Yeah - it was just a Pininfarina show car. There were actually three versions that all looked somewhat different. I don't believe there was a connection to Brunei with them, though it could be fair to say they financed the work. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login
I think you can say that the F90 is inspired by the Pininfarina Ethos. I mean, it could be Ethos no. 4. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually the FX, belonging to Mr. Dick Marconi currently, was in the possesion of the royal family at one point. The Prince wanted a better transmission, so the car was sent off to Mr. Frank Williams (IIRC) in order to have it fitted. Reportedly the whole thing was going to cost $1,000,000, with the deposit being $300,000. The deposit was paid, the transmission installed, but the Prince refused to pay (presumably because they ran into financial troubles at that time). Mr. Williams held onto the car as collateral, and apparently contacted Mr. Marconi, to whom he sold the FX for the $1,000,000 that the installation would have costed. The car currently resides in Mr. Marconi's personal collection, alongside a green 456 Venice, which is on display in LA by appointment and $5 donation to charity only. (Sorry to revive a slightly dead thread, just felt that needed to be added)
Some of the "ex-Brunei" cars roaming around DEFINATLEY made it to Brunei. I have pics of them being loaded onto planes to be transported back. I also have pics of Bentley Javas on shipping pallets about to flown out.
When Jeffri saw the concept cars, he comissioned Bentley to make running versions. He has/had Java coupes, Estates (shooting brakes), 4 doors and convertibles
And that was what I was implying - not all of the cars actually went to Brunei and then came back. I'm aware of quite a few that never left Europe because of examples like the F1 transmission story (interesting - I didn't know he refused to pay). Post some of the pics of the cars being loaded onto planes - that'd be neat to see.
i know for fact that many of the cars that were "brunei" cars were delivered and later seized to pay off debts of the sultan, mainly due to poor financial investments. these cars were seized by a well known bank and slowly sold off through private offerings. these cars are still held by the bank and still entering the market, but at a pace to maximise return. the bank isn't stupid, they know that cras of this nature can't be dumped on the market. better yet, they also realise that the usa and other left hand drive markets will only absorb a very small percentage of these cars. basically, this means the car will have a very limited flow into the market. after all, how many peopl like the marconi museum will buy rhd cars? in 2020, i think we will all appreciate what these cars are, regardless of side specific steering. hell, findme a f90 and i will buy it today. problem is, they are like kaiser soze, they are GHOSTS.
@basman007: What's about the lower part of the site you posted? Here some pics from a german magazine incl. 560 SEC Gullwing. Image Unavailable, Please Login
It's from an article, I will try to post the high-res article somewhere. I will post the link in a moment. Can you do the same with the article you posted?
I actuall took these pictures, the one at the top is of what we called the glass house this housed all the first prototype cars, a le mans mclaren. the bottom picture is from the stores looking at garage 1 which was Prince Hakims where he kept his favourite cars.