Driving Force

Channeling the beauty of cars, Ralph Lauren unveils furnishings for the fast lane

- SAM COCHRAN

Old Hollywood movies, blue-and-white porcelain, Navajo rugs, Georgian antiques-Ralph Lauren's interests are as wide-ranging as they are refined. But nothing gets his engine revving quite like cars. For the past five decades, the American fashion legend has amassed a trove of some of the world's most coveted vehicles, among them 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing and 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic coupes. "I have always loved machines that are the product of someone taking their passion for building and using it to create beauty," he tells AD, reflecting on the functional that forms a philosophical through line, one model to the next. "The purposefulness with which the cars I own were created-the engine, the mechanics-the whole spirit is exciting."