Die Autosammlung des Sultan von Brunei

[Yuma]

Hi!

Zum HWA 300SL kenne ich folgende Story:

Ursprünglich bestellte Brunei 10 Wagen. Der Auftrag wurde aber aufgrund der schlechten finanziellen Situtation, in der sich die Royals Ende der 90er befanden, storniert.

Die bis dahin 6 gebauten Wagen wurden aber von Brunei übernommen. Der siebte noch im Aufbau befindliche Wagen wurde nach Fertigstellung von HK-Engineering, einem 300SL Spezialisten, übernommen und stand dort zum Verkauf.

Meines Wissens nach ist dass der Wagen, der jetzt in Hong Kong bei SPS Performance ist.

http://www.sps-automotive.com/en_sps/narrive/300slhwa_e.htm

Grüsse

PS: Mir gefällt er übrigens echt gut!

[Anzeige eBay]

Hallo Karl,

 

kennst du schon Die Autosammlung des Sultan von Brunei (Anzeige)? Dort ist vieles zu finden.

 

Verschiedenes über Autos Ersatzteile (Anzeige) | Verschiedenes über Autos Zubehör (Anzeige)

[basman007]

Hi!

Zum HWA 300SL kenne ich folgende Story:

Ursprünglich bestellte Brunei 10 Wagen. Der Auftrag wurde aber aufgrund der schlechten finanziellen Situtation, in der sich die Royals Ende der 90er befanden, storniert.

Die bis dahin 6 gebauten Wagen wurden aber von Brunei übernommen. Der siebte noch im Aufbau befindliche Wagen wurde nach Fertigstellung von HK-Engineering, einem 300SL Spezialisten, übernommen und stand dort zum Verkauf.

Meines Wissens nach ist dass der Wagen, der jetzt in Singapur bei SPS Performance ist.

http://www.sps-automotive.com/en_sps/narrive/300slhwa_e.htm

Grüsse

How do you know 10 were ordered, but only six were delivered? And that the 7th is @ SPS?

There is another one located in HK or Japan.

There were 4 AMG's and 4 normall ones (I don't know if these normall ones were really normall, but that's the way they're on the list) @ RBPC 5.

There could be more located at other houses.

I know AM in Singapore has at least one that came either out of Brunei or was never delivered and ended up in SG.

[Karl VIP CO]

Hallo Karl,

ich habe diverse Stellen in Brunei bereits angeschrieben. Ergebnis: Keine Antwort bis Heute. Sogar den deutschen Botschafter in Brunei habe ich via email kontaktiert und habe leider auch keine Antwort erhalten.

Ich glaube es ist unmöglich die Sammlung der Royalen Familie jemals zu Gesicht zu bekommen. Er zeigt sie vielleicht seinem Freund Prince Charles, aber bestimmt keinem "Normal-Sterblichen".

Danke für die Info. Trotzdem schön, dass Du es versucht hast.

[basman007]

Bugatti EB110 SS #001

This left-hand drive EB110S bears an affixed plaque stating that ‘Bugatti has the pleasure of producing for the Royal Family of Brunei the first of its model EB110S (sic) Super Sport car.’ Accompanying documentation records that the vehicle was exported from Brunei to the UK in March 2002 and first registered in this country on 1st August 2005. It has enjoyed only two registered keepers since, both members of the same family. While in the UK the car has been maintained by Autobase, of Eccles, Manchester and comes with invoices for general servicing which has included replacing the radiator and re-gassing the air conditioning system. The most recent service recorded in the accompanying booklet was carried out on 31st October 2007 at 5,850 miles. Finished in silver with blue leather interior, ‘001’ is presented in excellent order throughout and represents a rare opportunity to acquire one of the iconic supercars of the 1990s, the performance of which has yet to be surpassed.

To be auctioned by Bonhams December 3rd 2007 in London

12 pictures here: http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/17.html

[Lamberko]

But 3 of your pictures show this silver #001 "SS" in RHD-Version, not LHD. - Why?

Different cars?

[basman007]

But 3 of your pictures show this silver #001 "SS" in RHD-Version, not LHD. - Why?

Different cars?

Yeah, different cars. SCN did a lay-out update and apparently it now takes 24 hours for pics to show up, so you can't see the 12 new pictures yet.

You can see pictures of an older update: 4 pics of what I think is also #1 in a garage and 3 pictures of the RHD #55 at an event.

[BruNei_carFRe@K]

Thanks for the news, basman.

