Inside Nick Mason's $100 Million Car Collection

You know him as the drummer of Pink Floyd.
But what you probably don’t know…
is that he owns one of the most insane car collections on Earth.

We’re talking about machines worth over $100 million.
Some so rare, most collectors will never even see one in real life.

And the craziest part?
He actually drives them.


It all began in 1977 when Mason bought his first serious car — a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. At the time, it wasn't the insanely valuable machine it would become. He didn't buy it as an investment. He bought it because he loved it — the sound it made, the way it felt alive in his hands, the history sitting underneath that bodywork. As Pink Floyd's success grew through the late seventies and eighties, so did his ability to feed that obsession. The band was generating serious money, and quietly, Mason was channelling his passion into something extraordinary. He never talked about the collection the way investors talk about assets. He talked about driving, about racing, about the responsibility of keeping these machines alive. That mindset is exactly what separates a true collector from someone simply parking money in metal.

The heart of the entire collection is that same 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO he bought all those years ago. Widely considered the most valuable production car ever built, comparable GTOs have sold at auction for over $70 million. Only 36 were ever made. Just owning one is an achievement that puts you in the rarest company on earth. But what makes Mason's relationship with this car genuinely special is that he actually drives it. He has raced it at the Le Mans Classic and the Mille Miglia. He doesn't keep it locked behind glass and roped off from the world. He takes it out, pushes it hard, and lets it do exactly what Ferrari built it to do. The GTO runs a 3.0-litre V12 producing around 300 horsepower — modest by modern standards, but in the early 1960s it was a weapon. Owning a 250 GTO is one thing. Racing one across the Italian countryside takes a completely different level of love for the machine.

But the GTO is just the beginning. Mason's collection includes cars that didn't just sit beautifully on display — they competed at the absolute highest levels of motorsport. His 1969 Ferrari 312P is a genuine factory endurance racer, built in tiny numbers and campaigned directly by Ferrari's own works team. Having one in private hands is extraordinary by any measure. Then there's his Bugatti Type 35 — one of the most successful Grand Prix cars ever built. The Type 35 dominated racing throughout the late 1920s, winning hundreds of events and writing its name permanently into motorsport history. Mason also owns a McLaren F1 GTR, the full racing variant of the car that famously won Le Mans in 1995 in near-standard form. Each of these machines represents a different chapter in the story of motorsport, and together they tell a story that no book, no museum, and no highlight reel could ever fully capture.

One area where Mason's collection truly stands apart is his pre-war machinery — cars from the 1920s and 1930s when motoring was raw, mechanical, and genuinely dangerous. His Bugatti Type 35B is among the finest surviving examples anywhere in the world, a lightweight alloy masterpiece that demands almost surgical care just to keep running. He also owns an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, a pre-war icon that combined Italian elegance with serious race performance. Driving these cars requires a completely different skill set. There are no driver aids, no power steering, no safety systems of any kind. Everything is mechanical and direct. Mason has spoken about the unique satisfaction of piloting something this old — the way it communicates every surface, every corner through your hands. It's a driving experience almost entirely lost in the modern age, and Mason is one of the very few people in the world who gets to access it.

And he doesn't just keep these cars in his garage and admire them on weekends. He races them. One of his favourite events is the Mille Miglia — originally run on public roads across Italy from 1927 to 1957, now a celebrated rally covering over 1,000 miles through the Italian countryside. Mason has competed multiple times, bringing his most valuable machines to tackle mountain passes, cobblestone towns, and open highways. The sight of a $70 million Ferrari GTO threading through a quiet Italian village with Mason at the wheel says everything about what a real car enthusiast looks like. He's also raced at the Le Mans Classic on the actual Circuit de la Sarthe in France — the same track that hosts the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Competing in these events means keeping cars in genuine running condition, not preserved like artefacts. It takes serious preparation and serious commitment. Mason has earned deep respect in the motorsport world not because of what he owns, but because of what he does with it.

While his heart clearly belongs to the pre-war and classic racing eras, the collection isn't entirely stuck in the past. The McLaren F1 GTR is his most modern piece, and one of the most significant cars of the 1990s. Designed by Gordon Murray, the F1 was the fastest production car in the world when it launched in 1992 — central driving position, a naturally aspirated BMW V12 producing 627 horsepower, and an obsessive commitment to low weight above everything else. Mason's GTR was built purely for competition, stripping away even the minimal comforts of the road version. Fewer than 100 McLaren F1s of all types were ever made. The fact that it sits alongside pre-war Bugattis and 1960s Ferrari racers shows a collection built entirely around significance, with no interest in filling gaps just for the sake of it.

Putting a firm number on the collection is nearly impossible since valuations at this level shift constantly with the market. But conservative estimates put the total somewhere between $50 million and well over $100 million, with the 1962 Ferrari GTO alone likely accounting for the biggest single chunk. Comparable GTOs have changed hands privately for figures that would make government officials uncomfortable. The Bugatti Type 35, the Ferrari 312P, and the McLaren F1 GTR all carry eight-figure valuations in today's collector market. What's remarkable is that Mason has never appeared remotely motivated by those numbers. He talks about the driving, the history, the community of people who care about these machines the same way he does. He has sold cars over the years when the moment felt right, but the core of what he's built has remained intact across decades — which is a rare kind of commitment even among the world's wealthiest collectors.

Perhaps the most telling thing about Nick Mason is his philosophy. Some collectors seal their cars under climate-controlled conditions and never touch them again, treating them as investments wrapped in paint. Mason has always believed that these machines exist to be used, experienced, and kept alive. He wrote a book on his Ferrari collection. He has been a consistent, vocal advocate for keeping historic cars in active running condition rather than turning them into untouchable museum pieces. When you own a car with the kind of racing heritage these have, he believes you take on a duty to that heritage. His cars are maintained to the very highest standards — but the whole point is that a car sitting permanently in a box is not truly alive. Nick Mason understands, more than almost anyone else at his level, that the soul of a racing car lives in motion. And that is ultimately what makes this collection not just one of the most valuable in the world, but one of the most meaningful.

That's the story of Nick Mason's $100 million car collection. Not a trophy room. Not a portfolio. A living, breathing, racing testament to what happens when someone spends a lifetime genuinely loving what they own. From a 1920s Bugatti that won Grand Prix races before most of our grandparents were born, to a McLaren supercar that rewrote the rules of performance in the nineties, every single machine in that garage earned its place. And the fact that Mason still gets behind the wheel and races them — at any age, in any conditions — is one of the most refreshing stories in the entire world of car collecting. If you enjoyed this video, hit like and subscribe. There's a lot more coming on the greatest car collections in the world, and you do not want to miss what's next.

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