Matt LeBlanc has raised eyebrows with his choice of car after being spotted driving a bright blue Ford Focus through Los Angeles.
The 59-year-old Friends star was seen behind the wheel of the discontinued hatchback while making a stop at a tire shop. The sighting is particularly notable given LeBlanc’s estimated $85 million fortune and his long-standing reputation as a serious car enthusiast.
The Ford Focus was discontinued in the United States in 2018. When it was last available as a new vehicle, prices ranged from $17,950 to $41,995 for the high-performance version, according to Kelley Blue Book.
LeBlanc Keeps His Look Just as Casual
The actor appeared to embrace the understated nature of his choice of vehicle, wearing black sweatpants, a grey Harley Davidson T-shirt, a black baseball cap and Adidas sneakers.
His low-key appearance matched the everyday nature of the blue hatchback as he went about his business in Los Angeles.
LeBlanc’s choice of car is especially unexpected because of his well-known passion for automobiles. He served as a co-host of Top Gear from 2016 to 2019, further establishing his credentials as a major car enthusiast.
A Fortune Built on Friends
Despite the modest vehicle, LeBlanc remains one of the most successful stars to emerge from Friends.
LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and the late Matthew Perry famously negotiated their salaries collectively during the show’s run. Their pay increased dramatically from $22,500 per episode during the first season to $1 million per episode each during the final seasons.
The sitcom ran for 10 seasons between 1994 and 2004 and has continued to generate substantial income for its stars through syndication and residual payments.
Kudrow revealed earlier this year that the surviving cast members continue to receive significant annual residual income, with the group collectively earning around $20 million a year.
The Cast Returned for a Special Reunion
The Friends stars reunited in 2021 for a one-off reunion special on HBO Max, with reports at the time suggesting that each member of the main cast received about $2.5 million for appearing.
The continuing financial success of the sitcom was discussed by Kudrow during an interview with The Times in April.
Reflecting on the series after Perry’s death, Kudrow said she had watched the show again and found herself appreciating it differently. Rather than focusing primarily on what she could have done better, she said she was able to recognize the exceptional work produced by the cast.
Kudrow also praised her former co-stars, including LeBlanc, while describing Perry as an extraordinary performer whose contribution to the series stood apart.
Matthew Perry’s Death Changed the Cast’s Perspective
Perry died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54. He was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home, with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office later determining that the acute effects of ketamine were responsible for his death.
LeBlanc paid tribute to his longtime friend and co-star on social media following the tragedy.
Sharing a photograph of the cast embracing during the filming of the show’s 2004 finale, LeBlanc described his time with Perry as among the favorite periods of his life and recalled the privilege of working alongside him.
He ended the emotional message with a characteristically personal reference to the $20 Perry supposedly owed him.
Friends Cast Described Themselves as a Family
The five surviving main cast members also issued a joint statement following Perry’s death.
They described themselves as more than colleagues, saying their relationship had developed into a family over the decade they spent making the sitcom.
The actors said they needed time to grieve before speaking further about Perry’s death and extended their thoughts and love to his family, friends and the millions of people around the world who had followed his career.
For LeBlanc, the latest sighting behind the wheel of an inexpensive, discontinued Ford Focus offers another glimpse of the actor’s relatively understated approach away from the spotlight — despite his considerable wealth and lifelong passion for expensive and performance-oriented cars.
