Special Report
John Cena's Unbelievable Car Collection Is Even Better Than You Thought
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John Cena successfully made the jump from professional wrestling to the big screen, but he didn’t lose his love of cars along the way. Cena made his wrestling debut in 1999 and has since won over 16 wrestling championships all while endearing himself to fans in and out of the wrestling world. He is heavily involved in charitable causes and has granted the most wishes with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with over 650 wishes granted so far. His car collection reflects his love for gearhead car culture, often playing into the cliché of the tough guy and strong wrestling man.
John Cena’s car collection includes more than 20 cars. While this is modest compared to some of the larger celebrity car collections, it is no less interesting or impressive considering the items included within it. Notable cars include special editions like the 2007 Saleen/Parnelli Jones Limited Edition Mustang and many muscle cars.
For this list, we won’t cover every single car in the collection, not what cars have passed through it and been sold. Instead, we will cover some of the more notable and interesting pieces, especially ones with a story to tell, along with their estimated value and some information about them. Here is John Cena’s car collection.
This little sports car is the cheapest automobile in Cena’s entire car collection. It was only produced by the British Motor Corporation from 1962 to 1980. Able to produce a whopping 95 horsepower, this car can go from 0–60 miles per hour in just 11 seconds. It was also one of the first cars to incorporate crumple zones into its design to protect the driver in the event of a crash. Cena upgraded his version with better brakes, suspension, interior, wheels, and engine.
Cena took this car with him when he first moved to California in 1988, at the time it was his only physical possession along with $500 cash. He lived in this car while he tried to get into bodybuilding and professional wrestling. After his success, he kept the car for its sentimental value and as a reminder of how far he had come.
After finding some success in professional wrestling, Cena took his first small payout from WWE and used it to buy this Jeep Wrangler. It was the first thing he bought with that money. It had more than 80,000 miles when he bought it, but he’s kept it and loved it ever since. The first generation Jeep Wrangler, known as the YJ model, is a direct progression from the Jeep used during World War II.
The full-size luxury car means “of the town” or town car in French. If you love the color green, and we mean really love green, then you’ll love Cena’s version of this car is painted the greenest green you can imagine. The 1984 version that Cena owns is the last version to use the early Cadillac symbol before branding was standardized to the current form.
The “Type-R” designation is used to differentiate high-performance models from regular Honda (NYSE:HMC) production cars. The Civic Type-R features upgrades and changes that make it more suited for racing and sports driving than the regular version, these include a lighter body, a tuned engine, upgraded brakes, steering, and chassis, and only comes in manual transmission. It also features the Honda logo with a red background to show it is a unique, tuned model.
The SC/360 is the muscle car variant of the AMC Hornet. While it wasn’t as powerful as other muscle cars of the time, it was surprisingly nimble and quick, earning it high praise from motorheads around the country. The Hornet car is named after the Fabulous Hudson Hornet which won several races and stock car titles from 1951 to 1954.
The Mercury Cougar was Mercury’s response to the Ford (NYSE:F) Mustang, and the Eliminator version of the vehicle was the high-performance variation. It was only produced for a single year during the Cougar’s first generation of production. The standard Mercury Cougar is the only Mercury vehicle to win the Motor Trend Car of the Year award, winning it in 1967.
The AMC Rebel was a pretty unremarkable midsized automobile. It was designed to be an easily accessible vehicle and AMC’s top seller. There was a muscle car version of the car that gained wide popularity and was called The Machine. Naturally, Cena had to get his hands on one. Even though the actual AMC Rebel is nothing particularly noteworthy, the rarity of The Machine variant makes it an expensive and desirable vehicle.
The Dodge Viper was ranked tenth on a list of “Most American Cars”, so it makes sense that Cena would include one as part of his collection, being a symbol of everything American himself. His 2006 Dodge Viper is a second-generation Viper capable of producing 500 horsepower, a top speed of 189 miles per hour, and can go from 0–60 in 3.8 seconds.
The Charger was created and produced as a response to the Ford Mustang and Plymouth Barracuda and was the first American production car to include a spoiler. The 1966 Charger is the first version of this muscle car and is the oldest car in Cena’s entire collection. This specific version features a 426 Hemi engine. There were only 468 Chargers made with the Hemi engine included.
The 2009 Corvette is part of the sixth generation of the Corvette, also known as the C6 model. This is the first model to transition from hidden headlights to exposed headlights. The ZR1 model is the high-performance variant of the standard Corvette. Carbon fiber is incorporated into almost the entire body design, and a clear window was installed in the hood to allow a view of the engine within. It can produce 638 horsepower and reach 205 miles per hour top speed.
The Buick GSX is Buick’s high-performance variant of their Buick Gran Sport, and their foray into the American muscle car world. The GSX was able to produce the highest amount of torque out of any American high-performance car and maintained the lead for 33 years all the way to 2003 when it was replaced by the Viper. It had more standard features than other performance cars at the time, even the most basic GSX came equipped with top-of-the-line equipment.
Yet another American muscle performance car. When asked what their Camaro is, the Chevrolet product managers replied that it is “a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs.” The Camaro was designed from the ground up to compete directly with the Ford Mustang. At the time, corporate policy prevented cars from being produced with engines beyond a certain size, but enough dealerships began to request bigger engines that the COPO variant became popular, offering an engine capable of producing 425 horsepower.
Cena has owned a couple of Ford GTs over the years, but he has held on to this one. The Ford GT is an homage to the GT40 that dominated at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and won a 1-2-3 finish in 1966. It was also created to celebrate the company’s 100-year anniversary. The Ford GT is a powerhouse of a car and sold for premium prices before it was even being produced.
The F430 Spider is the convertible variant of the Ferrari F430, with some other minor upgrades and refinements. The F430 is capable of producing 503 horsepower and actually received an exemption to airbag laws to allow it to be sold in the United States.
The Superbird is a high-performance version of the Road Runner that had special graphic details added and a unique horn that sounded like the Looney Tunes Road Runner character. The car was designed specifically for NASCAR races and the enormous rear spoiler made it iconic. Despite its success on and off the track, most of the early Superbirds actually sat unsold for years, and some were even converted into regular Road Runner vehicles.
This was Cena’s childhood dream car, and he never let go of that dream even through his adult career. He was finally able to secure one after his success in the WWE. It is now his most favorite car out of his whole car collection. The Countach was designed to match and exceed the popularity and fame of the Lamborghini Miura and helped popularize the “Italian wedge” body design.
John Cena asked Chevrolet for a custom-built car that looked like it came straight out of the year 3000. They delivered. The resulting vehicle was designed around a Corvette C4 and has eight exhaust ports that shoot flames, among many other futuristic design choices. One of the most striking is the fact that the car doesn’t have any doors, instead opting for a giant glass dome that opens into three sections, allowing the driver to get in and out.
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