From 28 April to 28 August 2011, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris will host an exhibition of Ralph Lauren’s incredible car collection – although Lauren himself says, “I don’t ever think of myself as a collector… in my mind, they are like parts of me.”

Among the 17 outstanding cars on display in the exhibition titled ‘The Art of the Automobile: Masterpieces from the Ralph Lauren Collection’ are a 1938 Bugatti, a 1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa and a 2010 Lamborghini Murciélago. The Lauren cars cover such a spread of widely differing eras, in fact, that they are claimed to be ‘a museum of automotive history, an archive of performance machines that represent the finest achievements in motorsport’.

The 17 cars, chosen by the curator Rodolphe Rapetti, outline the main phases of European automobile history as illustrated by such names as Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Porsche and of course, Ferrari.

In the video below, Ralph Lauren takes us behind the doors of his private estate for a personal tour of these stunning machines. “Cars have inspired me…” he says. “They are works of art.”

Text: Charis Whitcombe
Photos / Video: Ralph Lauren