Car collection of the 29th Sultan of Brunei

The car collection of the 29th Sultan of Brunei is the largest private car collection in the world, consisting of approximately 7,000 cars which have an estimated combined value over $5 Billion USD. [1] The 29th Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, is one of the last absolute monarchs of the modern era. He is the 29th (and current) Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan, Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Finance Minister, and Head of Religion of the Nation of Brunei.[2] The majority of his wealth is sourced from oil and gas development, which has allowed him to amass a net worth of $20 billion USD, making him the second richest royal in the world after King of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn.[3] [4] This wealth combined with his interest in cars has allowed the Sultan to purchase over 2000 cars, including more than 600 Rolls-Royces, 550 Mercedes Benzes, 450 Ferraris [1] Within his collection of cars, the Sultan’s collection of Ferrari F40s, McLaren F1s, and Rolls-Royces are particularly notable due to the rarity of the vehicles and their value.  

29th Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah

Ferrari F40 collection

The Ferrari F40 was a mid-engine sports car produced from 1987 to 1992 to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary of the company’s founding in 1947.[5] All of the 1,315 F40s produced by Ferrari, came in one configuration consisting of Left Hand Drive, Rosso Corsa exterior colour, matched with a red cloth interior. [6] Of the eleven known Ferrari F40s purchased by the Sultan of Brunei, ten underwent cosmetic and performance modifications performed by Italian car designer firm Pininfarina, with nine of the cars being modified under the supervision of Paolo Garella, the Pininfarina Prototype Manager of the 1990s. [7]

Ferrari F40 with Rosso Corsa exterior

Modified by Pininfarina

Under the supervision of Paolo Garella, nine Ferrari F40s were modified by Pininfarina. This included seven road cars, and two Ferrari F40 LMs. Of the seven custom road-car F40s, the modifications for each car was as follows:

Drive Configuration Exterior Interior
Right Hand Drive Converted Nero Nero Leather{[cn}}
Right Hand Drive Converted Emerald Green Emerald Leather
Right Hand Drive Converted Forest Green Nero Leather
Right Hand Drive Converted Rosso Corsa (Original) Nero Leather
Right Hand Drive Converted Bianco Nero Leather
Left Hand Drive (Original) Matte-black Nero Leather
Left Hand Drive (Original) Grigio Nero Leather

These seven cars were also fitted with air-conditioning, a radio, electric windows, and a tiltable steering wheel column as options requested by the Sultan. [8] An unknown number of these vehicles also received a high air-flow exhaust and ECU remap to increase torque from 426 pound-foot, to 480 pound-foot.

The Sultan of Brunei also purchased two of the nineteen Michelotto F40 LMs produced by Ferrari. [9] One of the F40 LMs was left in its original condition, whilst the other one was modified by Pininfarina by being repainted in black paint with a red stripe going around the body of the vehicle.

Furthermore, two other Ferrari F40s were modified by Pininfarina, however these cars were not modified under the supervision of Paolo Garella. Both of these vehicles were kept in the United Kingdom, as the Sultan required access to the vehicles while on overseas trips. The modifications applied to these cars were as follows:

Drive Configuration Exterior Interior
Right Hand Drive Converted Giallo Nero Leather
Right Hand Drive Converted Grigio Brunei with red stripe Ferrari Testarossa Seats[8]

Brunei F40s in public circulation

Only three of the eleven Ferrari F40s have exchanged ownership from the Sultan of Brunei. One of these cars was the original F40 LM purchased for Brunei in 1992 which has since gone through four separate owners before ultimately being purchased by Shinji Takei in 1996.[10] The two other vehicles were the Right Hand Drive converted Yellow F40, and Right Hand Drive converted Matte Grey F40, which were both purchased back from the Brunei Royal Family by John Collins, a Ferrari Dealer who worked for Talacrest, a UK-based Ferrari specialist. [11]

The matte grey exterior car was converted to a Rosso Corsa exterior with LM seats in the early 2000s. However, in 2018 the car was restored back to a matte grey exterior with red stripe, leaving the LM seats, with the work being done by UK Engineering firm DK Engineering.[12]

The Yellow car was also restored to its original configuration with a Rosso Corsa exterior and red cloth interior whilst remaining in a Right Hand Drive configuration. It is the only Right Hand Drive Ferrari F40 up for purchase in the world. [11]

These two F40s are the only known Right Hand Drive F40s currently in public circulation. [11]

McLaren F1 collection
McLaren F1 LM in original Papaya Orange paint scheme

The McLaren F1 was a mid-engine sports car manufactured from 1992 to 1998, with a total of 106 cars being produced.[13] Due to the extremely limited number of production, the cars are extremely rare and are valued between $8 million USD to $13.5 Million. [14] The Sultan of Brunei purchased ten of the 106 McLaren F1s produced, and these included five road cars, three F1 LMs, one F1 GT, and one F1 GTR.

