With most of the world obsessed with The Last Dance on ESPN and Netflix, we decided to gather all of the cars owned by the greatest athlete ever to play the game of basketball: Michael Jordan.
If you have watched all of the episodes, you will recognise some of the vehicles on this list, however there are quite a few that didn’t make a cameo appearance. The reason is that most of them were acquired after Michael Jordan’s final retirement from the NBA in 2003.
After all, besides being generally acknowledged as the GOAT (greatest of all time) in basketball, MJ has also proven to be a very successful businessman, earning the vast majority of his $2.1 billion net worth after his career ended.
Michael Jordan’s car collection is rumored to have included more than 40 vehicles at a certain time, although it is unclear how many of them have been sold or traded.
Chevrolet Corvette C4 and C5
The Chevrolet Corvette was tied with MJ during his time with the Chicago Bulls as one of his favourite cars. In the same period, Michael starred in a series of commercials for General Motors – so he had another reason to drive its sports car.
His first was a silver Corvette C4 (1983-1996) with “JUMP 23” plates, which he got as a gift after he signed his contract. Later he bought several examples of the car, like the red Corvette ZR-1 40th Anniversary Edition (1993), and the shiny black Corvette C5 (1996-2004) appearing on the documentary.
Ferrari 512 TR
Maybe one of the most famous cars Michael drove while starring on the NBA courts is this black Ferrari 512 TR (1991-1994) with “M.AIR.J” plates.
The ‘90s supercar, which served as a successor to the Testarossa, appeared in Sports Illustrated. The basketball player can be seen coming out of the driver’s seat wearing a suit and black sunglasses. It is said Michael ordered a custom seat for his Ferrari to fit more comfortably inside the cabin.
Besides the cool looks, the 512 TR was quite fast for its time thanks to a 4.9-litre 12-cylinder engine producing 315kW. Between 1991 and 1994, Ferrari built a total of 2261 units of the 512 TR.
Ferrari 550 Maranello
Another italian stallion MJ drove regularly to and from practice was the Ferrari 550 Maranello (1996-2002).
Under the long bonnet was a naturally-aspirated 5.5-litre V12 producing 357kW. Thanks to that, the two-seat Grand Tourer could accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 4.4 seconds and had a top speed of 320 km/h. Between 1996 and 2002, Ferrari built 3083 units of the 550 Maranello.
The beautiful design of the car penned by Pininfarina inspired the creation of the Air Jordan XIV shoe.
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
After his retirement, Jordan’s passion for supercars was still alive. In 2006, he bought a grey Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano (2006-2012) with custom “MJ 6” plates.
As in previous Grand Tourers from Maranello, the Pininfarina-designed Ferrari was fitted with a naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12, producing 456kW of power. The 599 GTB could accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds and had a top speed of 330km/h. Between 2006 and 2012, Ferrari built 3500 units of the 599 GTB.
Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition
In 2007, Michael Jordan bought another front-engined, rear-wheel drive exotic supercar. His Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition (2007-2009) was painted in silver, combined with black wheels and red brake calipers.
This special edition was fitted with a more powerful supercharged 5.4-litre V8 producing 478kW, and featured a series of chassis tweaks and cosmetic changes. Nevertheless it could accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, and had a top speed of 337km/h while producing a thrilling sound from the side exhaust pipes.
Mercedes-Benz built 2157 SLRs, but the 722 Edition was limited to 150 units. The former basketball player kept this supercar from 2007 until 2010, when it appeared on eBay with around 1500km on the odometer.
Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG, S-Class, CL65 AMG
Air Jordan has always been a fan of Mercedes-Benz – and he showed it by driving several models from the German company. For a while, he owned a fifth generation SL R230 in the SL 55 AMG guise (2003-2006).
The two-seat roadster with a retractable hard-top was painted in black and featured a supercharged V8 engine producing 368kW.
In his younger years, MJ had a third generation 380SL R107, while in the ’90s he often appeared driving a black S-Class W140 limousine. Later on he even bought a Mercedes-AMG CL65 even though there are no pictures of him driving this vehicle.
Porsche 911 (multiple generations)
The legendary Porsche 911 couldn’t be missing from our list, as the GOAT has owned many different versions.
The white 930 Turbo Cabriolet Slantnose that made a cameo in the documentary had “MJ JJ” plates, obviously referring to his father’s initials.
Besides this eccentric choice, Michael has been seen driving a very rare black 964 Turbo S Flatnose (1994) with a turbocharged 3.6-litre flat-six, as well as a red 993 Turbo S (1997) with a twin-turbo 3.6-litre flat-six.
The 911 also served as the inspiration for the Air Jordan VI shoe, which had a similar emblem on the heel.
Bentley Continental GT
This first-generation Bentley Continental GT (2003-2011), finished in green with dark-tinted windows and $9000 Lowenhart rims, resided in Michael Jordan’s garage for six years.
Under the bonnet, the twin-turbo 6.0-litre W12 engine produced 412kW, allowing a 0-100 km/h acceleration of 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 318km/h. Today, the car belongs to a museum’s collection in Illinois, United States.
The British luxury grand tourer developed by VW Group, served as an inspiration for the Air Jordan XXI shoes.
Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Volante and DB9 Volante
Another carmaker from the United Kingdom that had Michael Jordan in its client books is Aston Martin. He started with an Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Volante (1999-2003) painted in Rannoch Red with a Parchment interior and a 5.9-litre V12 producing 309kW under the bonnet.
A few years later, Michael bought a silver Aston Martin DB9 Volante (2005-2009) with beige leather upholstery.
This one was fitted with a 5.9-litre V12 producing 331kW, allowing a 0-100 km/h acceleration in 5.6 seconds and a top speed limited to 265km/h due to the soft-top.
Cadillac XLR-V
One of the American-built models in MJ’s collection was a Cadillac XLR-V (2005-2009), the performance version of Cadillac’s two-seater with a retractable hard-top. The car was fitted with a supercharged 4.4-litre V8 producing 331kW, allowing a 0-100 km/h acceleration of 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h.
Michael Jordan chose the Infra Red shade for the exterior, with personalised aluminium sill plates featuring his own signature. The vehicle was delivered to the basketball player personally by Jim Taylor, who was Cadillac’s general manager at the time.
Land Rover Range Rover (multiple generations)
Besides sports cars, limousines and supercars, like every top-tier athlete MJ owned several SUVs. Most of these were Range Rovers.
Jordan started with a black first-gen Range Rover (1969-1996), a classic choice for the early ’90s. In the series a red second-generation Range Rover HSE 4.6 (1994-2002) also makes a brief appearance. MJ can be seen smoking his cigar while driving the SUV in the rain during troubled times.
After his retirement, Air Jordan kept buying Range Rovers, as one of his own fourth-gen models (2012-present) was sold wearing aftermarket wheels.
Which of these cars do you like the most – and which is the best fit for his personality?
