LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tina Turner, the 'Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll', award-winning musician, wife, and mother, was also a car lover. Turner’s love for cars was as legendary as her love for music; her powerhouse performances could only match with the power of her supercars. While the multiple Grammy-winning musical sensation, who breathed her last at the age of 83 on May 24, has been the proud owner of many luxury automobiles throughout her life, her favorites were her two Jaguars.
Turner most famously possessed a Jaguar XJ6, which was given to her by Sammy Davis Jr in 1970 and a silver Jaguar E-Type gifted to her by her then husband Ike Turner in 1973. The cars not only played a significant role in her life, but they, along with her name, were in fact the only things Turner could call her own after her divorce with Ike Turner in 1978.
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‘I could be alone and free’
Turner’s autobiography, ‘My Love Story’, is the Pandora’s box that revealed not only her love for her cars, but also the memories attached to them. Turner, who had an eventful life because of her tumultuous relationship with Ike Turner, found solace in her cars. She wrote in her autobiography, as quoted by Hagerty, “It may sound silly,” before elaborating, “but one of my favorite escapes, and a secret pleasure, was driving my Jaguar. I loved it because it was something I could do by myself, one of the few times I could be alone and free.”
She also narrated the story of her acquiring the Jaguar XJ6 in her autobiography. Sammy Davis Jr, who gifted the car to Turner for performing with him in Las Vegas, originally wanted it to be a Mercedes Benz. However, Turner’s love for English cars inspired him to opt for the Jaguar. Turner recalled in her autobiography, as quoted by Drive, "Some entertainers express their thanks by sending flowers, but Sammy was a big-hearted man who did everything in a big way.” She continued, "He pulled [my assistant] Rhonda aside and whispered that he wanted to surprise me with a car. I think he suggested a Mercedes, but Rhonda, bless her heart, told him I was into English cars. Presto! Like magic, a gorgeous, white XJ6 Jaguar was waiting for me outside the hotel." The white luxury vehicle in turn, in ‘The Best’ singer’s words, “awakened my passion for fast cars."
Her first Jaguar soon got a new companion, when Ike Turner gifted the ‘Proud Mary’ singer with a Jaguar E-Type (X-KE) in 1973. The car became iconic in the sense that it had the license plate with her name on it, “1 TINA.” She recalled in her autobiography, "I'll never forget the moment I got behind the wheel and pulled out of the dealership.” She further continued writing about her love saga with the cars, "It was late and a little misty when I drove the sleek silver Jaguar on Wilshire Boulevard. As far as I was concerned, there was no one else on the road – just me, driving with the windows down, looking and feeling fabulous.”
As a true car lover, Turner not only drove the car, but internalized the feeling of owning the road and subsequently owning the moment, "I can still hear the sound of the motor, the vroom that signaled it was ready to take me anywhere I wanted to go... I knew I would never drive it at top speed, but I still got the adrenaline rush that car lovers experience."
‘No idea of how to pay the bills, but two Jags!’
Turner’s two Jaguars came to the limelight again in 1978 during the divorce of the famous musical power couple. The ‘Private Dancer’ singer faced the scare of losing her two cars briefly before the judge ruled in support of her. She continued in her autobiography, "To my relief, the judge ruled in my favor. So I walked out of that courtroom with just my name. Oh, and two Jaguars — cars that had been given to me personally.” She pondered further, "It seems so funny now: no money for food, rent or other necessities, no idea of how to pay the bills, but two Jags!" According to Daniel Golson, she also had a Jaguar XJS Lynx Eventer and a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe.
Turner’s magnificent collection of cars
Turner treated herself with another supercar after the success of her solo album ‘Private Dancer’ in 1984. At that time, she gifted herself a Lamborghini LM002 which was later customized to her liking by the German record producer Erwin Bach who would become Turner’s husband in 2013. The car underwent a massive facelift when the V-12 engine and manual transmission were swapped for a V-8 engine and an automatic gearbox from a Mercedes-Benz 500E. The highly customized car was sold by Turner in 2008, as per The South African.
When Turner renounced her US Citizenship and became a Swiss citizen, she also became the owner of many Mercedes G-Wagen vehicles.
Later, she also became the ambassador for Plymouth’s Acclaim sedan and the Laser Sports Coupe, where in one advertisement for Acclaim, she was quoted, "Now this car is built for comfort. I wonder what else we have in common,” as per Car and Driver.
