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Lewis Hamilton owns 15 cars, uses tow trucks to keep the mileage low

No matter how you feel about Lewis Hamilton off the track, it's impossible not to respect his talent behind the wheel. Currently, Hamilton is the second most successful Formula One driver of all time. His 67 wins and four championships place him only behind Michael Schumacher's 91 wins and seven championships. With all those winnings, Hamilton has racked up a decent personal fortune, much of which he uses to buy cars. Except he doesn't drive them quite as much as you might think. According to The Sunday Times, Hamilton's net worth of just over $207 million makes him one of the richest sports figures in the UK, just behind David Beckham. In a recent interview with the British newspaper, Hamilton gave some details on his personal car collection. His first car was a used Mini Cooper, soon followed by a Mercedes-Benz C200. Both have long since been replaced by a pair of original Shelby Cobras, a 1967 Shelby GT500, a Ferrari 599 SA Aperta, two LaFerraris (a red coupe and a white Aperta), a McLaren P1 and a Pagani Zonda 760 equipped with a manual transmission. All in, Hamilton has about 15 cars split between homes in Monaco and Los Angeles. Unsurprisingly, he has a Mercedes-AMG Project One ( a car that shares more than a little with his F1 W09 EQ Power+ race car) on the way. Hamilton has some hot takes on his personal collection. "The Zonda is terrible to drive," he said. "It's the best-sounding car I own, but handling-wise it's the worst. I got it in manual because I didn't like the tiptronic version. The tiptronic Pagani offered was worse than the Smart Roadster I had." He also says his Shelby Mustang is a "beautiful car, but a heap of junk." In order to keep the miles down (and valuations up), Hamilton apparently has a tow truck on retainer in Los Angeles. When he's finished driving one of his Ferraris, he'll have the car towed back to his place. Classic cars are becoming a solid and serious investment, and Hamilton doesn't want to squander his wealth like some other athletes. That said, there are a couple more cars Hamilton would love to own, including a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (the one with the gullwing doors) and a Ferrari 250GT California Spyder (the one from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"). Related Video:

Editors’ Picks April 2023 | New X1, a Bentley and some luxury EVs

This month of Editors' Picks features a smattering of luxury vehicles in both sedan and SUV body styles. The new BMW i7 was a big surprise, and the Mercedes-Benz EQE is a lovely enough electric sedan to get our recommendation, too. We've given every other Bentley model an Editors' Pick before, and the Bentayga follows suit. Lastly, BMW nabs a second in April with the newly redesigned X1 subcompact crossover. In case you missed our previous Editors' Picks posts, here’s a quick refresher on whatÂ’s going on here. We rate all the new cars we drive with a 1-10 score. Cars that are exemplary in their respective segments get an EditorsÂ’ Pick designation. Those are the ones weÂ’d recommend to our friends, family and anybody whoÂ’s curious and asks the question. The list that youÂ’ll find below consists of every car we rated in January that earned an EditorsÂ’ Pick.   2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE View 38 Photos Quick take: The EQE offers all the niceties of a traditional E-Class in an electric form. Its design is simplistic and bland to a fault, but everything else about it is executed well. Score: 7.5 What it competes with: Porsche Taycan, Audi E-Tron GT, Tesla Model S, BMW i4 Pros: Gorgeous interior, big backseat, advanced tech, excellent driving AMG variant Cons: Bland design, average range/charging speed, questionable value From the editors: Road Test Editor Zac Palmer — "I drove the AMG version of the EQE, and while it's a rocketship of an EV, it lacked the ne'er-do-well nature of the gasoline-powered AMG versions of the E-Class. The interior is beautiful, but I can't say the same for the exterior, even with the AMG add-ons. The AMG EQE is a perfect Benz, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it the perfect AMG product." In-depth analysis: 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE Sedan Review: A smaller, less expensive EQS   2023 BMW X1 2023 BMW X1 xDrive28i 03 View 31 Photos Quick take: The BMW X1 is the driver's choice in the subcompact luxury SUV segment. Its size and abundance of tech makes it a great all-rounder for anybody's taste, though. Score: 8.0 What it competes with: Volvo XC40, Audi Q3, Mercedes-Benz GLB, Mercedes-Benz GLA, Jaguar E-Pace, Lexus UX, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Pros: Fun to drive, great utility, traditional and handsome design Cons: Interior feels spartan, value is questionable From the editors: Senior Editor, Green John Beltz Snyder — "This segment is a competitive one, but the X1 sets itself apart as the driverÂ’s car.

BMW can't build enough M3 wagons, but the U.S. won't see any

Why, oh why, won’t the automobile companies that supposedly cater to Americans give us a viable touring wagon? Seems that BMW is one manufacturer thatÂ’s aware of the question, but skirts the answer. WhatÂ’s more frustrating is that the German company, and others, have for years been off-handedly tossing out the same refrain: “Maybe weÂ’ll bring a wagon back to the U.S.” Not. All the more irritating then is the news that the Bavarians have increased production in Munich of its M3 Touring longroof version to keep up with demand. The information comes via Bimmer Today, which spoke with BMW M CEO Frank van Meel. He said that the company was surprised by the amount of interest in the M3 Touring since its debut during last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. In fact, he said, the company had to facilitate a production ramp-up within its Munich facility. Despite that increased production, the backlog of orders means that customers are still on wait lists, he said. Last year, van Peel admitted that demand for M-wagons in the U.S. has been steadily increasing, and exporting a touring example was a concept BMW was "taking into consideration.” Crossovers certainly are this decadeÂ’s version of the wagon, which leaves American enthusiasts will few choices: only expensive versions from Audi, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz and a couple of others. Details that were announced last year — a few months before the wagon went into production for sale in Europe, the U.K. and elsewhere — noted that the M3 Touring was only available in Competition spec with xDrive all-wheel drive and a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six with 503 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. Pricing started at GBP80,550 ($105,000 U.S.) More data on the M3Â’s intro here. Related video: