MISSION CRITICAL

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.’S NEW SHOW, DOWNEY’S DREAM CARS, AIMS TO SAVE THE PLANET ONE ECO MOD AT A TIME

- ANDREW BECKFORD

As I walk through the massive, vaultlike door to the Team Downey production office, I’m invited to take a seat. Immediately to my left stands the Mark I suit from the first Iron Man film. A few minutes and no less than four offers of water later, I’m told he’s ready. Stepping onto a balcony overlooking Venice, California, I’m greeted by Hollywood A-List star Robert Downey Jr.

Your understandable knee-jerk reaction here may be to wonder what the hell MotorTrend wants to talk to Downey about. The answer is simple. At the height of the 58-year-old actor’s tenure as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s franchise player, he amassed a large collection of high-end modern and classic cars.

Following his farewell turn as Iron Man in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Downey decided he wanted to devote effort and resources to help the vulnerable blue world we call Earth. He founded the Footprint Coalition, a venture group that invests in companies dealing in environmentally friendly technologies. He also changed his diet and started a rescue farm with his wife, Susan. Realizing his walk needed to better match his talk, he acknowledged he couldn’t be the overlord of a warehouse filled with some not-so-eco-friendly vehicles. That realization led to Downey’s Dream Cars, which premieres June 22 streaming on Max.