[basman007]

pics are still not showing up

here's the Bonhams add: http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=3735413&iSaleNo=15348

[basman007]

1996 Mercedes-Benz Argento Vivo - 26 pictures

The Argento Vivo was initially a formal and technological research prototype built by Pininfarina in conjunction with Honda. This car was presented to the International press at the Tokyo motor show in 1995 by Sergio Pininfarina and Nabuhiko Kawamoto, President of Honda. The car won the “Golden Market Trophy” awarded by the Japanese magazine “Car Styling” and the “Best in Show” from the American magazine “Auto Week”.

According to Pininfarina the “Argento Vivo represents a refined exercise in style, an image car that projects its personality into the world of automobiles. With innovative solutions, like that developed for the convertible hard top, which can slide back automatically and then be housed in a space behind the two seats leaving the luggage compartment unencumbered. Argento Vivo is an automobile that marries hot Latin passion; a love for sporty aggressive cars, so typical of the Italian tradition, with the rationality of a sophisticated brand… Argento Vivo evokes the concept of a sporty and technological elegance. There are few outstanding points of interest, including the return to the two-tone colour scheme, undertaken with a skilful blend of cutting edge fine materials. Aluminium, which with the basic structure constitutes the heart and spine of the new Spider Pininfarina, becomes a fundamental component in the two-tone interplay and in the enlivening of the cars surfaces. The engine and luggage compartments, the roof structure, the air intakes and the exhaust vents are all made of this material, which calls to mind sporty and competition vehicles of extreme class and, at the same time offers a sense of solidity, protection and functional refinement. The rest of the bodywork, on the other hand, is made of resin painted dark blue, a sort of support into which the aluminium parts are inset.”

I've uploaded pictures of this handsome looking concept car here:

http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=7&fID=134&tID=120354&bottom=30#post44

Prince Jefri Bolkiah must have agreed with me on the looks of this concept seeing as he ordered four Argento Vivo's . The Brunei Argento Vivo's were not based on a Honda chassis, but on the Mercedes-Benz SL600 chassis. Brakes, suspension and gearbox are all AMG, as is the 7.3 litre V12 engine. Developing 655 hp, the performance of the Argento Vivo is devastating, 0-60 in less than 4 seconds and a top speed of over 175 mph. The interior is custom built by Pininfarina especially for the Argento Vivo and consists of carbon fibre door panels, CF dashboard, CF centre console, CF hydraulic hard top, CF nose and tail covers, external sheetmetal in specially fabricated aluminum and special leather and carbon fibre seats. All of this done to the very high standard that is known to be set by the Brunei Royal Family. It is unclear to me wether they were built at AMG's Brunei Room or at PininFarina. Either way, the original cost was over $2,500,000 for each car.

Two of these cars are finished and located in Brunei; the other two, only partly finished cars, were recently up for sale in San Diego, USA. They were acquired (from one of the UK properties?) by the american seller as part of a larger deal with Prince Jefri. IMHO it's interesting that the partly finished cars (and all the parts) were under ownership of Prince Jefri for a certain amount of time. These two american cars were purchased by mr. Olczyk. Mr. Olczyk put one of the cars up for auction at eBay and shipped the other Vivo to Belgium. The eBay Vivo was sold for $64,100,- (not bad for a 2,5 million dollar car :p) to a European (I think French or German). The two cars have been spotted in octobre '07 on their way out of the US by mr. Spencer from ourSL.com (maybe he can provide us with some higher res. images? )

BTW: $64k doesn't get you there yet. Allthough the auction included all the body parts, the windows were located in the UK and could be purchased for $2000. On top of that comes the work to finish the car, an estimate of 20,000 to 25,000 euros has been made by the belgian car manufacturer Gillet (from the Gillet Vertigo).

If mr. Olczyk reads this, maybe he can provide us with the chassis numbers?

The Argento Vivo on the Mercedes-Benz gallery page: http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/10.html

Link to the same post on SCN: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=2&fID=0&tID=104217&bottom=450#post453

[basman007]

Mr. Spencer from www.oursl.com provided us with some more pictures in the original size of when he spotted the Argento Vivo's on their way out of the US. It's interesting to see the new details (and the way of transport ). Thanks!

20 new pictures at the bottom of this page: http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/10.html

SCN:http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=2&fID=0&tID=104217&bottom=450#post454

[Anzeige Amazon]

Hallo Karl,

 

schau doch mal hier zum Thema Zubehör für Verschiedenes über Autos (Anzeige)? Eventuell gibt es dort etwas Passendes.

 

Auch interessant: Der V16 Motor zum Selberbauen (Anzeige).

