Even if celebrity cars have never been your thing and you’ve somehow managed to steer clear of anything the entertainment industry has cooked on the matter, intuition alone can tell you that Michael Jordan has been enjoying his fair share of top-notch vehicles. The GOAT constantly makes room in his garage for fresh arrivals and now that the Internet has brought auctions into everybody’s homes, his old rides never go unnoticed. And the most recent example of the sort is this 1999 Range Rover.
The British SUV is one of the cars made famous by The Last Dance, a ten-part ESPN documentary covering Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls, and their quest for a sixth NBA title in 1998. The series made headlines when it was released back in 2020, also being streamed on Netflix.
The final part of Episode Six shows Jordan leaving his mansion in Northern Chicago in a red Land Rover Ranger Rover 4.6 HSE and heading for the United Center. Famous reporter Ahmad Rashad, who was interviewing the athlete at the time, was taken for a shotgun ride, with the result providing a rather intimate scene of Jordan enjoying a cigar while cruising in the full comfort provided by the second-gen Range Rover.
Back in those times, the Gen II Range Rover was only five years old and had been introduced as the first all-new model since the 1969 release of the original, so it was a big deal.
The second owner is now selling the car
MJ didn’t hold on to the vehicle for too long, with this being acquired by a gentleman back in 2001. And that man is currently offering the vehicle on Bring a Trailer.
However, there are a few notable changes to the car. For starters, if you’ve seen the said documentary, you know that the vehicle had a different paint job, albeit still a red one, in the footage. And the seller explains that the dealer that handled the purchase back in the day says that MJ had the car custom painted. In addition, the seller is showcasing a copy of the Land Rover’s original title with Michael Jordan’s name on it.
What about the condition of this former Michael Jordan Range Rover?
Now, Range Rovers still haven’t completely overcome their reliability issues these days, so it’s only normal to ask about the state of a 23-year-old example. Well, the seller explains he installed a new engine last year—this is the same 4.6L V8, but only has 500 miles. In addition, the cozy, but also servicing-nightmare air suspension has been removed, with the vehicle now featuring coil springs.
The interior of this 116,000-mile example doesn’t seem in the best shape, but this is a cabin with a story—this was the final Range Rover model to sport Conolly leather, with the British specialist having gone bankrupt back in 2002. And, as far as corrosion is concerned, this is present on the underbody, as shown in some of the images provided with the vehicle.
You don’t need an auction specialist to tell you that the value of this vehicle lies in the connection to its original owner, as the vehicle itself is not that special. And with the highest bid at the time of press sitting at $7,600, we still have three days left to see how people feel about the connection between Michael Jordan and this Range Rover.
