Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's unusual and now decaying car collection matched the tastes of a man who rose from the slums of Medellin to become one of the wealthiest criminals in the world.
Equally interested in $500,000 Mercedes 300SL roadsters as he was in an old Renault 4L's, Escobar, whose wealth in 1989 was estimated to be in the region of $9 billion was eccentric in his automobile inspirations.
One of his most prized cars was an early 1930s Cadillac which he had peppered with gunfire because it made him think of the heyday of Chicago bootleggers and gangster Al Capone.
Rusted cars which belonged to drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, inside the Napoles ranch thematic park in Antioquia, Colombia
At the height of his success as the head of the Medellin drug cartel, Escobar's wealth marked him as the ninth richest man in the world, allowing him the life of an international playboy billionaire.
The Colombian had a self-professed affinity for autombiles, beginning his criminal life as a car thief, he spent his life buying any vehicle he liked that struck a chord with him.
The Colombia drug lord was keen on all types of cars - such as this Renault 4L which he bought to add to his impressive collection
The door of an old car riddled with bullets is seen among others at the garage of the 2,200 acre ranch 'Napoles' in Puerto Triunfo, Department of Antioquia, Colombia
Escobar's once luxurious Hacienda Napoles ranch is now a tourist attraction which is accused of glorifying the notorious drug dealer
As well as a classic Porsche 356, Escobar owned a Mercedes 600 limo and numerous vintage American phaetons from the 1920s and 30s.
Of course, no Colombian drug lord's car collection would be complete without a signature Toyota landcuiser, of which Escobar owned dozens.
However, what set the billionaire apart from his rivals and contemporaries were the hovercrafts, private jets and even submarines that comprised his once impressive collection.
While he possessed the wealth to buy any model he wanted, Escobar was most interested in low-key cars, shunning the typical Ferrari's and Masserati's of the wealthy.
Juan Guillermo Correa, an automotive historian told journalist Benjamin Preston that when he visited Escobar in Medellin, Escobar would purchase any car he liked. 'Such as an early '30s Cadillac he thought looked like Al Capone's.' wrote Preston. 'To make it more authentic, Escobar allegedly strafed it with gunfire, so that the bullet holes would give the car a more authentic gangster look.
Pablo Escobar was a folk hero in parts of Colombia and was reputedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars before his death in 1993 in an escape attempt
Few of Escobar's cars have survived since his death in 1993 at the hands of the Colombian police while trying to flee arrest in Medellin.
Today, the rusted husks of once great cars sit in Hacienda Napoles, Escobar's mansion headquarters for his multi-billion cocaine smuggling operation.
Sitting in a garage surrounded by a jungle landscape, the cars were burnt by the group Los PEPES, (People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar) and the rival Cali Cartel.
They remain a relic of Colombia's vicious past as the Escobar tourism industry increases in size each year.
Many in Colombia worry that showing off Escobar memorabilia could glorify his life and lead people, especially the youth who look up to the wildly wealthy drug king.
A man gazes at the remains of a limousine in the garage of Pablo Escobar's ranch
As the leader of the drug trade in Medellin, Colombia, Escobar gained notoriety for his brutal tactics that included torture and killing of anyone who opposed his power.
Escobar was so successful as a drug leader that his cartel controlled up to 80 per cent of the world’s cocaine market. Forbes magazine listed him as the seventh richest man in the world in 1989.
Magistrates, journalists and politicians were among the targets of his countless attacks. In 1989, his cartel planted a bomb on a flight killing 110 people but failing to eliminate the actual target, a presidential candidate, who was not on board the flight.
With increasing pressure from the US government to extradite him on drug charges, numerous attempts were made to arrest Escobar, all of which were stymied through bribery, intimidation or murder.
But in 1991, he agreed with the Colombian government to turn himself in to serve five years in a posh jail he built for himself, which included a Jacuzzi, waterfall and his own ‘guards’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213697/He-shot-Cadillac-like-Al-Capone-Inside-Pablo-Escobar-s-strange-car-collection.html#ixzz28YQZ3MHE
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