[basman007]

Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Coupe & Roadster

Finally, after months of only hearing about it, we can finally see something more than a reflection in a mirror of the only RHD CLK GTR Roadster in the world, made specially for the Royal Family of Brunei :]:c

But the place of the steeringwheel isn't even the most noticeable thing on this car, the colours are. The exterior is dark grey and the interior is a shade of pink/purple leather with a grey floor. Very interesting combo, I dig it I wonder if this CLK GTR also has the SS-spec engine...

I also added 13 new pictures of the SS-spec Coupe, wich is located at the same dealership in Singapore. Since so many pictures of the Coupe have surfaced lately, I won't be adding new pictures anymore (unless they're special of course ).

I've made another Mercedes-Benz page, because the first one was getting really full :] I'll add all the CLK GTR pictures to this 2nd page to begin with..

Mercedes-Benz - Part 1: http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/10.html

Mercedes-Benz - Part 2: http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/20.html

Same post on SCN: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=2&fID=0&tID=104217&bottom=450#post458

[Stig CO]

Hab etwas in diesem Thread gestöbert;

Unglaublich die Autosammlung des Sultans.

Unglaublichauch, welchen Einfluss er auf die die Hersteller hat, wenn man seine Specials anschaut.

Komisch aber, dass er sich bei all der Finanzkraft nie dazu bereit erklärte, einer dieser vielen Kleinserien-Hersteller käuflich gleich zu erwerben oder mindestens finanziell zu retten. Wenn man bedenkt, was in den letzten 20 Jahren alles so an Autowerken über den Tisch ging (Lambo, RR, etc) oder eben in den Konkurs fiel (Cizeta, Venturi etc)...

[Karl VIP CO]

Komisch aber, dass er sich bei all der Finanzkraft nie dazu bereit erklärte, einer dieser vielen Kleinserien-Hersteller käuflich gleich zu erwerben oder mindestens finanziell zu retten. Wenn man bedenkt, was in den letzten 20 Jahren alles so an Autowerken über den Tisch ging (Lambo, RR, etc) oder eben in den Konkurs fiel (Cizeta, Venturi etc)...

Vielleicht war es besser so angesichts der Entwicklungen Mitte der 90er Jahre. Der Geldhahn wäre vermutlich auch möglichen erworbenen Herstellern abgedreht worden.

Nichtsdestotrotz wirkt die Kauflust (wer auch immer sie geweckt hat, ich kann mich bis heute der Vermutung nicht erwehren dass findige Vermittler (meinetwegen der profitierenden Hersteller/Veredler) diverse Multi-Millionen-Pfund-Deals eingefädelt haben) bis heute nach: Nicht wenige sind überzeugt dass Rolls-Royce und Bentley die 90er Jahre ohne Brunei nicht überlebt hätten, Pininfarina/Ferrari, AMG/Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin etc. haben sich diverse Entwicklungen finanzieren lassen, Brunei fungierte hier als gleichermaßen einfallsreicher wie beharrlicher Ideengeber.

[basman007]

Mercedes-Benz S600 HWA Landaulet - 5 pictures

Finally pictures that give a good look at one of AMG's 600 Landaulet's. This car, wich is now in Singapore, was re-built ground-up at HWA/AMG in 1998 at a cost of over 750k euros. The things you'll notice instantly are the completely new interior and the brandnew V12, but there's probably alot more done than meets the eye.

Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman - 4 in 1 picture

The last year or so I have been seeing little pieces of this car in the background of media pictures, but up untill today I haven't found a single shot showing this interesting car. This W140 is mintgreen with everything that normally is silver now in gold including the wheels (just like the blue one that's allready in the gallery). It reminds me of their pink Pullman, wich I realised is from the W126 time. I didn't know there were any W126 Pullman's

+ a pic of a normal black one

Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman - 2 pictures

And the Pullman W220. These pics were taken by SCN member Amran in Singapore.

Mercedes-Benz S600 AMG - 3 pictures

Three pics of two different S600 AMG's (one black, one grey) that were used by the Crown Prince (notice the DPM license plate). Too bad there is no good pic of the grey one, because I love the badass look of that car

Mercedes-Benz W126 V12 AMG - 1 picture

Interesting car in an interesting colour, mint green with ditto wheels. Like a couple of the other cars in this update this is another Brunei special. The W126 cars were not available with a V12.

Maybach 57 - 2 pictures

Maybach 62 - 1 picture

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter AMG VIP - 4 pictures

By the looks of it, it's now being used by Oakfields as a kind of motorhome.

Mercedes-Benz Fire Engine - 1 picture

This is one of two fire engine's that was being kept in one of the 21 Amadeo warehouses of wich the contents were auctioned in 2001. See this link for a little bit more info on what was for sale and the few pics of these warehouses/items I could find:

http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=7&fID=134&tID=120354&bottom=60#post70

http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=7&fID=134&tID=120354&bottom=60#post71

Mercedes-Benz SL600 AMG V12 - 1 picture

Another picture I found from the back of this awesome green car.

Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR SS - 1 picture

Yuma found a pic of the chassis plaque, confirming that it is #13.

Mercedes-Benz S73 T AMG - 1 picture

I'm not sure how reliable this source (I forgot to save the url) is, but thought it was interesting enough to mention: The Royal Family ordered 15 S73 T's, but only took delivery of 10 cars. Three of the Brunei cars were fitted with the C140 front end. The S73 T AMG was 1 million DM per car in 1996. By now it is believed that AMG made 18 of these cars. 3 of these are supposedly still with AMG and of a pricetag of 325k euros.

Production of basic cars: 1997

-Body style / Seats: Station Wagon / 5

-Powertrain: Front engine, Rear wheel drive

-Engine: AMG M120 E73 (same as Pagani Zonda C12S)

-Capacity: 7,291cc

-Type: V12, DOHC, 48 valves

-Max. Power: 565bhp/5,900rpm

-Max. Torque: 75.5kgm/4,500rpm

-Transmission: 5-speed automatic transmission

-Tyres: Front 255/40 ZR 19 - Rear 285/35 ZR 19

Equipment:

- AMG sportsexhaust system with metal catalysts

- AMG frontaxle brake system (calipers, discs)

- AMG sports suspension

- AMG light alloy wheels 19" type Monoblock

- AMG 300km/h speedometer

- AMG full leather interior

- AMG door trim lining set 14 pieces

- AMG trim lining set 4 pieces (headrests)

- AMG Carbon fibre gear shift lever

- Sony Hifi system with soundsystem & 10 units CD-changer

>>> http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/10.html

Same post on scn: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=2&fID=0&tID=104217&bottom=450#post463

BTW: I also relocated the Argento Vivo pics to the 2nd MB page

[basman007]

The Brunei Cizeta V16T & V12 story

For a 1993 article about the awesome Cizeta car/company, please see below my story concerning the Brunei cars.

In 1989 Cizeta showed their prototype at the Geneva Auto Show. I'm not sure who was all present that year, but I'd imagine at least Prince Jefri was there. The Royals, probably Prince Jefri, liked the Cizeta prototype so much that they placed an order (via Hong Seh) for three cars. The first production Cizeta was present at the 1991 Geneva Motor Show. This car was meant for Brunei/Prince Jefri. It had chassis 103 and was black with a creme, RHD, interior and had boomering style intakes. But when he saw it at the Auto Show he didn't like the colour of the interior, so the creme was replaced by a black interior. The other cars were RHD, black/black with boomering style intakes and RHD, blue/blue with strake style intakes.

What exactly happened with these three cars is still a bit of a mystery to me. The V16T was produced between 1991 and 1994. In may 1993 five cars were delivered to customers. I think the two black Brunei cars were amongst these five and maybe also the third (blue) car. The blue car was the second to last car that was delivered to customers, so maybe it was shipped towards Asia in 1993; or if that isn't the case then in 1994. I think the 1991 Cizeta was flown to Brunei that year, joined by the other black car at a later stage and possible the blue car after that.

At one point, nearing the year 1998, Pininfarina proposed to Prince Jefri to replace the V16 with a Ferrari V12. We can only guess for the reason why, but it could have been because of the practicallity - seeing as Pininfarina had mechanics present in Brunei. The Cizeta's were send over to Pininfarina, where they were to be equipped with a 512M engine, transforming them from Cizeta V16T to Cizeta V12. I think the first Cizeta was also the first to undergo this operation. Besides the engine Pininfarina also made changes to the interior and fitted different (nicer) wheels. I can imagine that Pininfarina also made changes to other parts to improve the car. The second black car was the 2nd car to go into the operation room. It was first stripped and was then fitted with the 512M V12 and then.... nothing: it was probably 1998 by now and shit just hit the fan on a massive scale

The 1st Cizeta, that was completely finished by Pininfarina, ended up with Dick Marconi's Collection in California in 1999. I'm not exactly sure how the deal went down, but Marconi ended up with some Brunei specials that were still at Pininfarina. The buyer of the 2nd car was less fortunate, since this one was still stripped naked. The British dealer Talacrest bought this one, but didn't do anything with it. The pictures in the gallery show this sad car at the end of it's stay with Talacrest. Since about a year the Belgian dealer Vanderveken is offering this car for sale. I don't see much happening to this car soon, because the costs to restore this car to it's original glory would be much too high.

