Walker starred as Brian O’Connor in the Fast and Furious franchise, which is known for its iconic automobiles and action-packed chase scenes. Walker played a gritty and lovable undercover cop, and won over the hearts of audiences with both his acting and his skills as a stuntman.

His legacy isn’t just as an action star, but also as a car enthusiast and collector. Walker was a talented driver and often performed his own stunts for the Fast and Furious movies. He even reviewed the movie scripts to ensure car-based correctness, checking that automobile jargon and trivia were accurate.

Walker tragically died in a

car accident

at age 40, at which point he had already made millions through his success as a Hollywood actor. This isn’t surprising, considering that the eight Fast and Furious movies totalled over $5 billion in profits at the box office. Walker appeared in seven of the eight movies, the final of which was a posthumous cameo.

Walker’s production partner and friend Brandon Birtell told

Motor Trend

that Walker had been a car guy since childhood. “I think he was always that way, growing up, tinkering on stuff,” he said. “His grandfather and father gave him an appreciation for that.”

Birtell added that despite his wealth, Walker didn’t like flashy cars.

“If a car was too fancy, he was embarrassed,” said Birtell. “He didn’t want any attention. He mostly drove trucks around as daily drivers. There weren’t any vanity cars, they all had a use and a purpose. Some of his cars were track cars, some were projects, some were maybe cars he wanted to have when he was younger.”

What’s the deal with Paul Walker’s BMW M3 Lightweights?

Walker’s most prized possessions included five white 1995 BMW M3 Lightweight Editions, which, according to Birtell, Walker thought were “really special.”

“He knew they were going to go up in value,” said Birtell. “A lot of people told him, ‘You’re crazy, that’s never going to happen,’ but he was totally right. He was very proud that he had accumulated the biggest collection of those Lightweights.”

BMW only built 126 of these rare makes, so Walker had chosen quite the collector’s item.

These cars were the most notable items in Walker’s auctioned-off car collection. All five were sold, bringing in many hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece.

One of Walker’s M3 Lightweights sold for a whopping $530,000 at the auction. According to

Driven

, this was the most expensive of the five, as well as the one with the lowest mileage, at 7,000 kilometers.

The other four models were sold from between $300,000 to $355,000. Mileage on the cars ranged up to 55,000 kilometers––all surprisingly low.

More of Paul Walker’s cars

MORE:

There’s a Museum Where You Can See the ‘Fast and Furious’ Cars and More

A few other cars in Walker’s collection that were auctioned off include two E30 M3s, a Nissan R32 GT-R and a Nissan 370Z, the latter of which appeared in Fast Five.

Walker’s collection also featured some grittier, American-made models, such as a 1963 Nova Wagon, a 1964 Chevelle Wagon, a 1967 Nova Coupe, and a 2013 Mustang Boss 302S. All four were auctioned off in January 2020.

Walker also had a Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R, Skylines being a favorite for him.

“I remember going with him to pick up a Skyline,” said Birtell. “He was lucky to be one of the first guys, because of the Fast films, to be able to get one of these cars. He was stoked about that.”

“I remember us picking it up at the shop and driving it home with him,” Birtell added. “It was a blast. He loved that car.”

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