Vroom! The cars in John Lasseter's life


The Palm Beach Post
Wednesday, June 7, 2006

John Lasseter, the creative force behind Pixar, is an avid car enthusiast, so we asked him about the cars in his life:

The car he learned to drive in: 'My dad worked for Chevy, so in 1969, we had a Chevelle station wagon. We had a little travel trailer for a boat, so he got the "towing package." If you look closely, it was exactly the same engine, big-time four-barrel carburetor and huge radiator that came on the SS396. So what my dad actually gave us the keys to to learn to drive in was one of the hottest muscle cars that Chevy was building. I could lay rubber on this thing for a block when I was in high school.'

The first cars he owned: 'I got a Volkswagen Squareback and it was more in the shop than not, so then I went on to a '69 Toyota Corona. When you're in college and in art school, you're trying to be hip, y'know?'

The cars he owns now: 'Car guys always ask "What's your daily driver?" 'Cause you have a collector car in your garage and your daily driver. My collector car is a 1952 Jaguar XK120. It's stunning. And I drive a Mercedes-Benz GL.'

His dream car: 'I'm kind of driving it. No, y'know what? Every time a new car magazine comes out, you go, "Oooh, that looks good." The brand new Ferrari, the Maranello replacement looks pretty amazing.'

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