Where was the 3rd (blue) car (wich carried chassisnumber 001 btw)? Well, it could be that the Cizeta Company send the car to Hong Seh, the Ferrari importer in Singapore that handled some of the Royals car business/purchasing as well. Something that supports the theory of Hong Seh acting as the middle man for the 3 Cizeta's is that in 1991 in some media appeared that the first Cizeta (chassis 103) was sold to a customer in Singapore. I think this should have happened in 1994 at the latest. This car was spotted driving around Sant Agata in 1993, so it shouldn't have lasted long before it was send to Asia. And then what? Four years just sitting there waiting for a plane or ship to take it to Brunei? Another option is that it was meant to stay in Singapore for one of the houses or Royals there. Maybe they've driven it a couple times and that at the time of the crisis it was at Hong Seh for a service and never payed for. But Hong Seh claims it only has delivery milage. So, Hong Seh took delivery and everyone forgot about the car, even Hong Seh themselves? Even when the other two Cizeta's were send to Pininfarina nobody remembered the blue Cizeta?

It's also possible that the blue car did end up in Brunei and was at or en route to Pininfarina and, when all car related work was halted in 1998, Pininfarina send to the untouched car to the dealer in Singapore that was taking care of transport to Brunei. And kept the two black Cizeta's untill they were payed for... I like this last one the most, but we don't know alot for certain. All we know for sure is that this car is currently at Hong Seh in Singapore. Or do we? All we have are Hong Seh's claims. They mentioned the car on their website, but showed a picture of the 1st (black/creme) Cizeta. And now even their website is offline... :p

I have doubled the amount of pictures on the Cizeta page by adding 20 new pictures. I've also put them in the correct order:

http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/4.html

1st car

Photoshoot before Geneva '91(?):

Geneva 1991:

At Pininfarina for surgery:

At the Marconi Collection:

2nd car

Photoshoot before Brunei:

Stripped down, at Talacrest:

3rd car

Enjoying the Sant Agata weather:

Same post on SCN: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=2&fID=0&tID=104217&bottom=450#post467

1993 Cizeta article: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?vie...om=450#post468

Check this book, written by Fchat's Brian (Jet-X), about the entire Cizeta history: http://www.16cylinder.com/

"This book will chronicle the birth, rise, and fall of Cizeta Automobili. How Claudio came up with the crazy idea, and some of the crazy things he did to get the car off the drawing board and into a running prototype. Giorgio’s involvement and ultimate departure from the company. And, a pictorial guide of all ten (10) cars that have been built. A pictorial history that covers everything [...]"

It is supposed to be done summer 2008.

[basman007]

Can anyone comment on this?

http://www.carpassion.com/de/forum/302077-post525.html

[basman007]

1997 Ferrari F310B/178

This F1 car was mentioned in a couple of magazine articles that were published in late '98. According to these mags the car that Schumacher "accidentally" turned into Villeneuve's Williams at Jerez, during the 1997 championship was/is part of the Brunei Formula 1 collection. It also states that that Williams was/is in Brunei.

However, according to this cars history provided by Cars International Kensington (who have this car for sale for some time now) it was not owned by the Royal Family, at least the add/history doesn't mention them. They are not the British owner the add refers to; according to the Barchetta registry that was Ian Wade. The Barchetta registry isn't certain about the years of ownership by Tony Raftis, Ian Wade and Paul Osborn (dealer). It could have gone to Brunei directly after the race and sold some time (years?) later to Tony Raftis...

Or perhaps only the Williams, still wearing the scars from the crash, went to Brunei and Ferrari sold them another F310B... BTW, Frank Williams was a guest of the family before and after the Austrialian GP in march 1997.

Maybe someone can help us with the exact history (years of ownership) of F310B/178? But for now the story about this car doesn't seem to be so strong anymore.

------------------------------------------------------

year 1997

price P.O.R.

VAT No

country United Kingdom

Ferrari F310B/178 is perhaps one of the most significant racing cars of Michael Schumacher’s long and illustrious career. Not only is chassis 178 a Grand Prix winning car, but it is also the car in which Michael Schumacher tried to force Jacques Villeneuve out of the Championship deciding 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez.

Schumacher was subsequently disqualified from the 1997 Championship for committing that act at Jerez even though it was not deemed to be premeditated by the officials. The incident becoming one of several that sully the reputation of the greatest Grand Prix driver the world has ever known, while making Ferrari F310B/178 possibly the most infamous car in modern Formula 1 history.

