Elon Musk is a leading innovator in the EV industry. His role at Tesla has helped accelerate the future of alternative energy use in automobiles. But before getting behind the wheel of his first electric Roadster in 2008, the SpaceX founder had an extensive car collection.

Though Musk owned an enviable McLaren F1 and BMW 320i, he compared his classic 1967 Jaguar E-Type to a “bad girlfriend.”

Tesla’s eccentric CEO

Born in South Africa and residing in Austin, Texas, the PayPal cofounder is the second richest man in the world. According to Forbes, Elon Musk’s estimated net worth is $151 billion.

In 2020, the 49-year-old was worth only $24.6 billion. The considerable jump in wealth this past year is thanks to Tesla’s historic stock split. Musk also received a $750 million equity bonus, and his rocket company experienced a substantial valuation increase.

Observer reported, “Space X is now the world’s third most valuable private company, after two Chinese tech giants, Didi Chuxing and Byte Dance, the parent company of TikTok.”

In May 2020, Musk and his musician girlfriend, Grimes, welcomed a son. The unique couple named their bundle of joy “X Æ A-12.” The moniker is a blend of the unknown variable “X” and the “elven spelling of Ai (love &/or artificial intelligence),” the BBC reported.

Elon Musk also had a problematic Jaguar

Over the years, the father of seven has had an impressive automobile collection.

Business Insider reported, “The first car Musk bought was an old 1978 BMW 320i that he got for $1,400.” He kept it for two years until a wheel fell off when a Zip2 intern was driving it.

Zip2 was the Tesla giant’s first web software company that he started with his brother. With a $40,000 initial bonus from the startup, he purchased a 1967 Jaguar E-Type.

In a video interview with Forbes, Musk said that someone gave him a book of classic cars when he was a teenager. His favorite model in the book was a Jaguar E-Type roadster. He vowed that if he ever could afford that convertible, he would purchase it.

Musk compared his Jaguar to a ‘bad girlfriend’

But Musk soon learned that his purchase “was like a bad girlfriend — it kept breaking down on me and causing me all sorts of trouble,” he told Forbes.

The 1967 Jaguar E-Type had a 4.2-liter engine, rear-wheel-drive, and a manual four-speed transmission, Automobile Catalog reports. The sleek two-seater produced 255 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque. With a top speed of 145 mph, the 1967 E-Type could race from 0 to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds.

After selling PayPal for a considerable sum, Musk purchased a McLaren F1, at the time valued at close to $1 million. In 1994, Car and Driver called the F1 “the fastest production car on the face of the Earth.” 

Now, one of the world’s richest people, Musk owns two gas-powered cars. On Twitter, he revealed, “One is a Model T that a friend gave me, and the other is a Series 1 ’67 E-Type Roadster.” He called that vehicle “My first love.”