Background
Brunei is a small country located in South-East Asia which is blessed with large oil reserves.
The head of the Brunei's monarchy is Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah - commonly known as the Sultan of Brunei. With his considerable family fortune and obvious love for motorcars (the more exotic the better it seems) he has amassed a collection of more than 3000 cars. With a desire for the exotic and rare it seems many of the world's manufacturers could not resist the potential sales available by producing one-off specials for the Sultan.
The cars listed and described here are not all confirmed, the reason being that many never made it past the motor show circuit (if were seen at all) and don't officially exist - ask a manufacturer about them and you will no doubt get an answer to that effect.
The cars
Ferrari F40
One in each colour thanks, Red, White, Black...Ferrari are reported to have refused selling multiple F40's to the Sultan - so legend has it - he went into the secondary market and purchased the cars he wanted - probably at a significant premium.
Ferrari F50
Again - one in each colour, Red, Silver, Black, Yellow...
Ferrari 456GT Venice
Ferrari designer Pininfarina is said to have designed and built 9 special 456's for the Sultan in 1997. 3 convertibles, 3 four-door wagons and 3 four-door sedans. The wagon/estate/shooting-brake is reportedly called the 456GT Venice and is quite a good looking car! Four-doors are based on a stretched wheelbase and all have regular 456 running gear.
Ferrari Mythos
Only appeared as a showcar. The Sultan has at least 2. Unlike the one that was shown on the motorshow circuit - both these were fully functional and had closed top designs. They are also said to have air-conditioning. Red, Blue, Designed by Pininfarina.
Ferrari FX
F512M based car complete with F1-style paddle shift - this car was never seen publically. The paddle-shift is reportedly a version engineered by Ferrari for the F50, but was not actually used in the production run. Another Pininfarina produced car - like the Mythos, these cars must have had approval from the Ferrari factory as they feature full badging. Has at least one in Black.
Aston Martin AM2
A twin-supercharged (based on the V8 that powers the A-M Vantage) 5.3 V8 powered coupe, not dissimilar to DB7 or Vantage project car. Again the work of Pininfarina. This one is finished in Red, with red-leather interior.
Bentley Java
Only a showcar according to the factory. Based on a purpose-built chassis and Rolls-Royce engine (not the 5-series platform and V8 engine the showcar had) - and not in fibreglass - but real metal. The Sultan has a few to choose from including a silver estate version.
Bentley Grand Prix
A never seen car from Bentley - apart from some heavily disguised high-speed testing at Nardo, Italy in 1996 - where is was mistaken by many as a BMW Z8/9 prototype. Large coupe body style, looks to have headlights not dissimilar to a Porsche 911, high-boost turbo V8 power.
Bentley Pegasus Estate
A car that was spied in an AutoCar magazine a few years back - but never made it into production. Based on a Continental T chassis - stretched to have a four-door or estate body. One in Blue.
Rolls-Royce Limo
A large not-seen-before limo produced by Rolls-Royce. Does not appear to use the panels from any production R-R but the headlights look like an early run of the later Silver Seraph model, one in Black.
Bentley Dominator
A Bentley 4x4 - made before the current rush towards SUV's and luxury 4x4's, this one was produced on a custom chassis with Range Rover driveline and Bentley V8 turbo power - incredible. At least 2 in Black.
Mercedes 600 Pullman
A replica of the greatest limo ever. These cars were specially built by AMG (they had a large section of their factory geared specifically towards producing cars for the Sultan - known as the Sultans Room). They are special in that they have modern S-class power and modern automatic gearboxes, electric windows, airbags and interior. Hand-built - at least one in Black.
Mercedes 300SL
As above - hand-built replica's of the real thing, complete with modern running gear and auto-gearboxes. Why doesn't Benz sell these!!! A few Gullwing's and a few Roadsters spotted. Black.
Dauer 962
These cars were road going Porsche 962's produced (re-engineered really) by Dauer. These are said to be the fastest cars in the entire collection (no mean feat). The Sultan is reported to own 6 of them - 2 spotted in Yellow and Red.
McLaren F1
8 F1's reside in the Sultans garage - ranging from the humble (errrr...) road car to many racing LM's. In one photo I have seen, a black LM can be seen with 'UENO Clinic' stickers and the number 50 on the side - didn't this car win Le Mans in 1995??? There is also a Gulf-liveried LM in the same shot.
Sources
I am currently tracking down some photos of these machines. I have searched the internet but with no luck. Most most information I have found was contained in the 09/1998 Wheels (Australia) magazine. The magazine did not quote it's sources. Employees of the garage where the cars are housed are reported to be paid large retainer salaries to look after the cars and are sworn to secrecy - quite how these photos came to be in existance is unknown at this stage.
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