David Lee has spent US$1million modernising a Ferrari Dino—something that some classic car collectors think is sacrilege
David Lee’s everyday cars—to pop to the supermarket or head out for dinner —are other people’s dream motors. “I have a Mercedes S63 AMG, a Porsche Panamera, a Rolls-Royce Dawn,” says Lee, who's the CEO of Hing Wa Lee Jewelers.
But these are mere playthings compared to Lee’s collection of classic Ferraris, which is rumoured to be worth more than US$50million. Here, Lee gives us a glimpse inside his incredible garage in his hometown of Los Angeles and explains why he spent US$1million modernising a classic Ferrari Dino.
How many cars do you own?
I have a total of about 30 cars and 20 something are Ferraris. My whole strategy is that I’m a driver first and a collector second. If I have too many cars, there’s no way I’d be able to drive them all. By having 30 cars, I figure I can drive each of them at least once a month.
Because I limit myself to 30 cars, I want them all to be special. So my cars are not just regular Ferraris, they’re all multi-million-dollar, limited-edition Ferraris. I guess my collection of 30 is equal in value to people’s collection of 200 or 300 cars.