And here is just the briefest of looks into this most jaw-droppingly impressive stash of cars.
Now as many would likely know already, there are car collectors in the world, and then there is the Sultan of Brunei.
The monarch of the tiny oil rich nation between Sabah and Sarawak has a stash that is likely unrivalled in the world, both in terms of quantity (apparently approximately 7,000 cars), and with especially regards to cars from the 90s at least, variety and unique-ness. This was after all the people that commissioned the Bentley Dominator, a SUV with a flying B that came nearly 2 decades before the Bentayga, or have a BMW Nazca M12 concept.
Bar the odd lot that comes up at auction however, little is unfortunately known about what was actually in the Sultan’s collection. This was until a few days ago that is, as images from the legendary stash soon started popping up on the internet.
And then as luck would have it, a complete Google drive of it went live recently. Woohoo!
This though did pose a problem here at Automacha, as typically this is where this writer would slowly nerd out and offer facts while curating what is to be found in this massive tranche of photos. In fact, there was already a piece planned with the headline of: All The Cars Papped From Sultan of Brunei’s Collection (Part 1 of X).
After taking a closer look at these photos though, it would likely take not days, not even weeks, but months to even skim the surface of this absolutely mad collection of cars. So for the sake of this writer’s mental wellbeing, here is instead just a shock and awe piece showing what is/was available that gobsmacking stash.
Prepare to be amazed…
P.S: If all these images here look like they were taken with a digital camera from the early 2000s, that is precisely because all the photos here were actually from the early 2000s. These photos apparently held by a close-knit group of individuals, until a recent falling-out prompted a member of the group to make them public.
Starting alphabetically first, here are a couple of AC Brooklands Aces from the 1990s. Only 58 examples were apparently produced, and this collection just happens to have 3 of them… Seeing the insanity yet?
Up next, a brace of Cobras. Neither of them appear to be the OG examples (especially the silver one with a 90s Ford 5.0 V8 under its hood), but still cool nonetheless.
Still sticking with the letter A meanwhile, here are just a few AMG 500 SLs. A few…
And for those who preferred a V12 under the hood of their Mercedes-Benz drop tops, here are another couple of AMG 600 SLs. One of which is even a 51st birthday present to the Sultan.
Just a couple of old Merc race cars in the corner. No big deal… (the writer types as he picks up his jaw from the floor).
4 Bugatti EB110s. 4… All of which are incidentally SS (supersport) models too.
From Bugattis to BMWs, the Sultan’s stash also had some more mundane cars, like these 530i Tourings. (And no the black cars are not duplicate photos. They wear different plates…)
There’s also a yellow Alpina 535i in the collection.
Now sticking with Germany but moving to Stuggart, here are the Sultan’s 5 Dauer 962s. Built by German racing outfit Dauer, these were the road-legal versions of Porsche’s 1994 Le Mans-winning 962 endurance racer.
And here are a literal ferry load of 911s. All of them Turbos…
As for a Porsche with the engine up front on the other hand, here’s a 928… that is apparently bulletproof!
There are at least 7 Porsche 959s here. 7…
Here’s a 911 with what apparently is a Testarossa-style body kit…
…and here are a whole bunch of Testarossas.
As for those who want their Testarossas to have no roof, the Sultan’s stash has a couple of those as well. (Ferrari didn’t actually produce any Testarossa Spyders by the way, or officially anyway…)
Though in terms of mad Testarossas, here’s the Ferrari F90. A Sultan of Brunei custom creation based off the aforementioned prancing horse. And yes, there is more than one of them around too…
Then there’s also the Ferrari Mythos (the one with the purple car) and FX (the one with the yellow car). Both Testarossa-based. The Mythos was built for the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show, while the FX features a 7-speed sequential gearbox developed by the Williams F1 team.
The Ferrari F40. One of the halo supercars of the 80s. Here’s at least 7.
Fancy an F50 instead though? Here’s 5.
And just before the F40 was the 288 GTO. Here are 3 of them.
Now this pattern of multiple examples of the same model goes on for 550 Maranellos, F355s and even 456s. But what is special with the 456 is that the Sultan had commissioned a couple of four-door sedans and even estates (aka Venice), in addition to a couple of Spyder variants with an absolutely hideous behind…
Oh, some of those coupes weren’t all stock too, as fitted to these Ferraris are apparently night vision technology…
A Ferrari 275 GTS.
And finally before getting too carried away on only Ferraris, here is one last one: the Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione. Officially one of six cars, this was to be the prancing horse marque’s entry in Group B rallying before the series was canned.
From prancing horse to raging bulls, here are just a couple of Countaches and Diablos.
And then here are a couple of McLaren F1s, including a few LMs and GTRs (including the Ueno Clinic Le Mans winning-example!), as you do…
Sticking with the Brits at Le Mans theme and moving on to Jaguar, here are a pair of Jaguar XJR-15s…
… and a couple of Jaguar XJ220s.
For those who want a breather now from all those supercars, here’s some old school British luxury instead with a brace of bespoke Bentleys. Most of which most people will have never even heard of, and all custom commissioned by the royal family. (Going through each one will unfortunately take forever, so just scroll through and accept the insanity.)
Oh, and we’re not even halfway through here with the bespoke Bentleys. Hang in tight there, ol’ chap. Also, spy the Bentley Java estate among the following group of pics.
We’re nearly done with the Bentleys… The last few shots in the group is to be the Val d’Isere, an estate (and all-wheel drive) version of the Turbo R
In the interest of conciseness (if that is still a thing after getting through to here), here is just a quick glance through the many, many Rolls-Royces in the collection. An interesting thing to note here is that from at least a couple of old Rollers with cabins way more modern than their exterior, the Sultan does look to have a thing for pesto-modding, way before the craze took off…
Finally onto the grand-daddy marque within this royal collection, it is time to touch upon the three-pointed star. And we kick off with an AMG-fettled bang in the form of a 600 Grosser restomod!
Here’s another classic merc with modern underpinnings, a 300 SL gullwing with what looks like 90s SL bits(?)
Among the other oddities in the Merc corner meanwhile is an E280 limousine.
There’s also a Mercedes-based Batmobile too.
And just to round up the Merc corner, here are more S-Classes (in not just the limo and coupe form, but also the custom estate and even drop-top form!) as the population of Brunei.
Just touching on a few real odd-balls at the end here, this is a right hand drive Chevrolet Suburban with Pininfarina badges on its fenders. Indicating that the Italian design house has at least something to do with the coach-working of this custom Chevy SUV.
Here meanwhile is a chrome-finish Audi A8.
A Corvette Tempest…
A Fiat Cinquecento Landaulet!
A pair of Hobbycar B612s. They’re amphibious y’know.
And truly finally, here is just a few more shots of the wider car collection. Just to offer one last sense of scale at how incredible this stash is/once was. (Try and spot the custom Aston Martin four-door sedan and estates, as well as a Bond DB5).
