Summary

• Shaquille O'Neal is a legendary basketball player who earned a substantial amount of money during his NBA career
• Shaq has a collection of unique and customized cars, including a modified 2002 Cadillac Escalade, a two-door Jeep Wrangler, and a stretched Lamborghini Gallardo
• Some of Shaq's other notable cars include a Ford F-650, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, convertible Dodge Challenger, Polaris Slingshot, Vaydor kit car, Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead, and Vanderhall Venice Roadster

Legendary basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is a big spender and a big earner. During an NBA career that saw him play for the likes of the Miami Heat and the LA Lakers and win four championships, Shaquille earned about $300 million in player contracts and $200 million in endorsements. O’Neal admitted that early on in his career, he made rash financial decisions.

However, as he got older, he learned how to invest his money. It ensured that he and his family would be set for life even after his NBA career ended. Shaq has spent plenty on rides. His epic proportions have forced him to modify most of his cars. Here are the top 10 cars in Shaquille O’Neal’s car collection.

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10 2002 Cadillac Escalade

The 2002 Cadillac Escalade doesn’t seem like a car Shaq would buy. Nevertheless, the NBA Champion purchased it. However, he modified it so extensively that few would have known the base car was a humdrum Escalade.

Specs and Performance

West Coast Customs lowered the SUV, installing 26-inch chrome alloy wheels with spinners and low-profile tires. They painted the car burgundy and installed front scissor doors. Leather adorned the seats, and eight 12-inch Autobahn speakers blared right behind the rear seats. Coupled with the noise from the car’s 6.0-liter V-8, Shaq’s Escalade was super loud. The Superman Crest featured on each headrest and on the front grille.

9 Jeep Wrangler

Shaquille O’Neal wanted a two-door Jeep Wrangler but couldn’t fit in one. Therefore, he challenged West Coast Customs to build him one. The custom shop based its build on a 2010 Unlimited, a four-door Wrangler 20.6 inches longer than a two-door Wrangler. They cut the doors off each side and welded them together to make two Shaq-size doors.

Specs and Performance

Thanks to clever design work, the doors looked factory-made. West Coast Customs (WCC) also installed accent lighting, a growling Magnaflow exhaust, a front winch, leather seats, a light bar, and a 5-amp Pioneer audio system. WCC also raised the car and fitted massive Fuel wheels.

8 Lamborghini Gallardo

Shaq’s Gallardo doesn’t look much different from other Gallardos, a testament to the great work the Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters did to stretch the vehicle. O’Neal couldn’t fit in a regular Gallardo, so he handed the car to The Gaffoglios to make it big enough for him. The task was to make the modifications difficult to discern, a not-so-difficult task for a renowned company like Gaffoglio.

Specs and Performance

The team of craftsmen elongated the Gallardo by 12 inches. They installed new doors, new glass, and a new footwell. They also extended the wiring harness and retrimmed the interior.

Shaq did nothing to boost the vehicle’s already impressive performance stats. Thanks to exterior and interior modifications by The Gaffoglios, Shaq managed to drive the insanely powerful Gallardo.

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7 Ford F-650

The Ford F-650 was one of the few cars in Shaq’s collection taller than him. Wade Ford and SuperTruck collaborated to build the former basketball player’s ‘Extreme’ F-650. The F-650 may have a rugged exterior but has modern interior features, including a navigation system and an HD radio. Reports claimed that Shaw used the F-650 as his daily driver.

Specs and Performance

Shaq’s vehicle cost about $15,000 more than the usual custom F-650 probably due to extra features requested by O’Neal. As he picked up the car in Smyrna, Georgia, Shaq thanked Wade Ford for designing ‘big cars for big guys’. O’Neal had probably grown tired of customizing cars to accommodate him, so he bought one he didn’t have to elongate or turn into a convertible.

