The Hindu Business Line : Rare beauties to go on air

On December 11 Discovery Travel & Living airs a special programme profiling Ralph Lauren’s one-of-a-kind collection of 29 rare and classic cars. A never-before seen set of cars that are timeless classics.

Harold E LeMay was quite literally a ‘garbage man’. He made a fortune running a refuse company. So, what did this American businessman, based in Tacoma, Washington, do with his wealth? He amassed one of the world’s largest privately owned collections of automobiles, motorcycles, trucks and related memorabilia in the world.

Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records and called the LeMay collection, it is supposed to include a staggering 3,000 plus American and foreign vehicles and thousands of other artifacts. But, LeMay is not the only famous American car collector. There are others too like Emmy Award winning comedian and television host Jay Leno and the icon of American fashion and design, Ralph Lauren.

It can be difficult to break into the private world of some of these big tycoons and it may be even more difficult to get a peek at some of the world’s most beautiful automobiles that they have treasured and maintained with utmost care.

So, it will be a rare treat for car aficionados, when later this month Discovery Travel & Living airs a special programme profiling Ralph Lauren’s one-of-a-kind collection of 29 rare and classic cars. A never-before seen set of cars that are timeless classics, that exude their racing pedigree, speed and uniqueness in design and have all been for the most part meticulously handcrafted.

The show titled ‘Ralph Lauren Car Collection: Speed, Style & Beauty’, will offer one of the first ever glimpses into the world of Ralph Lauren’s personal car collection which has taken more than 25 years to build. Spanning 70 years of automotive history, the 29 cars in the collection combine automotive perfection and unmatched beauty.

You get to see the boldness and elegance of the best cars in the world, from the likes of Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Porsche, Mercedes and Jaguar. Every single one of them hand built, like the finest art pieces, and one of a kind. The collection is an overall aesthetic experience that is said to serve as a constant source of inspiration for Ralph Lauren’s design and his advertising.

The 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe (top) and the McLaren F1.

Some of the finest cars in the collection include:

The 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia Superleggera is the first of just four built specifically for one of Italy’s most gruelling races, the thousand mile Mille Miglia;

1929 Blower Bentley: First of five built; one of only two short wheelbase models built. The brutish Blower Bentley (first to feature a supercharger) is one of the most thrilling Bentleys ever built;

1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe: Third of three built;

The 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (fourteenth of thirty-four built) is a shape born out of the studio of Italian Sergio Scaglietti;

1930 Mercedes-Benz “Count Trossi” SSK;

The 1955 Jaguar XKD (one of only ten long-nose D-types built) is the epitome of speed a car built for racing; and

The McLaren F1, one of just five ever built, assembled by hand and with a body made entirely with carbon fibre.

Ralph Lauren is the Chairman and CEO of Polo Ralph Lauren, the company that owns the global lifestyle brand known by the same name. The Show airs on Discovery Travel & Living on December 11.

S. MURALIDHAR.