance concerned characters of the classic comedy.

Final Thoughts On Audrey Hepburn's Cars

Audrey Hepburn
Via: Txemari, Flickr - https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

Audrey Hepburn married Andrea Dotti in 1969. She then entered a near retirement, only taking on roles she was truly interested in. During these years, the star didn't appear alongside as many recognizable cars as in her early years as an actor. In her final years, she lived between London and Switzerland. Switzerland is known to be strict on speeding rules with perilous mountain passes.

But the star's choice in cars doesn't suggest that she was a street racer. Instead, she was more concerned with arriving in comfort and style matching her trademark black turtleneck, and black trousers look. Living in Europe, it is safe to say that she would have continued her relationship with the Mercedes brand until she died in 1993. However, other than in her humanitarian efforts, she lived under the radar.

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