Ever wonder how much the average celebrity is worth? Or what that translates to on the road? If your role models compose a list of rappers (with more precious metal in their mouths than a gold mine), chances are you subconsciously link net worth with high-end automobiles like Lamborghinis, McLarens, Maseratis, and Ferraris.
That’s understandable; after all, when these guys (and girls) are filling the meat of their albums with songs like “Rolls Royce,” “Tight Whips,” “Ferrari Boyz,” and “Daddy’s Lambo,” how could you not expect them to be in crazy cars when you catch them on TMZ?
But after a while, your brain begins to acclimate to this perception that money equals supercars; you start to associate net worth with the finest cars money can buy. After so long, you find that you’re judging everyone around you by the MSRP of their automobile.
If you were to keep this practice up, there’s a good chance you’d never see the celebrities rolling around right under your nose. The fact is, for every public figure that drives around in a flashy supercar, there’s a Mini Cooper right behind it with someone just as famous driving.
And guess who loves cheap cars? If you said TV stars from the ‘90s, you should be on a game show, because we’ve found them to be the best faces—in the biggest beaters—that we can’t help but admire. Some of them are famous and some of them we forgot—but all of them buy their cars from craigslist (or so you’d think).
20 Leonardo DiCaprio – Growing Pains
Leonardo DiCaprio is an actor that keeps us on our toes! Nobody remembers his homeless kid role as Luke Brower on Growing Pains; hardly anybody even remembers the show anymore. He’s one of the biggest actors to come from it but that really doesn’t say much when you’re one of the biggest names, period. He’s Forbes’ Highest Paid Male Oscar Nominee in 2016 and raked in over $29 million in 2014-2015. Despite all of this (and his $245 million net worth), this is what he drives! He either loves the earth or hates looking cool but that’s confidence, right there.
19 Collin Farrell - Ballykissangel
Collin Farrell credits his role in the 1990s soap Ballykissangel as the catalyst to his rise to fame, calling it, “one of the [stinking] greatest things that ever happened to me!” He would meander on-set through 1998 and 1999, although the soap itself ran from 1996 all the way up until 2001. Even though none of us really paid attention to it, work is work and thanks to that work, his net worth could buy a Boeing. But he’s not about to fly anywhere; why fly, when you can trail-blaze in this?
18 David Spade – Everywhere
Where wasn’t David Spade in the 1990s? He was all over Saturday Night Live, Just Shoot Me, and even Bevis and Butthead as “the closest thing [they] had to a recurring guest star” (MTV). So what does a guy like Spade roll around in? Would you believe it if we told you it was none other than the muscle car of the 1980s, a 3.8-liter turbocharged Buick Grand National! Not many people were turbocharging their production cars back in 1987 and Spade’s ride is even quick enough to give Jay Leno a few kicks during an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage! (We still can’t forget it came from 1987, though.)
17 Tom Hanks – From The Earth To The Moon
Everybody knows Tom Hanks, and some of you even remember him in Apollo 13, the 1995 film about the ill-fated 13th Apollo mission to the moon. Riding the rejuvenated hype of the 1970 NASA mishap, Hanks would also be featured in a 12-part HBO docudrama named From the Earth to the Moon, 1998. (You can probably guess what the plotline entailed.) Tom Hanks is a lover of electric cars (believe it or not) and an early-adopter of oddities such as the Toyota EV (an electric Rav4), but he loves his Fiat 126 like nobody’s business!
16 Christian Bale – Mary Mother of Jesus
Bale also played Jesus, as he appeared in an oft-forgotten, only-for-TV biblical drama in 1999. The film outlined the life of Jesus from a different perspective and was met with mixed reviews; Bale’s performance, however, was met with nothing but praise. One reviewer went so far as to say “he’s a hot Jesus.” We’re pretty sure she missed the point of the whole production; but nonetheless, Bale is a humble man of necessity—just like Jesus. Although Jesus never had the option of a Toyota Tacoma, it would have been a fitting mule; Bale is worth $80 million and still prefers it.
