456 Venice Wagon

I think the Sultan of Brunei had one (or more?) made as custom builds of the 456. Don't know of any others, but note one of the pics is RHD, so perhaps there are more in the UK?

 

Sultan of Brunei I would say .... he could have whatever he felt like

make mine a 18 yo dimbo

 

if i remember correctly,that Ferrari was specially built for the pope (that died recently).

 

we're on the same wavelength and timeframe Grant

 

they should call it the 45678. useful for transporting the bodies of those who are in a hurry even when they're wormfood.

 

The Sultan of Brunei had quite a few examples of that car. IMHO it is one of the very few examples of the Brunei custom built cars that shows some good taste. Some of the stuff that I have seen is in unbelievably poor taste.

The RHD F50 is a bit dubious; but I think the Mercedes is well executed. It is built on a modern drivetrain!

 

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I understand he has 7-8 versions built of special models like that and painted different colours (for different days of the week?). A couple of the 456s have come onto the market over the last few years, they must have opened up a warehouse and found a few cars 'surplus to requirements' that had been forgotten about...

 

The trade thinks that it is only a matter of time before more hit the market.
The majority of cars are in very poor condition too. If they haven't been stored in the big air-conditioned complex they are most likely beyond economic help. The interiors go mouldy and all the electrics go bad plus a myriad of other stuff.
Apparently the majority of cars are under carport type cover and are otherwise open to the elements.

 

any new pics of the Urraco for us ?

 

Hi,
I saw one of those estates when I was in London some years ago outside Harvey Nicks.
The driver went blatting off behind an F40, F50 and a Bentley Arnage full of 'Mohammed' security guards. Looked quite nice, mind you it could of been the shock of seeing one that distorted my impression.
Not a bad memory to have!!

 

Man i would have one of those in a heart beat, Ive always been a station wagon fan (when comparing to a sedan anyway), theyre a little cooler than the equivelant sporty sedan.

and as for the comments about it being RHD, and it being in the UK, do you realise that Brunei is also RHD?

Scott, what is dubious about the F50 RHD?

 

Less than tasteful colour inserts, grab handle on dash (which is useless), electric windows, wrong steering wheel,crappy looking seat coverings. Just my opinion, results may vary for others.

 

I like that wagon It has a very sporty look about it. Although i sort of dred seeing it as i hope ferrari do not make "family cars" like that anytime soon. Would be cool to have mum drop the kids to school in one,but far out! Ferrari=sports cars not sports wagons

 

Oh, i thaught you were referring to the quality of the actual build on the RHD componentry?

i dont think much that the Sultan has, nessecarily indicated taste, i mean how about that horrible Grey F40 with Testarosa Seats. At least the guy who brought it fixed it to some degree.

 

The F50's were converted by Pininfarina, so I would think the workmanship would be very good. I would like to see how they did it, because the F50 has a full carbon fibre tub that was never engineered for anything but LHD. A cut and shut job on a carbon fibre tub isn't going to be an easy thing to carry out.

 

why is he a sultan anyhoo? did he used to be a grap?

 

They would have made a new RH tub wouldnt they?? You wouldnt bother a cut and shut job on a carbon fibre tub. The rest of it would have been rather straight forward. Money can get you what you want i guess

 

I haven't seen that one before, it looks ok. In one of my old Wheels magazines, they did a short story/pictorial on the Sultan's cars, and they published pics of one of his fake Gullwings built on modern mechanicals. It had an SL airbag steering wheel, and was automatic. It simply looked all wrong, internally and externally. Cue nausea!

 

Ummmm no, not in a million years! The re-engineering required to make a RHD tub for a few examples would be massive. Pininfarina did it post production and I would love to see exactly what they did to achieve the conversion.

 

just out of curiousity what on the Tub would really need changing?

Steering Wheel Hole?
Hole to Brake Booster?

anything else? i cant imagine the other stuff couldnt be re-routed through the existing holes?

 

I have photo's of a bare F50 Tub somewhere. Trust me, you don't get your drill out and start ripping new holes on the other side of the tub!