How Tina Turner beyond music also rocked Jaguar cars

Tina Turner, a rock icon, was also Jaguar cars lover

Rock and Roll icon Tina Turner who died on Wednesday May 24 at her home in Switzerland at age 83, left many legacies behind beyond just her epic music career.

She was an automobile enthusiast too, owning and loving premium cars throughout her life.

“One of my favourite escapes was driving my Jaguar,” she wrote in her autobiography.

She became one of those celebrities who had one of the biggest influences in the car world.

Turner always found solace in automobiles, notably her white Jaguar XJ6, which she received as a gift from Sammy Davis Jr.

The late icon’s Jaguar XJ6 and a Jaguar E-Type gave her a much-needed taste of freedom, car.com.au notes in a report.

According to the Nation World, Tina Turner’s love for high-performance luxury cars began way back in 1971, when Sammy Davis Jr. got a Jaguar XJ6 as a special gift in the name of sport. The car had a 4.2-litre inline six-cylinder engine, delivered a power of nearly 250 horsepower and offered 384 Newton-meters of torque.

Another Jaguar car, XK-E, was gifted to her by her ex-husband and musical collaborator, Ike Turner.

The XK-E bore a “1 Tina” licence plate and became a point of contention during the couple’s divorce in 1978, according to a report by Car & Driver, an online auto reviewer.

“To my relief, the judge ruled in my favour,” Turner wrote in her 2018 autobiography, My Love Story.

“So I walked out of that courtroom with just my name. Oh, and two Jaguars—cars that had been given to me personally.”

Following the divorce, Turner reinvented herself and her career out of necessity. In 1984, her album Private Dancer was released and became a huge commercial success, selling 10 million copies globally.

Turner became a regular name on the pop music charts with songs like “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “Better Be Good to Me,” and “Private Dancer.”

With her star on the rise and three new Grammy awards in her trophy case, Turner starred alongside Mel Gibson in the third instalment of the post-apocalyptic Mad Max film series, Mad Max beyond Thunderdome.

She recorded two new songs for the film, one of which netted her a fourth solo Grammy award.

She would ultimately win eight over the course of her career, with one early in her career shared with Ike for their hit song “Proud Mary.”

As her musical and film success pushed her star ever higher, Plymouth tapped Turner for a series of television commercials for its lineup of cars, including the Acclaim sedan and the Laser sports coupe, a car that won a 10Best award from Car and Driver in 1989.

While not exactly Jaguars, Turner’s love for the cars and her on-camera joie de vivre made for some compelling marketing for Plymouth.

In her trademark purr, she was pictured in the rear seat of an Acclaim saying: “Now this car is built for comfort. I wonder what else we have in common.”

Turner lived her life out loud and used music to share her personal struggles, making her a relatable rock star unlike any other.

Her automotive enthusiasm is something she cherished and shared too, even though she will be remembered mostly for her contributions to the entertainment industry.