The F310B first appeared at the 1997 season opener, the Australian Grand Prix. Schumacher immediately showed the potential of the car by qualifying third and finishing a strong second. Over the course of the year the F310B scored seventy-eight points for the Scuderia Ferrari, with pole positions in Canada, France and Hungary, wins at Monaco, Canada, France, Belgium and Japan and fastest laps at Monaco, France and Britain.

When Ferrari F310B/178 was retired from racing it was fully rebuilt at the factory before being sold through Italian Motors of Hong Kong to Australian collector Tony Raftis. F310B/178 then spent four years in British ownership having undergone a complete check over by Ferrari.

Cars International Kensington acquired the car in 2007 direct from the previous owner and it has been subject to a complete race prep by our F1 engineers at Cars International Service.

The car comes complete with a full set of mounted dry tyres, wet tyres and starting equipment, together with front and rear jacks, wheel socket and the original dust cover.

It is fully eligible for use in Ferrari F1 Cliente program, and of course in the Monaco historic event in 08 and can be run by the factory or by ourselves at private test days or events.

Presented in perfect condition, Ferrari F310B/178 represents a rare opportunity to acquire a late model, race winning V10 Ferrari Formula 1 car. With no more Formula 1 Ferraris ever to be raced by Michael Schumacher, the greatest Grand Prix driver in Formula 1 history, any race winning Schumacher car represents a tremendous investment opportunity. There can be very few Grand Prix Ferraris with such an instantly recognisable and infamous history as F310B/178, its unique provenance making it an extraordinary car that can only increase in value.

>>> www.racecar.com/carsinternational/racestock/stock/f310b.htm

[basman007]

Pininfarina's Roof Scene

I noticed that a number of Pininfarina's creations are first displayed to the client on their rooftop. Even the P4/5 Pininfarina was shown there. This happening reminds me alot of the balcony scenes by royal families, hence the name I've given to it.

Pininfarina has done alot of projects for the Brunei royal family since the early nineties. Especially in the last years the amount of Brunei specials was mindblowing. I'm not sure if Pininfarina has unveiled all their work on that rooftop. But we know it has been used on a couple occasions: 456 Venice SW, F50 and the XJ220. Perhaps it wasn't a real inveilling everytime, but just an oppertunity to take some pictures (for the client) in daylight and privacy. Some cars were presented at other locations, like the F50 Bolide that we've seen pictures of in Brunei.

Today I'll show you two sets of pictures of these roof scenes.

The first set is probably taken in 1996 and shows the Mercedes-Benz Argento Vivo on the rooftop. This is one of the two cars that were completely finised by Pininfarina and send to Brunei.

I've written an extensive update about the Argento Vivo in an earlier update here: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=2&fID=0&tID=104217&bottom=450#post453

The second set shows a famous one-off cat on the roof We've all seen the picture of the front of this car, but now I can finally present you the rest of the set. Pininfarina did amazing work redesigning this car all over again. And with "all over" I really mean that they redsigned every aspect of the XJ220. The wheels were kept stock on the request of the royal family (personally I like these wheels too and they identify the car as an XJ220). Besides a completely redisnged body, the 1st thing you'll notice is that it is shortened by 20 cm. And the 2nd thing will probably be the greatly improved interior - all to the wishes of the Prince. The actual production of this car was done by Italtecnica. It has a group C engine and upgraded brakes and suspension. It also had one of the first electronic sequential gearboxes, made by Williams (reputedly at a cost of one million dollars). Italtecnica developed a new cooling system, new electric components and a new power-assisted steering installation. All of this resulted in a faster 0-100 km/h time of 3,5 seconds and an increased topspeed of over 325 km/h.

The post on SCN with all the images attached: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=2&fID=0&tID=104217&bottom=480#post483

Enjoy

[Karl VIP CO]

Von User basman007:

**

Mercedes-Benz 600 Landaulet by HWA/AMG

The Brunei car collection houses quite a number of Mercedes-Benz W100 600's, at least 10:

AMG 600 BP9922 WDB 10001222000143 SWB

AMG 600 KF8808 WDB 10001222000162 SWB

AMG 600 1LBS WDB 10001222000298 SWB

AMG 600 BP1819 WDB 10001622000406 6d Pullmann

AMG 600 BQ7528 WDB 10001522000601 Landaulet

AMG 600 BN3300 WDB 10001622001357 6d Pullmann

AMG 600 KF8880 WDB 10001522001743 Landaulet

AMG 600 BN808 WDB 10001222002036 SWB

AMG 600 BN1829 WDB 10001622002219 6d Pullmann

AMG 600 13/06 WDB 10001422002536 4d Pullmann

A number of these 600's were send to HWA/AMG for a modernification proces. I've heard a number of 3 cars and of 5 cars, I don't know if these numbers are correct, it could be more or less. The most radical thing done by HWA was to change the engine to a V12 from the 600SEL, delivering about 320 HP. A story that I've heard is that after the W140 V12 was fitted into the 600, they were no longer able to be driven on the transport truck anymore - unlike with the M100 engine which had no problem. Turns out that the low-rev torque of the V12 just wasn't enough. I can't confirm if this story is true.

