“Trump is someone who wants to be a trend setter, someone who sports new things to signify to others that he is of refined taste and upper-class privilege,” says C. Margaret Hall, professor of sociology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She says that predominant consumerist values in society make billionaires significant for trendsetting and conspicuous consumption.

But it's not just mindless buying — rather, it's spending as a way to build a persona. “Identity in this type of society is garnered from making a mark with your physical goods,” Hall says. “This mark is to own the latest, rarest, and most expensive material goods so as to be seen as innovative, an influencer, and someone skilled with managing money.”

Of all the material goods billionaires might amass, cars in particular seem to be a badge of honor whose importance is growing among the world’s wealthy elite.

Sales of ultra-luxury vehicles sold in the U.S. will increase from 1,762 in 1990 to a projected 11,755 for 2008, says John Wolkonowicz, senior automotive analyst at Boston-based Global Insight. “And by 2013 you’ll see sales of 13,472,” he says.

Wolkonowicz also expects the number of ultra-luxury car companies to grow to 24 by 2013, up from 13 in 1990.

“The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals is increasing at a record pace, and this trend fares well for Bugatti, whose customers’ minimum net worth starts at $200 million,” says John Hill, market manager for Bugatti Automobiles USA.

The world’s ultra-high-net-worth population has grown 11.3 percent to 94,970 and their combined total assets have risen by 16.8 percent to $13.1 trillion, according to the 2007 Capgemini-Merill Lynch World Wealth Report. To qualify for the “ultra high net worth” category in this report, individuals must have at least $30 million of assets, excluding their residence and any collectibles.

Using state Department of Motor Vehicle records and other sources, we’ve assembled a list of billionaires from among the Forbes 400 richest Americans whose taste in cars is decidedly flashy; people like Ed Lampert, the man who rescued Sears and Kmart by organizing a 2005 merger, who owns an Aston Martin Vanquish.

For all the status they do afford, billionaires don't necessarily see their expensive and rare cars only as fanciful collectibles. Like everyone else, billionaires need to get around too. "I pretty much drive myself all over. I drive several times per day," Mrs. Wynn says. "It all depends on my schedule and if we have a lot of activities and such at the hotel. I'm out quite a bit and I go to visit children and grandchildren."

It must be quite a scene when Grandma pulls up in a blue convertible Ferrari.

Click on the “slide show” link above to see billionaires’ rides.

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