Ralph Lauren’s approach to car collecting elevates the automobile to high art. Lauren’s private garage in Westchester County, New York, is a minimalist temple to motoring. Here his own custom-trimmed Mercedes 280SE - his very first car - sits alongside some of rarest, most iconic and spectacular automobiles ever made.
The collection extends to around 60 cars, kept inside a deliberately non-descript structure that keeps its secrets closely guarded. Inside, thanks to design input from the Polo Ralph Lauren interiors team, the collection is displayed in a truly reverent fashion, part Zen garden, part Rothko Room, with every car placed on a carefully lit pedestal, yet kept maintained and primed for instant use.
Invitations to this automotive nirvana are somewhat limited, but a new exhibition in Paris successfully takes Lauren’s garage aesthetic into the public realm. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs plays host to 17 cars from the collection, including a brace of Bugattis, Mercedes and Ferraris, a couple of Alfas, and rarely seen machines from Bentley, McLaren, Jaguar and Porsche.
The show has been curated by Rodolphe Rapetti, Head Curator of the French National Heritage, and put on display by the French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Arranged chronologically, the display charts the evolution of car design from the inter-war period to the modern era, with the focus on the artistry that evolved from race engineering.
The cars on display date back seven decades and represent a rich life of careful collecting and deep enthusiasm. With several of the classics making their public display debut, this is a rare chance to savour one of the world’s best-kept car collections.
Lauren’s 1938 Bugatti 57 SC Atlantic Coupé is just one of two surviving examples of this extravagant piece of Art Deco design. Finished in rich black, a very atypical colour for a luxury car of the era, the cars were hand-crafted from aluminium, with the visible seams down the wings and the body raised and exaggerated
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
Lauren’s 1938 Bugatti 57 SC Atlantic Coupé is just one of two surviving examples of this extravagant piece of Art Deco design. Finished in rich black, a very atypical colour for a luxury car of the era, the cars were hand-crafted from aluminium, with the visible seams down the wings and the body raised and exaggerated
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
Front: Alfa Romeo Monza 8C 2300, 1931
Dubbed Monza after the Italian race course, these cars were built by the Alfa factory for their own works racing team, before being sold off to private collectors once their track days were over. 8C comes from 8 cylinders and the 8C family included extravagantly bodied luxury coupes as well as these lightweight racers.
Rear: Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia, 1938
A later evolution of the 8C, this particular model was built for the celebrated Mille Miglia and finished second in the 1938 race
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
Front: Alfa Romeo Monza 8C 2300, 1931
Dubbed Monza after the Italian race course, these cars were built by the Alfa factory for their own works racing team, before being sold off to private collectors once their track days were over. 8C comes from 8 cylinders and the 8C family included extravagantly bodied luxury coupes as well as these lightweight racers.
Rear: Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia, 1938
A later evolution of the 8C, this particular model was built for the celebrated Mille Miglia and finished second in the 1938 race
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
Right: Jaguar XKD, 1955
The racing precusor of the famous E-Type, the D-Type (known as the XKD in the US) was Britain’s world-beater in the 1950s. With three consecutive victories between 1955 and 1957 at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and another at the Nürburgring in 1956 it was briefly the dominant racing car of its day. Remarkably beautiful, the D is characterised by the vertical fin behind the driver.
Left: Porsche Spyder, 1955
Porsche’s first racing car, the Porsche 550 Spyder was ultra lightweight and hugely successful
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
Right: Jaguar XKD, 1955
The racing precusor of the famous E-Type, the D-Type (known as the XKD in the US) was Britain’s world-beater in the 1950s. With three consecutive victories between 1955 and 1957 at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and another at the Nürburgring in 1956 it was briefly the dominant racing car of its day. Remarkably beautiful, the D is characterised by the vertical fin behind the driver.
Left: Porsche Spyder, 1955
Porsche’s first racing car, the Porsche 550 Spyder was ultra lightweight and hugely successful
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupé, 1955
From 1954 Mercedes began offering a road-going version of its 300SL racing car, mainly at the insistence of its American importer, Max Hoffman, who correctly guessed that the car would be a big hit in the States. 1,400 coupes were built, and over 80% ended up in the USA. Famed for its wing-like upward-opening doors, the Gullwing became an instant design icon, influencing subsequent MB concept cars and today’s SLS AMG model. It was also the world’s fastest production car in its day
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupé, 1955
From 1954 Mercedes began offering a road-going version of its 300SL racing car, mainly at the insistence of its American importer, Max Hoffman, who correctly guessed that the car would be a big hit in the States. 1,400 coupes were built, and over 80% ended up in the USA. Famed for its wing-like upward-opening doors, the Gullwing became an instant design icon, influencing subsequent MB concept cars and today’s SLS AMG model. It was also the world’s fastest production car in its day
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
Designed by Sergio Scaglietti, the Testa Rossa represented the peak of the intersection between pure sculpture and competitive form. Just 34 of these supreme racing cars were built
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
Designed by Sergio Scaglietti, the Testa Rossa represented the peak of the intersection between pure sculpture and competitive form. Just 34 of these supreme racing cars were built
Photography courtesy of Wilmotte & Associes
