Richard Quest Quotes

People who have car collections - I never understood that. I always thought that was unnecessary. It's not beautiful, it's not creative. It's just showing how much money you've got.

I'm a slave to the culture, so I see an Audi, a Denali, or an Escalade, my neighbor got the four-door Porsche. I have a really nice truck. But it's a Durango and I like frontin'! I like to ride by and show off.

I have 18 cars, but I never had a Rolls-Royce.

Why do you need to drive a Ferrari to get stuck in a traffic jam anyway? How do people afford these cars?

In Europe, you would almost never have people with large amounts of income being happy with a two-volume vehicle like a hatchback or a minivan. They want to structurally show their societal position, which is why three volumes are so popular. They show 'I'm part of that hierarchy.'

Movie stars, rich people - oh, they have so many beautiful cars!

I'm not big on material things, but I like my cars. They are German-made and custom-made.

I don't drive Yugo anymore, I drive Porsche.

A private jet is not a luxury; it is a necessity.

Limousines used to be reserved for the ruling class, or, on special occasions, for the working class. Today, limousines are like taxicabs with the door handles still intact.

The limousine is the ultimate ego trip, the supreme sign of success. It shouts: Hey, this guy is really and truly Mr Big.

The more cars, the better show.

We decided when we were building Big Machine that we wanted to be a Harley or a Ferrari.

I've loved Range Rovers. That goes back to when I was a kid. My dad had the first ever Range Rover that was ever made - the first wave back in the '70s - and he had one every year from that moment, and mom has continued to do that. From the moment they started Range Rovers, they've been in my family.

My dad owned Cadillacs all my life.

If you like looking at 'Starry Night' or water lilies or whatever, then why does it matter if it's an original? If the artist is still alive, and you want to support them, I get it. But if you want some famous dead guy's work, that's just a way for rich people to show off. It's the upper-class version of driving a giant Hummer.

The guys that drive Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentley GTs, it's because they want to flaunt the fancy car and get the girls and stuff.

In America, one sure sign of success is the presence of an unnecessary waterfall in a person's yard.

My sheets are monogrammed, so is my silverware and pretty much everything else I own. My rule is, if it's not moving -- monogram it!

With the exception of the instinct of self-preservation, the propensity for emulation is probably the strongest and most alert and persistent of the economic motives proper. In an industrial community this propensity for emulation expresses itself in pecuniary emulation; and this, so far as regards the Western civilized communities of the present, is virtually equivalent to saying that it expresses itself in some form of conspicuous waste.

When you see the Escalades and the Hummers driving down the street, at least in Los Angeles, this dry, flat desert with shopping malls, when you see someone driving one of those through this you're like, 'You are definitely part of the problem.'

Today's status symbol is the Palm Pilot; tomorrow's is not having one, because you have a whole staff keeping track of you. It's like a winter coat in Washington: The ultimate status symbol isn't cashmere, it's no coat at all on the snowiest day of the year - because that means you have a car and driver waiting for you, so why do you need a coat?

Luxury bags make your life more pleasant, make you dream, give you confidence, and show your neighbors you are doing well.

It's always been jewelry, clothes, appearance. Those are things that compete with the car. But the car is the ultimate. Get that car right and it doesn't matter what you got on or what you wear once you step out of that car.

And I'm sure than in Poland, or somewhere, it is considered cool to drive a Porsche and wear necklaces and black silk, but at least back in Brooklyn if you did those things you were either a drug dealer or from New Jersey.