Over the years, dropping the car keys in a poker pot has become a regular trope in Hollywood. A player runs out of cash, and his car becomes part of the action. That theme was a reality for one French rock star.
A 1975 Panther De Ville once lost in a poker game by Johnny Hallyday was auctioned off recently for $143,000. Hallyday, whose real name was Jean-Philippe Léo Smet, was a French rock star, pop singer, and actor who sold more than 110 million albums before he died in 2017 at age 74. He is credited with first bringing rock ‘n’ roll to France.
The car was a gift from singer Sylvie Vartan’s wife at the time and featured custom features like “mink seats, a gold disc on top of the grille and hubcaps carrying his initials,” according to the BBC. However, the singer lost the vehicle in a poker game with friends in 1977.
French auction house Osenat told the BBC that Hallyday wanted to repurchase the auto at one point but was dissuaded by his manager because of his “limited finances.” The Panther De Ville, designed in the 1930s and manufactured in the United Kingdom from 1974 to 1985, had some real muscle, with a V12 Jaguar engine.
Auctioneers expected the vehicle to sell for around $85,000, but the car ultimately sold for much more. The poker player who scored the car in the game didn’t hold on to the vehicle too long. The BBC noted that “the lucky winner preferred sportier models and later exchanged it for a Ferrari whose owner was a true fan of Hallyday’s.”.
Hallyday once appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and hung out with rock legends like Bob Dylan and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s first concert was opening for Hallyday in 1966, and Mick Jones of Foreigner recorded an album with him in the 1960s.
Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page also worked as a studio musician for the French singer. American audiences may recognize Hallyday from films like The Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin.
This isn’t the first historical account of something other than cash being lost in a poker pot. In September 2023, a Wyoming ranch lost in a poker game was listed for $58 million.
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