The Cruiser’s garage features American classics, Japanese race cars, a French hypercar and a Risky Business Porsche… because there is no substitute
Rusty Jarrett
“I feel the need, the need for speed,” said Tom Cruise in 1986’s Top Gun and he’s set to don Maverick’s black and red helmet once again this winter. Adrenaline has been a component of many of this movie star’s roles since he first hit Hollywood and he famously does his own stunts. But what does he drive when the cameras aren’t rolling? A bit of a mixture it turns out.
Cruise, who turns 58 today, has spent some of his estimated £500 million on aeroplanes, helicopters and motorcycles, but he has a taste for automobiles too. Lifting the mantle from Paul Newman, he has raced stock cars in real life as well as film and lavished love on road cars, fast and slow. A number of his four-wheeled co-stars have ended up in his garage and vice-versa. Sadly, that doesn’t include the Ferrari 250 GTO from Vanilla Sky. It was a fake, anyway (a Datsun 260Z in jaw-dropping drag).
Instead, the Cruise missile has made a habit of buying polite German motors, punchy American metal and one neck-snapping seven-figure hypercar.
Buick Roadmaster (1949)
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In 1988, Cruise and Dustin Hoffman were filmed driving from Cincinnati to Los Angeles in a 1949 Buick Roadmaster for Rain Man. Cruise fell in love with the convertible and kept it, and used it off-camera on several cross-country road trips. The flagship Buick was very innovative in its day, with patented VentiPorts to cool the engine and the very first pillarless hardtop. The front grille could be described as “toothy”, and upon the car’s launch journalists joked that an oversized toothbrush needed to be bought separately. Tom, on the other hand, has (nearly) always owned perfect gnashers.
Chevrolet Corvette C1 (1958)
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The 1958 Corvette takes pride of place in the Cruiser’s garage. It’s precisely what you’d expect a real-life Maverick to drive. Tom’s first-generation solid-axle ‘Vette looks extra classic in two-tone glacier blue and white with silvery blue leather. Despite now being hailed as one of the most beloved pieces of Americana to ever hit the road, early reviews were mixed and sales were disappointing. GM had rushed the car from concept to production, an accusation that cannot be levied at the forthcoming Top Gun: Maverick, which has been ten years in the making.
Chevrolet Chevelle SS (1970)
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Another of Tom’s earliest automotive acquisitions was this quintessential V8 muscle car. The SS stood for Super Sport and Cruise’s SS396 packed 350bhp and a power-bulge in the hood. Years later, in 2012, Cruise gave the SS a starring role in Jack Reacher. The Chevelle was a popular body style in Nascar racing in the 1970s, but by the late 1980s and early 1990s it had been replaced by the Chevrolet Lumina in which TC’s character Cole Trickle (possibly related to the stock car series’ curiously christened Dick Trickle) took the chequered flag in Days Of Thunder.
Dodge Colt (1976)
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Born not on The Fourth Of July, but on the third in 1962, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV grew up in near poverty in Syracuse, Ottawa and New Jersey. He later described his father as “a merchant of chaos” who used to beat him and his three sisters. Tom, who initially hoped to become a Catholic priest, attended 15 different schools in 14 years, but the two constants were American football and drama class. As a senior, he was the linebacker for the varsity team and starred in Glen Ridge High School’s production of Guys And Dolls. His coming of age ride came in the form of a used Dodge Colt, which might sound like a Detroit-built machine but was in fact manufactured by Mitsubishi in Japan. At 18, Cruise jumped in the 1.6 litre compact and headed to New York City to pursue acting and bussing tables. Widely described as a control freak, one imagines getting his hands on his first car gave the actor the independence and confidence he needed to really go after his dreams, even if the vehicle that started him on that journey was rather modest.
