Reggie Jackson’s Classic Car Collection

A Car Guy’s Car Guy

Reggie Jackson is a baseball Hall of Famer. He was American League MVP and two-time World Series MVP. He can count five World Series wins to his name. He is also a life-long automotive obsessive with an encyclopedic knowledge of cars, particularly of his beloved muscle cars, and the owner of a multi-million-dollar collection of highly-sought-after classics.

Jackson’s devotion to car began early in life. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, Jackson spent evenings on the front porch with his father and brothers, the boys challenged to name the make, model, and year of passing cars. The winner got ice cream. Reggie’s first car, at the age of fourteen, was a ’51 Chevy bought from his brother for $5 and the next a ’51 Ford Custom for $15. Kids at his affluent high school drove Corvettes, and while Reggie couldn’t quite swing that, he got himself a respectable ’55 Chevy with 327 V8 and a four-speed.

Collection Lost in Fire

As Jackson’s playing career took off, he was finally able to indulge his penchant for fast cars with a bourgeoning collection with a particular emphasis on classic muscle cars. With a collection of roughly 100 cars, Jackson’s collection was reduced by some 35 when a fire broke out in storage in 1988. Among the lost cars: the car that started his collection a 1940 Chevy, a 1983 Porsche 911 Targa top he’d received from the California Angles when he won the home run title, a 1932 Ford five-window coupe, and a practically brand new 1987 Buick Grand National with a mere 180 miles on the odometer.

Despite the setback, Jackson continued collecting spectacular classics with an emphasis on low-mileage originals and rare factory-built performance editions.

Highlights from Reggie’s Collection

Jackson has owned a lot of cars over the years. Among the most impressive that have passed through his collection include a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air 283/283 which shared its V8 with the contemporary Corvette and, like the Vette, managed to produce horsepower (283) equivalent to its displacement (283) thanks in no small part to its Rochester fuel injection system. Reggie also owned a 1962 409-equipped Chevy Impala, a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, and a Hemi 426-equipped Plymouth Satellite GTX convertible, just one of ten built and one of four featuring a four-speed manual transmission (the car won the MOPOR Nationals in 1987). Reggie’s year-one 1964 Pontiac GTO is adorned with vanity plates reading MR OCTBR, Jackson’s nickname owing to his many late season exploits.

Even as his heart lies in the muscle car era, Reggie has a great appreciation for all fast cars, including European sports cars. His collection includes exotics like a 996-generation Porsche 911 GT2, a Ferrari Daytona coupe (which he says he wouldn’t take less than a million dollars for), and a twin-turbo V12 S 65 AMG Mercedes with a RENNTech chip that adds, according to Reggie, an additional 170 horsepower beyond the stock 621 horsepower.

Pontiac Catalina 421

Reggie received a Pontiac Catalina 421 with the signing of his first baseball contract in 1966. The car came along with a $94,000-signing bonus and eight semesters of college tuition. The car features Pontiac’s signature stacked headlights and split grille and equipped with a four-barrel carb, its 421 V8 produced 338 horsepower.

1970 Chevy Chevelle SS454

Reggie’s emphasis for original builds is best exemplified by his 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS454, which went up for auction in 2018. The car was left unmodified and as it left the factory, specially ordered with the LS6 option. The LS6 took the SS454’s Turbo Jet V8 and added rectangular-port heads, an 11.25:1 compression ratio, and a Holley four-barrel among other upgrades to coax an extra 90 horsepower for 450 horsepower and 500 lb.-ft. of torque. The car also featured a ZL2 package that added domed hood cowl induction. The car was finished in black with a black interior and was one of 4,475 LS6 optioned Chevelles for 1970. The car arguably represents the peak of muscle car era, stylistically and mechanically.

1968 Yenko Camaro RS/SS

Another rarity that passed through Reggie’s collection was a 1968 Yenko Camaro RS/SS. Back in 1967/68 the largest V8 on offer for the Camaro was the 396 except if you knew a guy like Don Yenko. Yenko was a Pennsylvanian Chevy dealer who used Chevy’s COPO (Central Office Production Order) to procure factory Camaros equipped with a 427 big-block V8 with 425 horsepower. Reggie’s Yenko Camaro is one of just 65 COPO Super Camaros from 1968. It’s equipped with a 140 mph-speedometer, hood scoops, and its 427 V8 is paired with a Muncie four-speed.

Corvettes Aplenty

Reggie’s fondness for Corvette’s goes back to his high school days. Appropriately, his collection has seen more than its share of first- and second-generation Corvettes. Reggie owns a pair of 1962 C1 Corvettes, the final model year of the first generation and the first year for the larger 327 V8. One of the two is a four-barrel equipped car making 340 horsepower while the other is a “Fuelie” a rare fuel-injected version which pushed output to 360 horsepower. The latter car, finished in red, was once owned by racer Grumpy Jenkins. Another impressive Vette from Reggie’s collection, a 1965 C2-generation with a 427 V8 that earned a 5 Star Bowtie award from the NCRS (National Corvette Restorers Society).

Rolls-Royces

While not as quick as some of his other cars, Reggie Jackson has also owned a handful of very flashy Rolls-Royce cars. He purchased a maroon 1976 Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible for $55,000 following his signing with the Yankees. A year later, Reggie hit three consecutive home runs in game six of the World Series and to celebrate he went out and bought a new Corniche convertible, this time in Seychelles Blue and Silver (Yankee colors, naturally), for $64,000. Jackson said he drove the car cross country, stopped five times by police who wanted to meet him.

Related Pop Culture Articles

Relive NASCAR Glory in this ’53 Hudson Hornet

Read more

The Most Innovative Cars of All Time

Read more

The 1969 Mercury Cyclone is an Overlooked Classic

Read more

Food Shaped Cars

Read more