The other changes made to the cars can be seen in the pictures. The HWA 600's were brought up to the standard of the 1998 W140 limo's.

One of the AMG 600 Landaulet's has been for sale in Hong Kong at Car City, just like an ex-Brunei S73T AMG. I believe that these two cars were bought by Auto Manufactur in Singapore, an exotic car dealer who seems to have a great interest in Brunei specials. I don't think these are two different 600's (one in SG and one in HK), because the 600 and S73T both showed up in Singapore and were not seen in Hong Kong anymore after that. I'm not sure when they went to Singapore, but that has to be somewhere in 2005. I've got pictures of this Landaulet from 2005, 2006 and 2007 showing that it has been at the dealership since it arrived, sometimes in sight, sometimes out of sight. According to automanufactur this car was re-built ground-up at HWA/AMG in 1998 at a cost of over 750k euros. I'm not sure if the S73T AMG was ever displayed at AM (a source has seen two S73T's at AM one time in 2006); in july 2007 it was spotted (by forum member Amran) in the Malaysian state Johor (wich is close to SG) in the hands of the Crown Prince (TMJ).

The Royal Family of Brunei and Johor are pretty close, so it's also possible the Brunei family gave one of their black on black S73T's away. In this case it's a little bit more difficult to say that the 600 Landaulet in HK and SG are the same...

1995 Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard #7

This is one of the American housed cars owned by Prince Jefri of Brunei. The Prince owns and has owned a number of properties in the Los Angeles area and that's where this 1995 Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard #7 comes from. The seller of this car acquired 5 identical bulletproof S-class' from Prince Jefri and sold 4 of them for use in Iraq. This fifth car could very well be the car that is in The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles (a picture of an ex-Royal S600 Guard there has been in the gallery for a long time allready).

These are the highlights from when it was offered for sale for $100k:

1995 Merceds Benz S600 (4 Door) guard #7 Bullet Proof / Armored Battery / Armored Floor (against hand gernades) / done by Mercedes Benz in Bremen Germany / Loaded inside and out / To many security extras to list / Run Flat tires / very well maintained. This car was originally built for the Sultan of Brunei at a cost of over $500,000.00. This is a rare opportunity to obtain a vehicle with this level of protection for yourself and your family! The car is very heavy, but still perfoms well, about equal to that of a V8 W140.

Here is the description from the Petersen Museum:

The Sultan of Brunei, whose personal wealth is estimated at an astounding $50 billion, purchased the Mercedes-Benz S600 when new to add to his fleet of highly individual, custom-builtcars. Built by Trasco at their top-secret facility in Bremen, Germany, the V-12 powered sedan is equipped to withstand attacks from handguns, assault rifles, and armor-piercing military hardware. The total weight of the vehicle is now 7,600 pounds compared to a stock Mercedes-Benz S600, which weighs a comparatively low 4,200 pounds. To handle the added weight of the armor plating, the car's chassis and suspension were strengthened and the car was fitted with flat-run tires. The fake inoperable "moon roof" gives the car the appearance of a standard, unmodified car. Such add-ons enable the vehicle to blend into the motoring landscape and reduce the likelihood that would-be attackers will identify it as transportation of a wealthy, high-profile international figure.

>>> Mercedes-Benz (part 1) gallery page:

http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/976/10.html

Original post on SCN: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?vie...om=480#post495

**

Quelle: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85959&page=41

[Karl VIP CO]

Und noch einer von basman007:

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The Lister Storm

Are there any Lister Storm afficionado's out there?

According to all the sources (I was surprised with how few there is out there) I've read a totall of only four Lister Storm's were ordered at the factory, one of them by the Brunei Royal Family. We know the chassisnumber of this car, "LIS STORM BM9009 SAASTRWIVP053000Z", but that doesn't really get us far; I haven't come across any source that lists the chassisnumbers of these cars or even shows the (4) different cars that were made.

I really digg this supercar and, allthough a different car, enjoyed seeing the racer in real life. Over the time that I've been posting on forums I've saved pictures of different Storm's. I even think I might have pics of all the four (or more) cars. One of these could (must?) be the Brunei Storm.

