What would you do if you woke up one day to find out you were the omnipresent ruler of a country that had plenty of oil, and you had coffers that could outshine Bill Gates and Steve Jobs put together? An altruist could say you could change the world but we live in a materialistic world today, so we expect most people would go on a shopping spree.
And this is what the Sultan of Brunei is known for. He, along with his brother, went on a vehicle shopping spree once where they amassed more than 2,500 top-of-the-line vehicles that only multi-millionaires can afford. We are talking Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, and Lamborghinis here, along with other limited-edition cars like the McLaren and more.
The insatiable lust that the Sultan of Brunei seemed to have for cars soon led to a financial breakdown in the royal family and many of these expensive cars basically rotted away and have since been devalued down to zero. The ones that could be repaired were fixed up and sold to recover the losses.
But amongst all the cars that the Sultan of Brunei commissioned and bought, is the wildest SUV of them all, something that came way before its time. Here’s what we know about it and others like it…
First, It’s a Bentley
The Sultan of Brunei, who has been ruling his oil and natural-gas rich kingdom since 1967, wanted the ultimate SUV. This is why his SUV is none other than a Bentley.
Now when you think of a Bentley SUV, the mind goes to the 2015-introduced Bentayga. A thing of beauty, and one of great expense, the Bentayga came with an optional W12 engine at launch but now it also comes with a base 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 mill that makes 542 horses. Then there is a V6 plug-in hybrid as well and obviously, none of these models come cheap.
That said, the Sultan of Brunei got his Bentley SUVs in the ‘90s, so obviously it was not a Bentayga. Also remember, at the time, Bentley was under the aegis of Rolls Royce so one could think of the Cullinan and you’d be close, but then again, not quite…
The Bentley “Dominator”
The wildest SUV from the Sultan of Brunei’s collection is a coach-built model created specifically at the behest of the Sultan himself. Technically speaking, the Bentley Dominator is the first super-luxury SUV that could also go off-road, and came way before the Bentayga and the Cullinan as well, having being built for the Sultan in the ‘90s. The only comparable car at the time had to be the Range Rover, although you could not call the Rangie a luxury SUV, at least not by the standards of the Royal Family of Brunei.
Look at the Dominator, and you see flashes of the Cullinan which is not surprising because while Bentley is now owned by Volkswagen, in the Dominator-making days it was Rolls Royce who pulled the strings.
A total of six such gorgeous models were built for the Sultan, with one done completely in red and another in yellow. All had custom chrome trim and wheels, and the interior was done in the best of leather and wood. Frankly, after his gold-plated Rolls Royce limousine, it seems almost tame.
It had to have been based on the Range Rover of the time and did use the all-wheel-drive system of the car. No details of these cars were released to the press and frankly, they remained incognito for many, many years before someone put two-and-two together and revealed the Dominator as the Cullinan’s long-lost dad.
The engine could be a 3.9-liter V8 from Land Rover or Bentley’s 6.76-liter V8 but no one knows for sure. Made and delivered in 1996, each of these cars had to have cost the Sultan of Brunei millions. But then again, that is a little drop in the ocean for him.
Here’s Some Of His Other OTT Cars
Before we start listing some of his OTT cars, in his equally OTT collection, let’s just look at the man. The Sultan of Brunei is known as Hassanal Bolkiah, but his full name is: Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam.
Gasp. Big, big name.
The Sultan also has one of the world's most expensive if craziest limousine, a Rolls Royce Silver Spur II stretch limo that he got plated in 24-carat gold for his wedding. The price at the time was $14 million.
At one time, he had a car collection of over 5,000 cars. And in these 5,000 cars were more than 300 Ferraris, 600 Rolls Royce, 20 Koenigseggs, and plenty of Porsches and McLarens, for a total value of $300,000,000.
Yeah, we got a bit lost in those zeroes too. Must be nice to be a Sultan and own a custom-built SUV that no one else in the world had. And get six of them for good measure.
Sources: Autotrader, CarMudi