Apparently, Ginger Spice has always had a love for classic cars
Photo: Geri Horner
Geri Horner (née Halliwell) is best-known as one-fifth of the ’90s British pop super group the Spice Girls. As the flirty and dolled up Ginger Spice, Geri made platform shoes and her Union Jack dress quite famous. For me, as a young American girl growing up in the decade of grunge and flannel, I was more consumed with the girl-power infused songs of the Spice Girls. Of course, as a child of that time, I didn’t have the tools or resources that kids have today (aka the internet) to learn more about my favorite pop stars. In order to learn more about them, I had to read Tiger Beat magazine or happen to catch a quick interview with them on MTV. So it makes absolute sense that I hardly knew anything about the Spice Girls outside of their cheeky personas and catchy song lyrics.
The Spice Girls had an epic performance at the 2016 London Olympics closing ceremony, arriving in customized London taxi cabs
Photo: David Jones
But as an adult, I found myself following all five of the Spice Girls on Twitter and I reveled in the nostalgia. Recently, Geri (Ginger Spice) announced that she had a television special premiering – Geri’s 1990s: My Drive to Freedom – and posted a promo photo of herself sitting in some sort of convertible red sports car. With “drive” in the title along with the promo photo, I became intrigued to see if the documentary would go in depth about cars at all; not to mention, it gave me an excuse to watch a documentary about the Spice Girls for work purposes. I was not disappointed.
It all started when Geri was just a kid
It turns out that as a child growing up in North Watford, Geri’s father owned a used car garage where she would frequently visit and learn about the cars. She even stated that her favorite toy growing up was a tiny red sports car, as a result of her father’s career and her general interest. Not much else was mentioned about cars during her childhood, so let’s fast forward to the mid-90s and Geri’s success with the Spice Girls.
The MGB Roadster is part of what inspired Geri to work hard throughout her career
Photo: Thomas Doerfer
After struggling to find fame, Geri joined the Spice Girls and the rest is history. She mentioned during the documentary that as soon as she got her first pay check from the recording contract, she only thought of one thing – that red sports car. She ended up purchasing a 1967 MGB Roadster and it was her pride and joy. She had always dreamed of owning a car like that, because to her, it symbolized freedom and success. Unfortunately, that joy only lasted a couple years.
The end of an era and losing her favorite car
In May of 1998, Geri decided to leave the Spice Girls and many were heartbroken. But alas, life goes on. A year later, in an attempt to fully “kill off” Ginger Spice from her public persona, Geri worked with the company Sotheby’s to hold an auction for some of her Spice Girls items, with the proceeds going to charity. While her Union Jack dress was the hot ticket item, selling for $69,000 to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Geri distinctly remembers the intense regret she felt after auctioning off her beloved MGB Roadster.
#OnThisDay: @GeriHalliwell performing at the #BRITs in the iconic Union Jack dress, 20 years ago, on February 24th, 1997!✌???? #spicegirls pic.twitter.com/BuFh77zffT
— Spice Girls (@SpiceGirlsNet) February 24, 2017
Geri went on with her solo career and also made appearances on some television shows. One of those shows was Top Gear in 2004, where she was interviewed by Jeremy Clarkson and took a lap in a Suzuki Liana for the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car series. In the interview, it was revealed that although she had a strong passion for cars, Geri wasn’t necessarily the best driver. Her good friend, the late George Michael, gifted her with a Mercedes 280SL after she had wrecked his Mercedes in the south of France.
Finding love and her old MGB Roadster
Years later, in 2011, she was featured on Formula 1: BBC Sport, with an additional appearance in 2015 at the Monaco Grand Prix. Geri’s love for cars is surely what drew her to her husband, Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing. In early August of last year, Christian managed to find her exact MGB Roadster that had sold at auction in 1998, and gave it to Geri for her birthday. Needless to say, she was elated. That same vehicle was, in fact, the car that Geri posted for the promo of her documentary.
Now, twenty years later, with the internet and social media, I’m able to simply visit Geri’s Instagram profile and easily discover her passion for cars.
Check out some of her favorite shots below:
Ben never thought he’d be writing about cars for a living, but here he is, knowing more about the Kia Stinger than he’d care to admit. When he’s not devoting his time to researching engine specs and other oh-so-exciting car details, he can be found enjoying time with his wife and dogs. See more articles by Ben.