8 Cars In David Beckham's Collection That Prove He Has Great Taste
David Beckham is one of the world's most famous soccer players (or footballers, depending on which side of the pond you're from), and his success on the pitch has helped him earn hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. He's spent a portion of that money buying a fleet of luxury SUVs, rare classics, and cutting-edge supercars, like many elite athletes tend to. However, what sets Beckham apart from his peers is that he's been a car enthusiast since he was a teenager, saying in an interview with GQ, "as soon I turned 17, life was all about passing my driving test. It was the first thing I really wanted to do."
Beckham's passion for cars has stayed with him throughout the decades, and he recently took partial ownership of a UK-based company that specializes in converting classic cars to run on electricity, called Lunaz (via CarBuzz). Alongside that, GQ reports that he's also an ambassador for Maserati, and even developed his own special edition car in collaboration with the Italian brand's design director Klaus Busse. Beckham has owned so many cars since he first passed his test that it's impossible to list them all, but here's a small selection of his best over the years.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe
As one of England's greatest sporting exports, it's very fitting that Beckham has owned a number of cars from Britain's finest automaker. In 2008, the soccer star was pictured driving around Beverly Hills in his newly-purchased Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe which, like many celebs at the time, Beckham had put his own spin on. The car featured custom 24-inch Savini Forged wheels, painted black to match the car's exterior, and a "23" motif embroidered into the headrests.
The Phantom Drophead Coupe was just as luxurious and powerful as buyers had come to expect from Rolls-Royce's cars. The brand's signature 6.75L V12 engine was stuffed under the hood, making 435 horsepower (via Autocar). However, the car's hefty curb weight of 5,776 lbs meant that the Drophead Coupe was brisk rather than fast, with a handling setup that aimed to lower the driver's heart rate rather than raise it, says Autocar. It might not have been the most rapid vehicle in Beckham's collection, but it was perfect for cruising around in heavy Los Angeles traffic, and he covered nearly 6,000 miles in the car before listing it on eBay for $329,000 in 2012.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage X Pack
Although he's a self-professed big fan of classic cars, Beckham hasn't owned that many of them over the years (via GQ). But, it's safe to say, when he does pick a classic, he has excellent taste, as his custodianship of a pristine Aston Martin V8 Vantage X Pack shows. The X Pack was an optional upgrade that gave the Vantage's V8 engine a boost in power and a louder exhaust, bringing the car's total output up to 432 horsepower. That made it one of the most powerful cars of its era, and plenty of Vantage owners have retrofitted the upgrade to get the best out of their car's engine. However, Beckham's car was one of the few to have the X Pack fitted from the factory, making it more desirable among marque enthusiasts.
His car also featured original Ronal wheels, which are distinguished because of their concealed wheel nuts, reports Auto Trader. The car was put up for sale via Aston Martin's own heritage Works division in 2020, with a list price of £445,000 (roughly $571,000 at the time). Only 78 similar cars were made, so it's no surprise to find out that the car was quickly snapped up by a keen collector.
Lamborghini Gallardo
It isn't just British cars that Beckham had an affinity for, as he is also partial to an Italian exotic or two. He bought himself a Lamborghini Gallardo in 2004 while playing for Real Madrid, and reportedly used it to drive around the Spanish capital (via Manners). Clearly, most of his time was spent just sitting in traffic, as when the car was put up for sale in 2021, it only sported 6,200 km on the odometer (roughly 3,850 miles). Beckham's car was finished in Grigio Altair silver, with a distinctive Italian flag running stripe running down the middle (via Classic Driver).
Although it seems like the soccer player never used the car to its full potential, the Gallardo's 493 horsepower 5.0L V10 engine meant that it was shockingly fast when drivers did take it out of the city and onto the open road. It was also more affordable than the flagship Murcielago, and it was this combination of power and lower pricing that made it a sales hit. By the time the last Gallardo rolled off the production line in 2013, a total of 14,022 units had been produced, making it the best-selling Lamborghini ever at that point. That might have been an impressive number at the time, but it's dwarfed by the success of the brand's Urus SUV, which has sold more than 20,000 units to date despite being on sale for just four years at the time of writing (via Hypebeast).
Ferrari 360 Spider
In many ways, Ferrari is the quintessential performance car brand, so it's little surprise that Beckham has owned his fair share of them. One of his earliest purchases from the Prancing Horse brand was a black 2001 360 Spider, although he also reportedly acquired a second, red 360 two years later in 2003 (via Royston Crow). The 360 featured a 3.6L V8 engine with a trademark Ferrari soundtrack, paired with exterior styling from long-time Ferrari collaborator Pininfarina (via Supercar Nostalgia).
