Just about anyone in America can identify Paul Walker as one of the stars of the Fast and Furious franchise, though gearheads can go one step further and acknowledge that he was also a truly passionate car collector, as well. Walker broke into superstardom playing Brian O'Conner in the famous movie series, though other appearances in the likes of Into the Blue and Varsity Blues also cemented his status as a Hollywood leading man.
In automotive circles, even before 2013's tragic crash that took his life in a Porsche Carrera GT, Walker was well known for amassing a large collection of sports cars that ran the gamut from prop cars that had appeared in his films to legit supercars and even track-specific builds. He loved Japanese tuners, to be sure, but he also included in his collection models like the Ford GT, a wide range of Ford Mustangs, other built muscle cars, and more than just a few German superstars.
But the highlight of Walker's collection was his lineup of five separate-but-identical examples of what might be the best BMW ever built: the E36-generation M3 in ultra-rare and valuable Lightweight trim.
But why exactly did a guy with Walker's resources focus so hard on such a specific car?
Matt Farah's Take
In a video filmed well after Walker's untimely demise, Matt Farah of the popular YouTube series One Take and The Smoking Tire got a chance to visit Walker's extensive collection firsthand. Farah's not a guy who gets overwhelmed by impressive cars—his job is literally to film his reactions to some of the world's best vehicles in all shapes and sizes—but it's easy to tell from the video that he believes Paul Walker had some seriously good taste. In row after row of impressively tuned, modded, and maintained vehicles, Farah's joy comes through, as well.
Just in the photo above, a host of stellar sports cars like a MkIV Toyota Supra, a Nissan Skyline GT-R, a couple of Porsches, a BMW M1, and four different BMW M3 examples across two generations can be easily identified.
Standouts Among Stars
Among all the Hollywood celebrities of his time, Paul Walker stood out from the crowd. Similarly, his passion for BMWs stands out even among the ridiculousness of his entire car collection. Following his death, many of the cars have eventually reached the auction block—and reached impressive values displaying not just the benefits of celebrity provenance but also the value of the cars themselves on the secondhand market.
But probably the biggest number came from his E36 M3 Lightweight collection, five of which sold at a Barrett-Jackson event in early 2020 for a scorching $1.3 million combined. Throw in a pair of E30 M3 examples that reached $220,000 and $165,000 each, and the total becomes even more mindboggling. And another E30 M3 in Hellrot Red recently popped up on Ebay listed for about $150,000.
Now, keep in mind that E36 BMW Lightweights are already very rare and valuable cars that collectors love to scoop up any time they appear on the market. Compared to an average E36 M3, which is easy to find around $20,000 at any time, a Lightweight could range more like in the $75,000 to $100,000 and up range.
And everything that makes these cars so great is what made Paul Walker love them. First of all, they're based on the E36 M3, which already offers impressive performance the likes of which is largely unavailable in modern sports cars. With a curb weight right around 3,000 pounds, perfect weight distribution, and a silky-smooth inline-six engine producing about 240 horsepower, the E36 was nimble, easy to blast around corners, and did have just enough power to remain respectable.
For fans of tuning and modding, the E36 chassis and engine combination is the perfect starting block for upgrades like taut suspension components, intake and exhaust mods, and even aggressive camshafts to make ECU tunes all the more effective.
Getting Into The Details
The E36 M3 Lightweight, meanwhile, was a factory effort to shave poundage by using aluminum door skins, reduced sound deadening, deleting the sunroof, radio, and toolkit, installing forged alloy wheels and a carbon-fiber trim kid. A more aggressive 3.23-geared rear differential also fit into the mix. Production figures are believed to be around the 125 mark, making the cars extremely rare on top of their desirability from a performance standpoint alone.
Walker was a guy who clearly loved inline-six engines, from the Skylines and Supras that he owned and drove in the Fast and Furious films to the host of BMW M3s and the M1 that he owned and drove in real life. He also clearly preferred six-cylinder engines, in general, as proven by the Porsches and their flat-sixes and his Nissan 370Z.
He didn't stick strictly to the six-cylinder format, however, having also famously raced his V8-powered E92 M3 and bought a V10-powered Carrera GT (not the one of the tragedy), plus the many Mustangs and other Fords. But clearly, the E36 M3 Lightweight was his favorite car, at least judging by the numbers alone.
Sources: Top Gear, Car and Driver, and Bring a Trailer.