15 Ryan Gosling – Young Hercules
Ryan Gosling is a peculiar one; we’re still trying to figure him out. According to an MTV interview with Darrin Prescott (stunt coordinator for Gosling in Drive), Ryan is actually a phenomenal driver and did a lot of the driving for himself. He went through a specialized stunt driving course with ease and Prescott maintains, “Ryan is probably one of the best actors I’ve trained.” It’s a safe bet to assume Ryan likes his cars and quick driving but here he is driving a black Prius! Are we missing something here? It's not really a car you’d expect young Hercules to be driving, is it?
14 Jennifer Lopez – In Living Color
The Fox television comedy ran from 1990 to 1994 created by (if this rings a bell) Keenen Ivory Wayans. Most real Jennifer Lopez fans would be quick to point out that this where she started her career as Fly Girl. It’s almost weird to think of the multi-million-dollar powerhouse entertainer ever even having a beginning, but there it was, starting with her 1990 audition (Pop Sugar). Lopez can put any car on earth in her driveway and plenty of things that require helipads (and runways). Instead, she chooses the sleek, stylish lines and roomy passenger compartment of this Fiat 500.
13 David Letterman – Letterman
“When Paul Newman offers you a puffer, I mean, you take it! You don’t turn down Paul Newman!” David Letterman’s interesting interview with Howard Stern was flowing along as he recalled the time when Paul Newman talked Letterman into getting a pair of hotrod Volvos together! (A puffer is a supercharger, apparently.) It’s equipped with a blown and balanced 5.0-liter Ford motor—tuned up to 400hp! Why Paul Newman (racecar driver-owner, actor, producer, TV personality) wants a 400-hp Volvo is something only Paul Newman knows the answer to; Letterman doesn’t even know!
12 Drew Carey – Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Who can forget Whose Line? It had millions tuning in to watch Drew, Ryan, Colin, and Wayne Brady make fools of themselves with improvisational theatre, lively games, and catchy tunes. You couldn’t help but appreciate the collective wit between the cast that drove the show for almost a decade. They made us laugh so hard we almost cried! Drew, in an attempt to keep that laughing legacy alive, chooses to drive this Mini around wherever he goes. Would we drive it? Nope. But then again, we wouldn’t do a lot of things Drew Carey does.
11 Jay Leno – The Tonight Show
Jay Leno is one of the most affluent car collectors on TV. You’d recognize his chin a mile away from his tour of duty as the Tonight Show host. Watching that show (or Leno in general) for any amount of time should key you in on the fact that Jay Leno not only has almost 140 cars but that many of them are extremely rare. We’re talking steam-power rare! By comparison, his 1991 GMC Syclone is a Toyota Corolla. It was, at the time of its debut, the quickest pickup truck in the world, though, and that’s probably why Jay has it.
10 Conan O’Brien – Late Night with Conan O’Brien
You know this guy’s face; it’s aired on nearly 2,800 episodes of Late Night since 1993. If you’ve seen all of them, chances are, you’ve seen his Taurus SHO, too. It’s really nothing spectacular today, but it’s (dare I say) almost a classic? Sure, it’s a 1992, but it’s a SHO! It has a manual trans and all the original scratches, dings, and imperfections that came with it from the factory. Conan isn’t bothered by them, however. In fact, he’s actually quick to point them out on national television.
9 Jeremy Piven – Larry Saunders Show
Jeremy Piven has been making credited appearances as early as 1986 but the Larry Saunders Show would be his big HBO breakthrough in 1992. In 1993, he would appear briefly on the set of Seinfeld (in the character of alternate George Costanza), as well as Spence on the last three seasons of Ellen. He’s not doing to bad for himself today—aside from the ride department. The only way you can really pull a brown Bronco off like this is if it isn’t brown. (He might not have gotten the memo.)
