I recall seeing a thread about these cars a while back but my searches have been unsuccessful. I had a poke around on the web & found that 7 seven cars were commissioned to be be built by Pininfarina for the Sultan of Brunei. The Sultan took delivery of 6 - the seventh car came to the UK. The car seen in the UK was green, confirmed by this link - http://www.pestalozzi.net/sb/ferrari_venice/index.html which states "Pininfarina created a limited series of RHD 456 GTs for members of the Brunei royal family. It included convertibles, four door saloons and station wagons, and is known as "Venice". For the station wagon Pininfarina lenghtened the chassis by 20 cm. This particular unit has chassis number 103190" I saw this car today (s/n 103190)- it is now silver and is beautifully presented/finished. It had a very distinctive number plate and apparently has a famous owner. It may not be to everyones taste but I have to admit to being stunned & suprised at seeing such a rare car. I was subsequently told that there may be two of these cars now in the country.
There were a few of the estates, one of the sultans (or his brothers) children used to be run around town in the silver one, whilst the green and blue ones were used by other members of the household!....still think its one of the best looking Ferrari's never made
He loves a 456 ! 7 456 VENICE CABRIOLET 7 456 VENICE SHOOTING BREAK 7 456 VENICE 4 DOOR http://www.*************/Gallery?cmd=viewGallery&uID=72036&gID=195&pgID=1 http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2996&page=12
Thanks for the links Tony. The car mentioned in the the F-Chat link is the car that I saw (s/n 103190) but it is no longer green with a green interior but it is now silver with a tan interior... As I said in my initial post it was immaculately turned out. One odd thing was that the door locks appeared to be an after-thought (probably not spec'd by the Sultan - I wouldn't have thought car crime was a huge concern for him). The locks are positioned at least 12 inches adrift from the edge or the top of the door. I cannot remember where the factory positioned them on 'normal' cars but I would doubt that this would be their position of choice...
I see this car most days parked up on the owners drive. It seems its never used. Also appears he has now got rid of the CGT and Enzo now though... Any clues to who the owner is?
There was a green one for sale about a year ago through DK Engineering - www.dkeng.co.uk - their website is always worth a look for the unusual cars available - currently including an F40 GTE, 1950 GP car and a 275 GTS. I once also saw a Porsche 911 GT1 there.
I doubt you saw the green one. Did you check the serial #? There have been numerous spots of the silver one (also in the UK) recently
Yes - this was the green one. It has been resprayed silver & now has a tan interior. My first comment to the garage owner was 'I thought there was only 1 in the country - and it's green' - he replied "this is the 'green' one... and there are 2 in the country" I recorded the serial number at the time.
Shame its been resprayed to silver as I liked it better in green, also raises the risk of going somewhere and parking next to the other Silver with Tan car, now that would be funny to watch
Wow, 3 in the uk now....are they still under Royal ownership?? Thats a shame they repainted the green one, i remember them shipping that one out from the workshops in brunei, the leatherwork was all coded green too, it really looked the nuts, i have too say that during my whole time spent in brunei...having reviewed as much as the collection i could see, the Yellow Venice estate was simply the most gorgeous car in brunei, seriously in the flesh with its blood red interior it was simply the most sexy car you have ever seen...and its a damn estate i mean come on get real...but it even turn Mclaren mechanics heads..and they didnt turn for anything, the venice estates where a true Farina bespoke...uprated powertrain in the fact there was a whole new gearbox layout, gone was the FFD ricardo unit which didnt match the torque spec of the v12, a few lighten parts thrown into the engine with some map work gave this beast very supercar times..and its an estate...but the best thing about driving this car was looking back in the mirrors on a wet road...the small venturi on the rear created huge white out roostertails... makes u feel all buck rodgers type, gotta get my kicks from something The above was something i wrote in another thread on this site so kinda relates to what this thread is on about, have to clear one issue and ask another question, while working in brunei i took some keen interest in the forthcoming venice program, getting my fingers on the blues and sussing out pininfarina baby soon to arrive in brunei, The orginal name for the estate was Venice SW (station wagon) yup its that simple..whoever started called it shooting break did the right move but it was always known as Station Wagon while in brunei, the rear doors where always a crux of the car...fixing any sort of problem there was a days event..the royal family hated wind noise which these always produced, the powertrain was completely revised, different box, flywheel and other internal components within engine, after the first development car was finished with all bugs ironed out then a retro-fit program was implemented for the reminder, i actually didnt realise that seven where produced...not privy to that information so its interesting to hear that after spending so much time with the Venice program in brunei. I do have to ask one question or maybe its more of a comment, who has the know-how to fix one of these SW's if something goes wrong regarding the non-OE components, afterall the powertrain development was not done in Italy, nevertheless fanstanic car and i certainly envy their new owners!
These cars are one of few, true bespoke estate/shooting brake creations that do actually work visually, along with the Lancia Gamma Estate. I do have 3 cars pictured on pages 13 and 18 of my website... www.carnumbers.piczo.com. Just in case you want to have a look. The silver car is registered 1 PB, the other two are CIA 4 & BJB 1, although, any one of these 3 could be the same car, as some have changed hands. They are a stunning creation, if you are fortunate enough to see on in the flesh. I believe that the silver car is still regularly seen around central London.
The Green car - now Silver (s/n 103190) was not on any of the plates that you list. 1 xx but not 1 PB...
I'm confused now. One of the cars on page 18 is a silver car, registered 1 PB. Are you saying that there is another silver car around with a different number? If so, what registration number is it? It sounds like, you know your stuff about these cars. Many thanks.
3 cars: 1 ORIGINALLY silver 1 Yellow 1 ORIGINALLY GREEN but NOW IS SILVER so 2 silver cars, 1 originally silver, 1 originally green
Not at all - I just happened to walk into a bodyshop at an opportune time I have sent you a pm with some details
This is a pic of the silver car which I mentioned in my reply The other car was owned by Classics International (hence the registration). Very stunning design, in my opinion. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I believe that one of our Arab friends has commissioned a 612 Scaglietti Estate. Should be interesting.