Porsche 928 (1979)
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Tom’s breakthrough movie, Risky Business, was both a fantasy and a horror for teenage boys. On the one hand, our hero had access to his dad’s Porsche and a naked Rebecca De Mornay. On the other, there was Guido the killer pimp and, nightmarishly, the Porsche fell into Lake Michigan by accident. The 928 was originally designed to be the replacement for the 911. It was less quirky, more luxurious and easier to drive, yet the 911’s appeal endures while the 928 got its P45 in 1995. It remains the company’s only front-mounted V8 coupé. The car from the film sold some years ago for £40,000, but after filming wrapped Cruise went down to his local dealership and got his very own 928, free of damp velour and fish in the footwells.
BMW 3-Series E30 (1983)
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Cruise has been seen sliding around BMW’s i8, M3 and M5 in recent Mission: Impossibles, but his relationship with the brand goes back to 1983, when he bought a new 3-Series in the wake of supporting roles in Taps and The Outsiders. Both films were packed with fresh talent and Cruise made such an impression that stardom was on the horizon. The E30 was a symbol of ambition; Teutonic transport over-engineered for the yuppie twentysomethings of the 1980s.
Nissan 300ZX SCCA race car (1988)
Before Days Of Thunder, Cruise had already turned his hand to racing for real. Legendary actor, driver and race team boss Paul Newman had become Tom’s mentor during their time on The Color Of Money, and Old Blue Eyes inspired the young man to apply his copious energies to the track. The result was a season in the SCCA. The SCCA championship stood for Sports Car Club of America, but in 1988 it became known in the paddock as See Cruise Crash Again. Newman-Sharp supplied the red, white and blue No7 Nissan 300ZX and Tom won some races. If he didn’t win, it was usually because he was in the barriers. According to championship rival Roger French, Cruise was way too aggressive: “His attitude was go fast all the time.” It likely didn’t stop Newman offering to be his wingman any time.
Porsche 993 (1996)
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“Porsche. There is no substitute”. So said Cruise in Risky Business and it’s a mantra he has maintained through the decades. He’s owned several 911s, but if paparazzi footage is a barometer then the 993 variant is his favourite. It’s ours too; the last of the air-cooled Carreras. Its handling was a major improvement over its predecessor and it was prettier too, thanks to a Yorkshire-born designer named Tony Hatter who, rather than being a mad Hatter, was blessed with taste and civility. The car’s development was overseen by Ulrich Bez (no relation to the Happy Mondays’ hype man), a very serious German businessman who later served as Aston Martin’s CEO. Overall, the 993 is a modern classic that’s rapidly appreciating in value, not unlike Cruise’s 1990s output.
Ford Excursion (2000)
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When you’re one of the most famous motion picture stars of all time, it helps to have a car that’s impenetrable to paparazzi lenses. Tom’s stretched and tank-like Ford Excursion is sure to have TMZ leaping out of the way, although it’s understood he often uses it as a decoy. According to the tabloids, this car was actually custom-built on the orders of the Church Of Scientology to protect his ex-wife Katie Holmes when she was pregnant and undergoing a “Purification Rundown” programme. Two-thousand Sea Org man-hours went into electrical modifications, ballistic-proof roof panels, special TC badging and veneer from a eucalyptus tree that once stood in the church’s Gold Base.
Bugatti Veyron (2005)
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If you think Dianetics is insane, just check out the Veyron. With nearly 1,000bhp from its 8.0-litre W16, this engineering marvel delivered 253mph upon its introduction in 2005 (later trials have clocked it at 268mph). Tom bought his that same year and, at a cost of £1m, we’d be very disappointed if the salesman didn’t spread his arms wide and yell, “Show me the money!” as the actor signed on the dotted line. Cruise drove it to the premiere of Mission: Impossible III and couldn’t get Katie Holmes’ passenger door to open, which led to some red carpet red faces.
Saleen Mustang S281 (2010)
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American Made muscle seems the right way to go for TC’s garage. The Saleen Mustang S281 boasts up to 550bhp, thanks to the California tuners breathing on Ford’s V8. Pound for pound, few cars deliver such tyre shreddablity for such a modest sum (under £40,000). Cruise uses it for everyday errands, possibly at speeds that would force his passengers’ Eyes Wide Shut.
