You don’t need to be a football (soccer) fan to know the name Lionel Messi. The Argentine superstar and Barcelona legend may well be the single most famous athlete in the world. A large number of fans and players alike say Messi ranks high on the list when it comes to a discussion of the greatest to have ever played the world’s most popular sport.
And the evidence is surely available to make that argument. There are the six Ballon d’Or awards, his record-breaking stint on the team known as Mes Un Club (Barcelona), his selection as the 2009 FIFA Player of the Year, the 2019 Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year, and the fact that he’s scored more than 700 goals for club and country.
With his success has come a rather large pile of money, and estimates say Messi’s net worth is well above $600 million USD. It’s likely that his new deal with only his second club, Paris St.-Germain in Paris, will add to that pile significantly. Who knows, his move to Paris may mean the addition of a classic Citroen or even a Facel Vega.
As he’s kept a relatively low off-field profile, you can be forgiven for not knowing that he’s a bit of a car enthusiast and owner of an excellent collection. It’s thought that at any given moment, Messi will own somewhere between 10 and 15 cars to serve his needs at homes around the world.
Photo: Paris St-Germain
Messi’s car collection is, of course, subject to change at any instant as he has the requisite funds to buy and sell them at his whim, but here’s what we know about his collection at the moment in 2021.
Let's start with his Ferrari F430 Spider as it seems Messi is enamored of the Italian automakers. The spider, the convertible version of the F430, was unveiled in 2005 and featured the sleek and modern look, which immediately identifies it as a Ferrari brand. The F430 puts out a whopping 503hp and reaches a maximum speed of 196 mph (315 kph). The F430 accelerates from 0 to 62 mph (0-100 kph) in just 4 seconds.
His 2013 SLS AMG GT 18 pays homage to the classic Mercedes models of the past, and the “super light sport” cranks out 563hp with the AMG tweaks in place.
Yet another Italian beauty in his collection, the Maserati Granturismo MC Stradale, is an upper-crust Maserati in every way. The elegant GranTurismo MC Stradale shares its electronics and bits of hardware with the Ferrari 599 GTO and is the first GranTurismo to break the 300 km/h (186 mph) barrier. Maserati says just 497 units of the 2-seater were built from 2011 to 2013, and that makes them suitably rare.
Photo: Pagani
Perhaps the wildest and least tamed vehicle in Messi’s collection is an example of the Pagani Zonda Tricolore. Its loopy curves and domed interior are made to draw attention and set off the car’s three-colored paint job. Once again, rarity likely plays a factor in his selection as his Pagani is one of just three made.
For enthusiasts who truly enjoy the thrill of driving, it’s hard to beat the Audi R8 Spyder V10, and as Messi just happens to serve as a brand ambassador for the German marque, it should be a given that he’d have one of these high-performance specials in his garage. And the R8 is no bare-bones race machine as it features a luxurious and highway-friendly interior.
For those family trips to the country, Messi relies on his Range Rover Sport SVR. The SVR is the ultimate luxury SUV and it also delivers 575hp to make it the most powerful performance vehicle in the Range Rover lineup.
And according to Drive Tribe, Messi's collection also includes a fabulously rare and immaculate 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti.
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