Bad Bunny has spent the last few weeks living inside the kind of spotlight that usually comes with seven-figure endorsement deals and an equally loud supercar collection. The Puerto Rico-born artist, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, just made Grammy history with his album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” becoming the first predominantly Spanish-language release to win Album Of The Year.
Days later, he headlined the Super Bowl LX halftime show, an event that remains the biggest single stage in American pop culture. Nielsen data reported the game peaked at about 137.9 million viewers, while the halftime show drew about 128.2 million viewers.
With that kind of exposure, anything he drives becomes part of the message. And according to multiple reports, he made a move that sounds almost impossible in celebrity car culture. He reportedly let go of a Bugatti Chiron and started driving a 2003 Toyota Corolla.
A Hypercar That Turned Into A Spotlight Magnet
Photo Courtesy: Bugatti.
The Bugatti Chiron is the opposite of subtle. Even by hypercar standards, it is a rolling announcement. The car’s 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 is one of the defining powertrains of the modern era, and Bugatti has long positioned the Chiron as a 260 mph machine built to dominate both performance benchmarks and social media feeds.
The problem, as the story goes, is that the same theater that makes a Chiron special also makes it nearly impossible to live with if you want any privacy at all. Autoblog, citing the episode, quoted Bad Bunny explaining that he could not keep driving it in the United States because the moment he hit the street, people immediately knew it was him.
That matches the basic reality of a car like this. A Chiron does not blend in. It does not disappear in traffic. It attracts phones, crowds, and cameras before the driver even steps out.
The Corolla Choice Makes A Different Point
Image Credit: Autorepublika.
A 2003 Toyota Corolla is about as far from a Chiron as you can get while still having four wheels and a steering wheel. It is common, unfussy, and essentially invisible in most American cities. That is the appeal.
In the reports, the Corolla becomes the anti-flex. It is not about horsepower or status. It is about moving through daily life without turning every errand into a scene. Several outlets describing the swap also emphasize the practical side of the decision, including dramatically lower running costs and the ability to park, drive, and exist without the constant attention that follows a rare hypercar.
For a global star, that kind of anonymity can be a luxury of its own.
Why The Story Landed So Hard
There is also a bigger reason this went viral. In a world where celebrity garages often read like auction catalogs, going from a multi-million-dollar Bugatti to an old Corolla feels almost subversive. It flips the usual hierarchy. The hypercar is the symbol of ultimate access, but it can also become a cage, especially when fame hits a new level.
Bad Bunny’s recent run, Grammys history followed by a Super Bowl halftime performance that still drew more than 128 million viewers, only reinforces the point. The bigger he gets, the more any high-profile car becomes a moving billboard.
That is why the Corolla decision resonates. It suggests that sometimes the most valuable feature is not speed, sound, or exclusivity. Sometimes the ultimate upgrade is the ability to go unnoticed.
This article originally appeared on Autorepublika.com and has been republished with permission by Guessing Headlights. AI-assisted translation was used, followed by human editing and review.
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