8 Jimmy Fallon – Celebrity Jeopardy
You can find him on a short-lived session of Celebrity Jeopardy way back in 1999. Although SNL skits are supposed to be corny, you’d almost wonder how he managed to leverage his career, acting the way he did. Whatever he was doing, it was working. He has the face of late-night TV written all over him. Unlike Jay Leno, though, Fallon is more of a Mini guy. It’s hardly a comparison between the two; we’d take the 280-hp Syclone over the Cooper’s 1.5-liter three-cylinder any day!
7 Brittney Spears – Mickey Mouse Club
The MMC was a cute little show that fielded a bunch of young talent right from your living rooms before the world could wear your children into a life sentence of mediocre, gainful employment. She was only 12 years old when she started building career momentum, alongside Justin Timberlake around 1994. We’d all soon watch her blow up, rule the charts, break down, shave her head, and since then, it’s been pretty hard to keep track of her. She likes to keep a low-profile in her Mini, opting for top-up motoring most of the time.
6 Tia Mowry – Sister Sister
The six-season Sister Sister production ran from 1994 to 1999, capitalizing on the popular, living-room sitcom format (and reproduced in every possible variation). They gave us Fresh Princes, Tool-man Taylors, Officer Winslows, and Vampire Slayers. With all of the high-quality coms, it’s only natural to assume that we would also have to have two twin sisters, separated at birth, that meet in their teens. It wouldn’t have been the 90s without them. And 20 years later, a nice, bright, red Smart is Tia’s ride of choice. Bear in mind, she has a Range Rover, too—she drives this thing because she wants to!
5 Jennifer Love Hewitt – Party of Five
If you were cognizant in the early-90s, you’d remember this girl from her Disney commercials when she was young. She would initially start her career as a child actress and singer. Her teen role in Party of Five staged the actress for a slot in I Know What You Did Last Summer and from there, she was already big, so it didn’t matter that she would become a Ghost Whisperer (or that nobody watched it). She also doesn’t care about your opinion of her car, in case you couldn’t tell from her car.
4 Melissa Joan Hart – Sabrina The Teenage Witch
She’s come a long way since her witchcraft days. Most people will likely remember her either as Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003) or for her Clarissa Explains It All (1991-1994) roles. Having a mother as a talent manager probably had something to do with Melissa Joan Hart's success—each of her four siblings was in acting. She’s been on Law and Order and even directed her own movie. (It was only 15 minutes.) How does she roll? Like a soccer mom. But based on what we’ve seen, she could be doing a lot worse.
3 Zach Galifianakis – Boston Common
This bearded ruff-rider doesn’t play games—he likes to tuck his legs all the way in; yet, he prefers an upright posture, which just looks silly no matter how you ride. The only way to pull off an OG moped is to ride…an OG moped. (Even then, it’s tough.) He had a recurring role as Bobby on Boston Commons, a 1996 to 1997 TV series that was once ranked 8th in the nation. Then they moved Boston Commons to the weekend and the show nosedived, like his popularity when he rides up on his Vespa.
2 Sarah Michelle Gellar – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Emmy Award winner has literally been all over the place: The Simpsons, All My Children, American Dad, Star Wars, Robot Chicken, Those Who Can’t, Princess Rap Battle...the list goes on. We may not feel like we see much of her, but she’s really all over the place! (She’s even in Call of Duty.) It would only make sense, then, that she trusts the Prius to cart her from all those different productions on the cheap. This is the one and only time she’s ever put gas in the tank.
1 David Coulier – Full House
The world knows him as Joey Gladstone from Full House but control tower knows him by his tail number; his parents know him by Couwlier, his birth name. He’s done voice work for Scoobie Doo and even crashed on Bob Saget’s couch when he was broke. Today, he flies a B35 Bonanza. It’s essentially like the Ford Taurus of the skies (if the Cessna 172 were the Camry). Still, Taurus or no Taurus, he can land dates with Alanis Morissette and make her write a breakup song about him! (Not really, but he thought she did for years.)
Sources: Inverse, IMDb, MTV, Pop Sugar, Jalopnik, The Drive, U.S. News, and AOPA.
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