The five road cars were grey, red, black, blue, and yellow with the respective production codes of #002, #004, #005, #008, and #014. The red F1 was written off during the mid-1990s and its parts were used for maintenance on the other cars. The grey F1 was the first production McLaren F1 built and still resides in Brunei with the blue F1. The yellow F1 (014) was purchased from the Brunei Royal Family in the early 2000s by a dealer in the US and later auctioned off, #005 was bought from the Royal Family in 2015, it was sold via a dealer to radio presenter Chris Evans. [15] The yellow car has since been repainted in white, and has been modified with the McLaren F1 high-down-force kit. The interior was also stripped down to racing specification, with all the work being done by McLaren in 2007, costing the owner $500,000 USD. [16]

Furthermore, the Sultan also bought three of the six total McLaren F1 LMs produced, with LM1 and LM4 having an identical paint scheme of black with graphics, making them the only F1 LMs without the Papaya Orange paint scheme. [17] LM5 however, was kept in original specification with the Papaya Orange exterior paint scheme. [17]

The Sultan of Brunei also purchased one of the three longtail McLaren F1 GTs produced, with production code #54F1GT. It had a black exterior with black interior. He also purchased a McLaren F1 GTR, with production code #09R. This car was painted with the matching paint scheme as the Le Mans winning Ueno Clinic F1 GTR.[18]

McLaren F1's in the Royal collection
Chassis Exterior Interior Extra
002 Dorchester Grey Grey Leather First customer F1
004 Grand Prix Red Black Leather Crashed, Chassis was returned to Woking
005 Jet Black Black Leather Sold, Owned by Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei, Black wheels, bespoke logos
008 Cobalt Blue Grey Leather Standard
014 Titanium Yellow Black Leather Sold, repainted in White with HDK
LM1 Black with graphics Black Alcantara Bespoke livery
LM4 Black with graphics Black Alcantara Bespoke livery
LM5 Papaya Orange Orange Alcantara Standard LM spec
54F1GT Jet Black Black Leather Owned by Jefri Bolkiah, contrast Burgandy Alcantara
09R Ueno Livery Black Alcantara Replica of GTR 01R, no race history

Bugatti EB110 collection

The Bugatti EB110 was a rear mid-engine sports car manufactured from 1991-1995. The Royal family ordered a "few" EB110's for the collection, this included 4 EB110 SS models with the respective production codes of 01, 02, 03, 13. SS01 was sold to the UK in the early 2000's. SS02, SS03 and SS13 are still in the Royal family garages as of 2010.

Chassis Exterior Interior Extra
SS01 Grigio Chiaro Blue Leather Sold, bespoke logos and plaques
SS02 Nero Metal Nero Inchios Leather Owned by Prince Jefri Bolkiah, possibly fitted with a Dauer exhaust and ECU
SS03 Giallo Bugatti Nero Inchios Leather Possibly involved in a minor crash in the early 2000's
SS13 Nero/ Blu/ Giallo/ Rosso Livery Nero/ Blu/ Giallo/ Rosso Leather Most bespoke and highest specification EB110, bespoke exterior and interior in multiple colours



Rolls-Royce collection

As of 2011, the Sultan of Brunei holds the Guinness World Record for the largest private Rolls-Royce collection, with more than 500 Rolls-Royce vehicles.[19]

Phantom VI

The Rolls-Royce Phantom VI was produced from 1968 to 1990, and was commonly used by the British Monarchy.[20] The Sultan of Brunei custom ordered four Phantom VIs, named the Rolls-Royce Cloudesque [21] The car was a modernised version of the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, produced from 1955 to 1966, having undergone engine modifications and transmission upgrades. [21] The engine was a 6.75L Rolls Royce L410 V8 found in the Rolls Royce Silver Spirit Mk III, with the turbo and catalyst removed. [21] The car was also modified to have a boot similar in design to that of the Rolls Royce Silver Seraph. [21] The Chassis numbers for the four vehicles are as follows:

1995 Model Year Chassis Number 1997 Model Year Chassis Number
SCAZH00C4SCH00061 SCAZH13C4VCH00468
SCAZH00C6SCH00062 SCAZH13C6VCH00469

The character in the position of the fifth spot of each chassis number dictates whether the vehicle is a standard customer order or not. The letter 'H' indicated that these four vehicles were modified vehicles made for select customers, specifically destined for the Sultan of Brunei. [21]

1990 Rolls Royce Silver Spur II

Silver Spur II

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II was a luxury limousine produced by Rolls-Royce from 1989 to 1993 as an evolution of the original Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit. [22] It has a 6.75 litre V8 linked to a three speed automatic transmission. [23] The Sultan of Brunei also custom ordered a Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II stretch limousine for his wedding day, however he had the car customised such that the whole vehicle was plated with 24-carat gold, with the limousine having an estimated price of $14 million USD. [24]

