Tyler Okonma, the man behind the name Tyler the Creator, has spent years quietly assembling one of the most eclectic private car collections in Los Angeles. McLaren 675LT, BMW E30, multiple Lancia Delta variants, a Fiat 131 Abarth Rally tucked somewhere in the mix.
But none of that mattered at the 2026 Grammy Awards. Midway through a medley pulling from Chromakopia and Don’t Tap The Glass, Okonma made his entrance with a Ferrari F40 behind him, then promptly “crashed” it into the set before launching into Sugar on My Tongue. Actress Regina King joined him from the passenger seat. It was, by any standard, an absurd moment. It was also, by any standard, unforgettable.
Whether that specific car was the real thing or a replica remains officially unconfirmed. Unofficially, the evidence leans heavily toward real. Tyler owns a documented Ferrari F40, one that appeared in his music video for Stop Playing With Me and has been spotted repeatedly on Los Angeles streets. For Okonma, the F40 isn’t a garage trophy. It’s a working part of his life.
His relationship with cars traces back further than most people assume. In a 2022 interview with Robb Report, he recalled the origin with disarming simplicity, a toy Ferrari 550 Maranello that consumed him as a child.
The Ferrari F40 itself demands a brief pause. Launched in 1987, it was the last model personally commissioned and approved by Enzo Ferrari before his death in 1988. Only 1,311 units were ever produced, all left-hand drive, all in Rosso Corsa red. A twin-turbo V8 producing 472 HP sits under the hood, capable of reaching 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 324 km/h. At recent auctions, examples have comfortably cleared the one-million-dollar mark.
Tyler the Creator parking one on a Grammy stage wasn’t spectacle for the sake of spectacle. It was a statement, delivered, as it happens, in the only language that kind of statement ever really works in.