Like many of Beckham's cars, he wasn't keen on keeping either of his 360s for too long, and the 2001 example was sold off a few years after he bought it. It appeared for auction in the U.K. in 2017, with a seemingly very reasonable estimate of £85,000, approximately $109,400 at the time (via Royston Crow). In addition to its celebrity ownership history, the 360 Spider featured optional lightweight BBS alloy wheels, a Challenge rear diffuser, and carbon fiber racing seats. Unfortunately, it's not known whether the car went for the asking price or above, or who the lucky new owner was.
Bentley Bentayga
While, in his younger years, Beckham could get away with driving supercars everyday, now that he has a family to drive round, that's not so practical. However, when you're worth hundreds of millions of dollars, you don't need to compromise too much. The soccer player is often pictured driving around London in his black Bentley Bentayga, an SUV that's big enough to fit his whole family, yet luxurious enough to suit even the most discerning of drivers. Unfortunately for Beckham, he got a bit too comfortable driving the car, and was caught speeding in it in 2018.
The Telegraph reports that he was charged with speeding 19 mph over the legal limit, doing 59 mph in a 40 mph zone. However, after a short legal battle with a celebrity lawyer known as "Mr Loophole" at his aid, he was let off (via Sky News). His lawyer argued that because British law dictates that a notice of intended prosecution has to be delivered to the defendant within 14 days of the alleged offense occurring, the police would have to prove that the speeding ticket reached Mr. Beckham's address by that time. They couldn't, and so the judge had no choice but to let Beckham off the hook. He's not been hauled in front of the court again since then, so clearly he's been paying a little more attention to his Bentley's speedo after that close shave.
Maserati MC20 Fuoriserie Edition
As part of his ambassador deal with Maserati, Beckham got the opportunity to design his own special edition of the MC20 supercar with design director Klaus Busse. The star chose to spec his car in glossy black with pastel pink accents, including pink interior contrast stitching and pink Brembo brakes (via Hypebeast). He also added opaque black Trident logos on the C-pillar and the grille, and a pink Fuoriserie logo was added to a plaque between the two seats.
In addition to his specially-customized car, which he reportedly keeps in Miami, he also has a second MC20 registered in London, this time in gunmetal gray (via GQ). In an interview with GQ, he said he was "trying to get Victoria to drive it at the moment, but I'm not having much luck. It's a bit low, but otherwise it's pretty easy to drive. On a track it's unbelievable." There's no word on whether Beckham's special edition MC20s received any mechanical customization, but with 621 horsepower and 538 lb-ft of torque on tap, it's not like it needs a power boost anyway. At least, we didn't think so when we reviewed the car earlier in 2022.
Land Rover Defender
There are few cars that are more traditionally British than a Land Rover Defender, and it turns out Beckham is very fond of the veteran off-roaders. He drew headlines in 2020 for parking his Defender on double yellow lines in the rural town of Burford, Oxfordshire (via Hindustan Times). On British roads, double yellow lines at the side of the road indicate a no parking zone, and they're often used in locations where cars would cause an obstruction if they parked up. Beckham's Defender was indeed left blocking the road, with locals sending pictures of his dodgy parking to the national tabloids in retribution.
Beckham's badly-parked Defender isn't the only Land Rover he's had in his collection, as he formerly owned a 2007 Range Rover Sport (via Motoring Research). He had it customized at the hands of UK-based Kahn Designs, adding a body kit and blacking out the wheels, which brought his total bill to more than £100,000 (over $120,000). However, Motoring Research reports that the custom car was put up for sale again in 2021, attracting just £10,000 (around $13,700). Clearly, even celebrity ownership can't offset the rapid rate of depreciation of an old Range Rover.
Ferrari 575 Superamerica
While most of the cars Beckham has owned throughout his career were sold off a few years after he bought them, he's kept some of his favorites around for the long run. One such favorite is his Ferrari 575 Superamerica, which he confirmed that he bought new when the car was first released (via GQ). He loved it so much that he still has it today, praising its "clever roof" in particular. That roof takes just seven seconds to transform from closed-coupe form to a full convertible, making it usable in all weather, a must-have considering Beckham keeps the car in the U.K. (via Evo).
Only 559 examples of the Superamerica were made, and they cost close to a 20% premium over the standard 575M, according to Evo. Superamericas also got a small boost in power, with 533 horses on tap from the car's V12 engine. There's no way of knowing how much Beckham's used his, but clearly, if he's kept it for around two decades, he's keener on it than most of his other supercars. And anyway, a V12-powered Italian grand tourer seems like a very fitting match for England's greatest footballing petrolhead.