Per Gessle

The Roxette pop star now blends performing with life as a Swedish hotelier and maintaining his large collection

- Paal Kvamme

MY INTEREST IN cars goes back to my childhood. I've loved cars since I was a kid: the Lamborghini Miura, classic cars with wire wheels, unattainable cars. It was all about the sound, the design, the thrill of racing - a much more dangerous sport then than it is today.

My plumber father and I went to the Anderstorp circuit to watch racing. When Ronnie Peterson came along, he became an idol for motorcycling Swedes. In 1978, when I was in London to buy guitars for my band Gyllene Tider, we passed an electronics store with ten television sets in the window. All of them showed Ronnie Peterson's crash. That's how I found out he was dead.

The Ferrari Dino was an early dream car. As a little boy, I saw Tony Curtis drive one in The Persuaders! on television. It is one of the most beautiful cars ever made. I haven't driven mine in two years; it's so popular with hotel guests that it's hard to take out. I buy cars, and they stay here. My first car was my father's orange VW Passat; my first Ferrari was a '95 456 GT.

I have enjoyed a long and successful career, so I have had the means to buy these things. When I bought the cars in 'The Joyride Car Collection', I thought they were incredibly expensive. When I bought Ferraris in the mid-2000s, I lost money on them. Then I had the opportunity to buy limited editions, more likely to hold their value. The last decade they have really increased in value.