I've uploaded all my Lister Storm pictures in this new gallery: http://www.supercars.net/gallery/129612/1735/1.html

Here's my first attempt - and probably the internets too - at trying to identify the different cars:

I think there were 3 official photoshoots done:

A RHD, blue/cream Storm with license plate "1 IMB";

A RHD, blue/cream Storm with license plate "LI8ter", taken at what looks like Brooklands to me;

A (looks like LHD?) silver/black Storm with license plate "K806 WPB".

"1 IMB" and "LI8ter" look the same. It could be the same car, with a new (more fitting) license plate. Let's say for arguments sake and to approach the production number of 4 that it is the same car.

"LI8ter", still in the same configuration as during the photoshoot, was offered for sale at Coys Auction "The Racing Car Show" last januari (2008). Coys released the chassis number of this car: SA9STRM1BPP053001

As the silver Storm is in one of the official (?) pics, just like the blue "LI8STER" wich bears #1, it could be car #2. Maybe someone in Brunei read the number wrong and put "Z" in the database instead of "2". But the LHD part doesn't make alot of sense... that is if it really is LHD.

Another plate on a Lister Storm is "M1 LCL". I've got 1 pic of a blue car with cream, RHD interior (just like "LI8ter"). In the other pictures I've got of this car it is black with partly black wheels and still a cream interior. So, at one point this Lister got resprayed.

Another blue/black Lister Storm was for sale in 2006/2007 in Brazil. It was part of the collection of former São Paulo mayor, Paulo Maluf. When it was in his hands it received a modified body (and new wheels?). From the two most recent pictures I've seen of this car it looks like it's still in Brazil (white license plates, but they're blurred out).

That makes 4 cars so far: silver, blue ("1 IMB"/"LI8ter"), black, blue (the modificated from Brazil). Seeing as the silver car is only pictured in one old (official?) pic, that would be my pick for the Brunei car. But wait, there's more And seeing as the silver car looks to be LHD it could also have gone to Brazil and repainted blue there...

Lister Storm number 5 then. It's a RHD, black car with partly black wheels and with what looks like a light/brown interior. It has a more modern body (less angular). A special edition of an über rare car.. nothing says more Bolkiah Family than that ! And the chassis number from the RBPC 5 database doesn't end with a number 1-4, but with the letter "Z", maybe the "Z" is for this special edition. Any feedback would be welcome

If I understand it right, here's car #6 Maybe I'm not reading this description right, so let me quote it: "Originally a road car this Storm was converted to a race car in 1998 and began its race history in the 1999 FIA GT and British GT championships racing that year at Brands, Snetterton, Silverstone, Monza, Hockenheim, Donnington and Zolder. 2000 saw the car continue competing in both the British and the Spanish GT Championships were it took 2 victories.

The car was sold off in 2002 to a private collector who raced the car twice at Mille Miglia Interlagos in 2003 and 2004. From 2004 the car has only seen use on the owners private race track." BTW: This 1995 car has a pricetag of £200k! Again, I have to say that it is possible that this is the (LHD?) silver car.

So in the end that makes a production of at least 5!!

If anyone has any additional information or can tell me where the pictures of all the different cars were taken, please post The last three pictures in the Lister Storm gallery are probably of "LI8ter", but since they don't have a plate I'm not sure, can anyone help with that?

See the Coys catalogue for more info on Lister and the Storm: http://www.coys.co.uk/auctions/lot.p...on=73&id=54345

Enjoy

Same post on SCN: http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?vie...om=480#post500

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Quelle: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85959&page=41

[janimaxx]

Eins der Brunei-Autos?

Bentley Turbo R 4x4 Estate Car

...wobei der Allrandantrieb wohl nur im 1. Gang und im Rückwärtsgang funktioniert? Ist das Auto denn handgeschaltet? Wer weiß mehr?

[FrankWo]

Hallo, Janimaxx,

im Wesentlichen gilt noch, was ehemals auf S. 04 dieser Thema-Überschrift unter #37 eingemeldet wurde. Einzig die €-Werte sind durch den Kaufkraftschwund 2006>08 um 2% höher anzusetzen.

Die einstige Fahrzeug-Erst-Nutzerin ist Mitglied des sogenannten britischen Hochadels. Ob zudem eine (verwandtschaftliche) Beziehung zur Führungsgruppe des Sultanats Brunei besteht, ist nicht bekannt.

Mit Grüssen von FrankWo.

[janimaxx]

...steht der da immer noch rum oder schon wieder?

[BruNei_carFRe@K]

Ich gehe mal stark davon aus, das der Wagen da immer noch rumsteht.

[basman007]

Karl? are you there? I've got a Gemballa question that I've pm'ed you, but I'm not sure you're getting it...