Mega dealer nabs mega discount on N.Y. penthouse

Terry Taylor, the secretive auto dealership magnate, is the new owner of a New York City penthouse that clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger spent years trying to sell.

Property records filed last week show that Taylor, who is believed to own more dealerships than anyone else in the world, paid $31.25 million for Hilfiger's 5,600-square-foot pad atop the famed Plaza Hotel, mansionglobal.com reported. Although that probably sounds like a lot to most nonmagnates, it represents a 61 percent discount from the $80 million Hilfiger was asking in 2013. (We're not sure how it compares to the TrueCar price, though.)

The four-bedroom penthouse includes one of the iconic 112-year-old building's four cupolas, a red-carpet-lined staircase, a tea room with a hand-painted mural, a terrace overlooking Central Park, and bedroom suites designed with nautical, rock 'n' roll and lavender fields themes.

Taylor, as Automotive News noted in a profile last year, previously paid $25 million for a penthouse in the Porsche Design Tower near Miami. That unit has space for 11 cars and a glass-walled elevator to whisk residents up while in their cars.

When spending time at his newest acquisition, alas, Taylor will have to leave his wheels at street level.