Other vehicles owned by members of the BRF
Model Exterior Interior Extra
Mercedes Benz CLK GTR Iridium Silver Black Leather/Tartan Sold, Currently in Bangkok, Only RHD coupe, 7.3 spec engine, Originally owned by Jefri Bolkiah
Mercedes Benz CLK GTR Roadster Dark Silver Magenta Leather Sold, Currently owned by Vijay Mallya, Originally owned by Jefri Bolkiah
Ferrari LaFerrari Rosso Corsa Nero Leather Owned by Prince Abdul Hakeem, Crashed in 2020
Ferrari LaFerrari Nero DS Nero Leather Sold, Originally owned by Prince Abdul Hakeem, Currently in Singapore
Ferrari LaFerrari Bianco Bianco Leather Owned by Abdul Mateen Bolkiah
Pagani Huayra Bianco Nero Leather Owned by Prince Abdul Hakeem
Ferrari Enzo Nero Opaco Nero Leather Owned by Prince Abdul Hakeem, Kept in the UK
Maserati MC12 Nero Blu Leather Sold, Originally owned by Prince Abdul Hakeem, Satin PPF, Only black MC12

Other Vehicles
BMW Nazca C2 which was based on the Nazca M12

BMW Nazca M12 Concept

The BMW Nazca M12 was a concept car unveiled by BMW at the March 1991 Geneva Motor Show as a collaboration between BMW and Italdesign. [25] It was designed by twenty six year old Fabrizio Guigiaro, the son of Italdesign founder Giorgetto Giugiaro, as his debut concept design. After seeing the vehicle at the Geneva Motor Show, the Sultan of Brunei requested that one M12 be specially made for him. [26] The Nazca M12 lead to the creation of the BMW Nazca C2 which was later unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in the same year, however neither vehicle made it into series production. [27] The bodywork of the Nazca M12 was inspired by Formula 1 and Group C vehicles of the time, with the vehicle being 4.37 metres in length and 1.99 metres wide with a drag coefficient of 0.26. [25] The engine in the BMW M12 was the M70B50 five litre V12, which was the same engine used in BMW's 750i and 850i production cars of the time. [28] The M70B50 produced approximately 300 horsepower and 450 newton-metres of torque, and was mounted in the middle of the car in a mid-engine configuration with the V12 being placed in a longitudinal arrangement. [25]


Ferrari F90 Testarossa

The Ferrari F90 Testarossa was a limited run production car made in conjunction with Ferrari and Pininfarina in 1988. [29] The engine in the vehicle was a 4.9 litres flat twelve producing 390 horsepower and 480 newton-metres of torque, mounted in a mid-engine configuration. [29] The vehicle was rear-wheel drive with a Prodrive electro-hydraulic transmission. It was based on the Ferrari Testarossa's chassis and only shared the wheels and mirrors from the Testarossa body, with all the other components being newly designed. [29] Only six F90 Testarossas were made, and they were all exclusively produced for the Sultan of Brunei, with each one being a different colour. [30] Ferrari first acknowledged the development and production of the F90 Testarossa in a short section from their 2005 Ferrari Annual Report, seventeen years after the creation of the vehicles. [30] Enrico Fumia was the head of the Research and Development department at Pininfarina and was responsible for the management of the F90 Project which he described as designing a "Ferrari of the 90s". [29] Fumia also noted that the Ferrari F90 Testarossa was one of the "most complicated and sophisticated" vehicle commissions built by Pininfarina and that it was "a difficult technical exercise mixed with a dramatic style". [29]


Ferrari FX
Ferrari FX (1996) at the Marconi Automotive Museum

The Ferrari FX was a mid-engined sports car that was commissioned by the Sultan of Brunei and produced by Ferrari in 1995 and 1996. [31] The vehicle was built in conjunction with Pininfarina and Williams Grand Prix Engineering, and was based on the Ferrari 512, with seven known vehicles being produced. [1] Pininfarina was responsible for remodelling the body of the vehicle with a majority of the body being composed of aluminium with the use of carbon fibre of sections such as the hood, door panels, and the wheel wells. [32] The vehicles were also fitted with a new cooling system and revised exhaust to accommodate the new styling of the rear bumper. [31] The Ferrari FX had a flat twelve engine producing 440 horsepower and 500 newton-metres of torque in a rear-wheel drive configuration. [32] Williams was responsible for fitting the seven vehicles with a Formula 1 derived seven speed, electro-hydraulic sequential gearbox, which had manual clutch adjustments in the centre console alongside red and green paddle-shifters behind the Momo steering wheel. [32] Out of the seven Ferrari FXs produced, the fourth vehicle, finished in dark blue with chassis number 103396, was unable to make it to Brunei and was purchased by Dick Marconi for display at the Marconi Automotive Museum.


Bentley Dominator

The Bentley Dominator was a luxury SUV produced specifically for the Sultan of Brunei in 1996. [33] Six Bentley Dominators were constructed for the Sultan with an approximated cost of $4.6 million USD per vehicle. [34] The vehicle was based on the P38A Range Rover platform and also uses its all wheel drive system, whilst Bentley was responsible for changing the exterior and interior of the vehicles. [33] The vehicles came in red, yellow, and dark blue, with all of the vehicles having chrome trim on the exterior and chrome wheels. [33] Design Research Associates ltd was responsible for the design of the Bentley Dominator with the cars being built by Rig Design Services in Southam. [35]

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