Brunei F1 update...

[Peloton25]

From an older thread on wrecked F1, I commented:

Originally Posted by Peloton25

...one of the cars that went to Brunei was reportedly crashed and written off, possibly being used for spare parts afterward, but the chassis number hasn't surfaced yet.

Well I don't have much time for Supercars.net lately, but happened to be over there tonight. Our friend basman007 has started an incredibly detailed thread over there spanning a couple of years now, where he has tried to piece together photos and details on the complete Brunei car collection. I think his work on that forum and others is what led to the original list from Garage #5 being released which finally told us with certainty what F1s actually went to Brunei.

Well, in that same thread on SC.net, there is a new user posting under the screenname gollum and some details in one of his posts from early in May really caught my attention. He seems to be a resident of Brunei with good present-day knowledge of the royal car collection.

theres no "RHD clk gtr" anymore at the garage, it mus be sold outside brunei.

dun see any ferrari F50 BOLIDE

there's 2 argento vivo left.

3 mythos-black, blue and red.

5 Ferrari FX-grey, yellow, 2 black, red

6 F90- pink (redish), black, 2 silver, blue & green

F1 Mclaren LM1,LM4,LM5,GT-BLACK, GTR-#09R & 2 standard models

The way I read it, he has basically accounted for all the special F1s that went to Brunei still being there. That means the car that was written off must have been an F1 road car - either #002, #005 or #008. Chassis #014, as most of us well know, has left the country for a better life in the USA. As the story of the crashed F1 was conveyed to me, it was a "significant" car that was destroyed, which always led me to believe it would have been one of the LMs or the GT. Now I am more inclined to believe that perhaps #002, the first production F1 completed in 1993, was the victim.

Another thing about all of these cars being accounted for except one road car is that it kind of blows a hole in my theory that Lawrence Stroll's road car might be one from Brunei. If these details above are indeed factual, the numbers wouldn't add up to allow his F1 to have come from there. Man that's a chassis number I would love to have...

Anyway, I'm not sure if anyone else is as excited to get this extra piece of the puzzle as I am, but I figured it was certainly worth sharing.

He also mentioned in another post:

info received :the cars are to be sold to keen international buyer.

That's also exciting as it could mean more of these F1s will finally surface and find homes in the hands of people who will care for them and have a deeeper appreciation than I suspect the BRF has.

>8^)
ER

[dbsf1]

wow - wouldn't it be awesome to see the GT surface! or one of the black LMs...... wow. the day those get out will be sweeeeet....

[hurstg01]

My bet is that it too was #002 that was crashed. Stroll buying Asprey from the BRF could still have meant hat he got one of their F1's, as isn't the list you quoted to from Gollum ( BTW) one of current F1's they have, not all the F1's they have had? I cant remember the Original BRF list, but was there more F1's on that ilst than on this one?

[mini magic]

I know for a fact it was definately a road car that was destroyed. I don't know the chassis # though


Also, from fchat by the same poster in response to one of my questions:

theres only 2 road car left (didnt note the number), grey and dark blue

My guess is that it was 005 that was destroyed

[Peloton25]

Ahh - had not seen his stuff at FChat. That does seem to settle it, however I'm not sure why my original source considered #005 to warrant the word "significant" in their description.

Greg - Brunei got a total of 9 F1s. You can go back to Chris' old thread titled "Brunei McLarens revealed" to see the full list. This list has seven on it, which would match up with what we know about one being crashed and one leaving for new ownership.

Some say they may have originally ordered 10, and if so perhaps that red F1 that is parked in Singapore was that car, and it just didn't make it onto the Garage #5 list as it wasn't kept there...? A red F1 was once spotted in Brunei. Sort of a mystery on that one still.

>8^)
ER

[Peloton25]

I asked gollum about the current condition of the Brunei F1 collection, mentioning some of the issues that #014 had. His reply:

Originally Posted by gollum

ALL RIDES are kept in aircon garages, away from sun.

BAD THING 4 f1 gtr(#9R): its tires are flat that the ride is sitting on the ground!! no damage though...

the rest f1, well kept and are still neat!! =)

believed that the yellow f1 sold, was due to it being park under sun as the owners drove it ard often and also having hard time parkin into the garage back in the 90s'

That's a bit of a relief to hear. So, does anyone have their checkbook handy?

>8^)
ER

[dbsf1]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but have you had any more word from this guy, or kept in contact with him? And is there much info on the black GT? what it's like? Or any information on what the black LMs are really like?
Peace

[mini magic]

We have pics/illustrations of the black LM's....

[dbsf1]

Originally Posted by mini magic

We have pics/illustrations of the black LM's....

I meant like, ... i don't really know what i meant! I think i meant more like in real life, and interiors and yea I don't actually know what I meant by that. I do know we have that illustration and 3 (?) pictures from the factory...
Peace

[Peloton25]

He hasn't had anything more to say so far.

>8^)
ER

[rr_ww]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

That's a bit of a relief to hear. So, does anyone have their checkbook handy?

>8^)
ER

Do you think the Sultan would sell one of his cars if someone asked him? And do you think he'd want strong money for it due to its Royal connection or would just accept market value. (or less )

Going OT slightly, we know that Mr B's car hasn't sold especially quickly and that's a car with real provenance. So maybe their aren't that many potential buyers in any case.

[mini magic]

I'd be really surprised if nobody had tried to buy at least one of the LM's. I'm sure there are private (and wealthy) collectors out there who would be willing to shell out some serious cash for an LM, whatever the condition

[dbsf1]

wow! an sl amg from the sultan is on sale in new zealand. maybe one of his f1s might make it here? http://exoticsandprestige.co.nz/Item...=0&item=252511
would be nice

[Peloton25]

A lot of the Brunei specials have limited market appeal because most were RHD - Japan, UK, AUS, NZ, etc. The F1s, if ever offered for sale, could go anywhere.

Several sources, however, have stated there is no intention to sell some of the most special cars from the collection like the F1s. In fact, with values seeming to increase exponentially on them in recent years, Brunei would be silly to let them go now. They might just be the best 'investments' that Prince Jefri ever made for them.

>8^)
ER

[dbsf1]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

A lot of the Brunei specials have limited market appeal because most were RHD - Japan, UK, AUS, NZ, etc. The F1s, if ever offered for sale, could go anywhere.

Several sources, however, have stated there is no intention to sell some of the most special cars from the collection like the F1s. In fact, with values seeming to increase exponentially on them in recent years, Brunei would be silly to let them go now. They might just be the best 'investments' that Prince Jefri ever made for them.

>8^)
ER

do you know of any other special's that might have made their way to NZ? (sorry, i know this is taking it off-topic from F1s!!!)