6 Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Rolls-Royce customizes cars per the wishes of the buyer. However, the company can’t fulfill every request they get from customers. That’s where West Coast Customs, Shaq’s trusted car customizers, come in. After purchasing his luxury Cullinan, the former Miami Heat star sent it to the famous LA-based custom shop for, by O’Neal’s standards, light modifications. ​​​​​​

Specs and Performance

West Coast Customs installed a Mansory body kit that gave the Cullinan a wider, imposing stance. Per Shaq’s request, the team painted the vehicle burgundy and fitted the Superman logo on the grill. The vehicle also features a #34 decal on the hood, a nod to O’Neal’s LA Lakers jersey number.

5 2016 Dodge Challenger R/T Convertible

Shaq’s convertible Dodge Challenger was somewhat of a nod to the first-generation convertible Challenger. The NBA analyst cut away the roof of the Challenger so he could fit in the vehicle. Florida-based Drop Top Customs installed a retractable soft-top food from Germany. The custom shop also installed a more robust strut bar under the hood, leaving the engine untouched, and modified the driver’s seat to offer Shaq extra legroom.

Specs and Performance

Further, they wrapped the seats in black Katzkin leather. The exterior featured black ‘Hemi’ decals reminiscent of the Plymouth Barracuda. Shaq sold the Challenger Convertible after driving it for a little over 5,000 miles.

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4 Polaris Slingshot

The Polaris Slingshot is a light, powerful three-wheeled vehicle built for wind-in-your-hair motoring. It features a tiny windshield and no roof or doors. It appears O’Neal has two modified Slingshots, which he calls SlingShaqs.

Specs and Performance

The first one is a red four-seater Slingshot modified by Underground Autostyling. It features an 18-speaker sound system, all-around LED lighting, and black leather seats. The second and perhaps most famous one was customized by West Coast Customs. It’s a burgundy two-seater Slingshot with an epic sound system and the Superman logo on the hood, steering wheel, and seats. It features 20-inch alloys upfront and a 22-inch alloy in the rear.

3 The Vaydor

The Vaydor is a kit car built on an Infiniti G35 chassis. Rather than replicate supercar bodies like other kit-car fitters, Vaydor creates unique designs. Vaydor, therefore, creates standout cars, one of which featured in Suicide Squad, driven by none other than The Joker. ​​​​

Specs and Performance

Shaq’s Vaydor slightly resembles a Lamborghini and has extra legroom to accommodate the retired NBA player. The vehicle has customized air suspension and airbags to protect its occupants if it crashes. The Vaydor looks great, has a fantastic name, and is a favorite of The Joker, which makes it a perfect Shaq-mobile.

However, based on an unremarkable Infiniti G35, it won't win many drag races.

2 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead

As he neared the end of his career, Shaq purchased a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead. The luxury Rolls features a 6.75-liter V-12 routing 453 horsepower and 531 pound-feet to the rear wheels. After purchasing his Rolls, Shaq bought one for then-rising star LeBron James and future President of the United States, Donald Trump.

Specs and Performance

O’Neal loves Rolls-Royce machinery. He revealed that he once walked into a shop and bought three Rolls-Royces because he didn’t like the dealer’s attitude. Shaq said that the dealer incensed him by asking whether he could afford the cars in the dealership. “There goes another million,” O’Neal said.

In 2022, a 2004 Phantom owned by O’Neal was included in a real-estate deal in Texas to sweeten the deal - the buyer would get a house and a 2004 Salamanca Blue Phantom.

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1 Vanderhall Venice Roadster

The Vanderhall Venice Roadster was an impulse buy by O’Neal. $30,000 isn’t much for Shaq and is a reasonable price for a car that isn’t much. The Vanderhall Venice Roadster is a three-wheeler with a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine and plenty of legroom for Shaq. In mid-2018, he was spotted driving the car in Los Angeles while listening to hip-hop.

Specs and Performance

Other celebrities who fell for the Roadster include Jeremy Renner and Jaime Foxx. The Venice Roadster has no doors or roof, but it takes care of its occupants. Its front-wheel drive configuration reduces drifting, keeping the driver and the passenger in place.