It's X Factor knockout time.

This means from now until Christmas your girlfriend is going to force you to watch the same old wannabes get emotional on TV over how they really need the UK’s biggest music mogul to make them a star.

But less of Danni Minogue and Louis Walsh because it’s the main man’s special day – Mr Simon Cowell has turned 50.

You’ve got to love Simon Cowell, the man simply has it all. He’s worth £120 million, has mansions in London and LA and has the power to make or break a reality TV show contestant’s hopes with one of his acerbic verdicts. Women love him too.

He also spends a large portion of the year working with the world’s sexiest woman, Cheryl Cole.

And when he’s not sat next to the Girls Aloud star, he’s been fortunate to have been sat behind the wheel of these stunning motors.

Gallery: Cars Simon Cowell has owned

Rolls-Royce Phantom (three of ‘em - £810,000)

If you’re a reality TV star of high stature, you really do need to have a luxury car and at the end of the day it boils down to choosing a Maybach or Rolls-Royce. Dragons’ Den stars Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones own Maybachs whereas Apprentice big dog Sir Alan Sugar has a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

X Factor, American Idol and Britain’s Got Talent star Simon Cowell has three Phantoms. He has one in LA and one in London and it was reported in June that Cowell had purchased a Coupe model.

At Cowell's star-studded weekend birthday bash, the lager delivery driver dropped a box of bottles, sending shards of glass towards his Phantom.

Here’s what you need to know about the Phantom:

• 6.75-litre V12 engine with 453bhp and 531lb/ft of pulling power
• 0-60mph takes 5.7 seconds
• Top speed is 147mph for the Phantom and 155mph for the Coupe
• The Phantoms costs £257,000 each
• The Phantom Coupe costs £296,000 plus any optional extras

Although in an interview on Top Gear a few years back, Mr Cowell did describe the Rolls-Royce Phantom as “ostentatious”. 

Bugatti Veyron - £830,000

Just as the Phantom is the last word in luxury, the Bugatti Veyron is the pinnacle of supercar engineering. With an 8-litre W16 engine, the Veyron will accelerate from 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds before hitting a top speed of 253mph.

Just 300 Bugatti Veyrons will be built with Cowell housing his in sunny LA.

Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder - £133,000

While the Bugatti screams opulence, the Gallardo Spyder just, er, screams. Lamborghini build bona fide supercars combining mad looks with madder performance with the Gallardo the entrance route to Lambo ownership. It still cost him £133k though.

Lamborghini has squeezed 520 Italian horses into the Gallardo’s 5-litre V10 engine, enabling a top speed of 193mph.  

Audi R8 - £80,000

The R8 is Audi’s first foray into the supercar market and it’s been a phenomenal success for the German manufacturer since its 2007 launch. With a 4.2-litre V8 engine, the R8 develops 420bhp and is capable of 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds and a top speed of 187mph.

However, the R8 is no longer the top Audi with a V10 model now available. With performance figures raised to 3.9 seconds and 197mph it will be interesting to see if the X Factor man gets his chequebook out. 

Ferrari F430 Spider - £137,000

In 2002, Cowell owned a Ferrari 360 Spider which he described in one interview as “like a go-kart and incredibly responsive”. However, cars inevitably get replaced – with the 360 replaced by the F430.

The F430 Spider was launched in 2005 and, as the name suggests, has a 4.3-litre V8 engine which develops 483bhp – with the exhaust churning out an awesome sound. Acceleration is rapid, with 0-62mph taking 4.1 seconds while the top speed of 193mph comfortably exceeds the 360’s 180mph v-max.  

Bentley Azure - £221,000

The Gallardo Spyder and F430 convertibles are super-flash convertibles, but the Azure is a classier machine designed to cruise rather than blast round a track at 180mph.

Under the bonnet of the four-seat convertible is a 6.7-litre V8 tuned to develop 450 ultra-smooth horses which catapult the Azure from 0-60mph in 5.9 seconds. Simon traded the Azure in for a Phantom

Here are a couple of the other cars he’s owned over the years:

• Three Aston Martin DB7s - £317,000
• Ferrari 360 Spider - £121,000
• Jaguar XKR - £60,000
• Jaguar XK8 - £50,000
• Triumph TR6 -
• Porsche 911
• Various Range Rovers - £100,000
• Mercedes SL 55 AMG £100,000
• Bentley Arnage T - £175,000
• Aston Martin DB9 Volante - £121,000
• 'Very Hot' Mini Cooper - £20,000

And his first car? A Renault 5.

Total: £3.25 million - Not bad for the man who introduced the world to the muscial talents of Robson and Jerome, The Teletubbies and Sonia.

Not just a poser

And he knows how to drive these cars, having appeared as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear twice. On both occasions he topped the leaderboard only to be overtaken by Jimmy Carr in the Suzuki Liana and Jay Kay in the Chevrolet Lacetti.

He also appeared on little known game show Sale of the Century in 1991 where he was described as “a keen go-kart racer”.  Google it, it’s quite funny.

What should Simon Cowell buy next?

What with Leona Lewis looking like being one Britain’s most successful music artists and Susan Boyle’s music expected to sell by the bucket-load, Cowell doesn’t look like being affected by the credit crunch in the near future.

With money not much of an issue and a clear penchant for performance and luxury, there can only be one car for him to buy – the Aston Martin One-77.

The One-77 is the most expensive and exquisite car to ever be built by the British company with a 7.3-litre V12 ensuring it’s also the quickest.

While final performance figures are yet to be confirmed, Aston is confident the One-77 will rocket from 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds and have a top speed in excess of 200mph.

As the name suggests, just 77 of the Astons will be built – at a cost of £1.2 million.

Ultimately, the Aston Martin One-77 proves Britain has the X Factor.