There are some basic truths car enthusiasts can agree on – faster is better; rear-wheel drive outhandles front-wheel drive; and man, the Sultan of Brunei has a lot of cars. The sheer number of vehicles sequestered in this tiny nation on the northwest corner of Borneo is as mind-blowing as what happened to them.

Depending on who you believe about the size of the collection, anywhere from six to twenty miles of road would be needed to park his collection nose to tail. That would cover about 1% of the entire road system – and be a one-owner major traffic jam. Crazy.

For such a well-known collection, it turns out there are a lot of unknowns. But like any good mystery, it’s worth digging into.

Here's What Most People Don't Know About The Sultan Of Brunei's Car Collection.

Surprise! Most Of The Cars Aren’t His

via TheDrive

Waaa? It’s the Sultan’s collection, but he doesn’t own it? Well, he certainly owns some of the cars, but brothers, nephews and sons contributed and at this point, nobody’s sure who bought what. What is clear is that most were purchased by the youngest of the Sultan’s brothers, Prince Jefri. Who was Minister of Finance. Which probably tells you all you need to know about how he could buy so many cars… and why there might not be a paper trail. Although enough records exist to identify that he did spend $475 million at Rolls Royce, alone. So, um… yeah.

Prince Jefri, or P.J. as he’s known to friends, didn’t limit his profligate spending to cars. According to an aide’s quote in a 1999 Fortune article by Richard Behar, "If they liked a particular suit, they'd buy 100 at a clip, all in the same color.” And when P.J. was interviewed for the same article, he was flanked by matching solid-gold tissue dispensers worth $160,000 (almost $250,000 today). With that kind of attitude, it’s no wonder the collection grew so large. But exactly how large? Good question.

Nobody Knows How Many Cars There Are

line-of-Mercedes-in-Sultan-of-Brunei's-collection-mercedes
via Digital Trends

So are there six miles of cars, twenty miles, or somewhere in between? It’s hard to be sure as so few outsiders have seen the collection. And almost every article quotes a different number: 2,000. 2,500. 5,000. 7,000. That might be due to early collection reports versus later intel from when it was larger, but more likely as the legend grew the number did too.

RELATED: 25 Pictures Of Secret Car Collections Around The World

Michael Sheehan (who was there to purchase about 30 cars) published an article in Sports Car Market in 2002 (reprinted on Gizmodo). In it, he pointed out that most photos on the Internet aren’t of the collection and pegged the number at 2,500. But even at that “diminutive” number, word has it that if one wanted to drive a car not parked near the front, one would be waiting more than an hour for it to be extricated. So, hopefully they called ahead.

For Such A Large Collection, It’s Incredibly Narrow

Line-of-Ferraris-in-Sultan-Brunei's-car-collection
via Ferrari Chat

Most collections have a theme. This one, like their wardrobe, seems to be “as many as we can get of anything we get.” Multiples of the same car are in there, sometimes in different colors but more often than not, in the exact same color. Black on black seems to have been a particular favorite – especially for Mercedes 500 SLs and SELs. There are about 300 of those sitting outside.

Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Porsche, Rolls Royce… These upscale marques appear in abundance, as if the Bolkiah brothers bought most of their production for a few years (which rumor says they did). But there are more design studies and one-offs than there are American cars. The collection included five Ferrari FXs, two Mythos and an F90, for example. But just one Detroit native: a C1 Corvette.

Like the Dot Com Bubble, The Collection Peaked In the Late 1990s

Line-of-Lamborghinis-in-SUltan-of-Brunei's-car-collection
via Motor1

If you were lucky enough to gain entrance to the collection, you wouldn’t find many vintage cars, either. Most date between 1983 and 1997. Why? 1983 is when Prince Jefri was named head of the Brunei Investment Agency, and 1997 is when the money ran out. The Asian financial crisis combined with falling oil prices and royal family overspending led to BIA going bankrupt, and hard questions being asked about where the money went.

According to an article in Vanity Fair by Mark Seal, in 2000 Prince Jefri, “signed a settlement agreement in which he promised to return assets including ‘...over 600 properties, over 2,000 cars, over 100 paintings, 5 boats and 9 aircraft,’ as well as billions of dollars in possessions he had stored in 21 warehouses.” Instead, he fled the country. The two takeaways are that 1) he clearly spent a ton of money, and 2) he no longer had that kind of free-flowing cash for additional automotive acquisitions.

Sadly, Most Of The Cars Are Undrivable Now

Line-of-Porsche-959s-in-Sultan-of-Brunei's-car-collection
via Motor1

Back in the day, the cars resided in air-conditioned comfort, had a team of mechanics tending their every need, and a computerized system tracking every car and the work completed. But none of that is true now. Some cars escaped by being sold. Some were given away. But the rest sit undriven, uncared-for, and unloved.

For the cars that slumber inside, humid air is creating unseen damage that would require a hefty investment in time and parts to return them to drivable condition. At a minimum, every seal and hose would need to be replaced – and likely much more.

For the cars outside, it’s a completely different story. In his 2002 article, Michael Sheehan remarked on a particular Rolls Royce whose steering wheel foam had melted from the extreme heat, and whose leather interior was fuzzy with mold. And this car was better protected than those 300 or so Mercedes he referred to as “the reef” as that was the only viable option he saw for cars that had been left exposed to the elements, many with their windows down. That was just 5 years after the money dried up. Take into account the additional 18 years that have passed, and there’s certainly nothing usable left but glass.

They’re Unsellable, Too

The-Sultan's-Gold-Rolls-on-parade
via The Sun

Let’s start with the good news. The U.S. has a rolling 25-year import rule, meaning any car 25 or older can be legally brought into the country and registered for use. So the meat of this collection would be eligible. But… you’d still need documentation, which you’re unlikely to get. Remember how they were paid for?

The bad news is that many of the cars (more than half, apparently) are right-hand-drive, which limits desirability outside of places like the UK, Australia, and Japan – which also require safety equipment these cars lack. So, perhaps India would be a reasonable place for them to wind up. Except that only about 11% of citizens own cars – and an aging, neglected supercar requiring massive work before being drivable probably isn’t high on anyone’s short-list for a first car.

And then, as the picture above shows, there’s the taste question. Who would ever put down the kind of money it’ll take to buy this for a car they wouldn’t want to be seen in?

NEXT: 25 Cars From The Sultan Of Brunei's Extensive Collection