Deep Dive on Sultan of Brunei Ferrari F40 Collection

We’ve found a new set of photos posted by All-Star RADwood Facebook Group member Dave Skulman depicting photos of Ferraris from Brunei royal family collection and notably F40s with a few F50s thrown in. Skulman shared the shots along with some itemization, and we saw that as a good reason to make a post documenting them as best we can through some research and a very informative video from Car Throttle. So, with this post we’re going to focus on the F40s and link all the sources. We’ll also update this as further information is collected or shared with us. If you have a tip, drop it below in the comments.

First is the Skulman post from earlier today. It appears embedding isn’t available for it, so we’ll link it HERE. The associated shots seem to be from one of the many holding buildings that has housed the Brunei collection over the years. We’ve heard rumors of these buildings not being HVAC controlled, and further that this tends to see the cars degrade in condition where they sit. Based on some of the mold seen on the interiors, it suggests these rumors are correct and that the damp air isn’t helping these cars any.

Even still, by piecing together these photos and the details outlined in the post and in the CarThrottle video posted above, we’ve done our best to identify each car.

So, let’s begin with a brief history. The Ferrari F40 (type F120) was a mid-engined rear-wheel-drive sportscar built from 1987-1992, with LM race versions built until 1994 and GTE specification race cars extending to 1996.

The car was named F40 to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th Anniversary, and only 400 units planned to be sold at a price of approximately $400,000 U.S.. In the end, 1,311 to 1,315 were built with 213 going to the USA. Power came from a high-revving 2.9-liter version of the turbocharged V8 from evolved from the 288 GTO. The Pininfarina-designed body was made of kevlar, carbon fiber and aluminum, and each one was painted Rosso Corsa, with red fabric interior and left-hand drive steering configuration. Ferrari didn’t deviate. While some of these cars have been repainted over the years, all of the cars were produced in identical spec when new.

Enter the Sultan of Brunei. Known for perhaps the most lavish car collection the world has ever seen, the infamous dictator loaded with oil wealth amassed over 2,500 vehicles many of which were the embodiment of an appetite for the most extreme funded by unlimited resources. The Brunei royal family’s collection was said to include cars like Zonda-powered Mercedes-Benz S-Class station wagons, four-door and long roof Ferraris, Jaguar XJ220s, one-off Bentley Java road cars, Bentley SUVs built long before any Bentayga ever existed, McLaren F1s and of course many, many other Ferraris including a large mix of F40s (source: WhichCar.com.au)

Relevant to this story, the Ferrari F40 LM was produced as a series of racing cars by Michelotto, the same Paduan firm that had produced the Ferrari GTO Evolution and had produced parts for the road cars. 19 cars were produced.

Worth noting, much of the information about the Brunei royal family’s F40s comes from Paulo Garella. Garella was Pinifarina’s Prototype Manager in the 1990s and was in charge of tailoring most of the F40s they had. His account is critical to this mix. So, let’s dig into what we know.

Following their procurement, most of these cars were sent to Pininfarina where Garella and his team set about their customization. Seven were road cars, each fitted with leather interiors and comfort seats sourced from the Ferrari 512 TR parts bin. Each were also fitted with air conditioning, radio, electric windows and adjustable tilt steering wheel. Several were also said to be fitted with freer flowing exhaust and ECU flash to augment power from a peak 428 lb-ft. to 480 lb-ft, though which cars received the performance upgrades is unclear.

Most were converted to right-hand drive. These included a gloss black over black leather, emerald green over green leather, forest green over black leather, Rosso Corsa over black leather and gloss white over black leather. Two of these seven cars reportedly remained left hand drive as they came from the factory, but received similar tailoring and interior changes. These were said to include a matt black over black leather and grey over black leather, however photos from today’s post confirm the matt black car is right hand drive.

Beyond these seven, there were two F40 LMs. One was left in its original Rosso Corsa and remained largely original. The other was resprayed in black with distinctive red stripe around the beltline. The latter is also believed to have been in an accident while on a test drive during its time at Pininfarina, but it was reportedly repaired before being delivered.

Built before Paolo’s time in his position at Pininfarina were two other earlier F40s. Both were converted to right-hand drive. The first was yellow with black leather interior and the second was painted matte grey with grey leather interior and fitted with comfort seats from the Testarossa rather than the 512TR like the later cars. This car also featured a red stripe around the beltline.

Here’s a breakdown of what we know of each car. Given there’s no conclusive list that we’ve yet found, we’re piecing this together largely based on the original Facebook post we found this morning and comparing that to the previous CarThrottle video that contained all but one of the cars. If you have a source for further information, drop us a note below in the comments and we’ll update this list.

F40 #1 – F40, Gloss Black / Black, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate:
Color: Gloss Black (Resprayed by Pininfarina, Paolo Garella Era)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive, Full leather interior with 512TR comfort seats, power windows, and radio. We have no photo of this car at this time.

F40 #2 – F40, Green / Green, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate: BP77
Color: Emerald Green (Resprayed by Pininfarina, Paolo Garella Era)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive, Full leather interior with 512TR comfort seats, power windows, and radio (radio missing in photo). Car is listed as “emerald green” by CarThrottle but appears to be darker in these photos shot in admittedly dark lighting.

F40 #3 – F40, Green / Black, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate:
Color: Forest Green (Resprayed by Pininfarina, Paolo Garella Era)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive, Full leather interior with 512TR comfort seats, power windows, and radio. We have no photo of this car at this time.

F40 #4 – F40, Rosso Corsa / Black, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate: Unknown
Color: Rosso Corsa (Possibly Original from Factory, Paolo Garella Era)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive, Full leather interior with Testarossa (listed as 512TR by Car Throttle) comfort seats, power windows, and radio. Photos also show hole in front bumper.

F40 #5 – F40, Gloss White / Black, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate: BP8883
Color: Gloss White (Resprayed by Pininfarina, Paolo Garella Era)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive, Full leather interior with 512TR comfort seats, power windows, and radio.

F40 #6 – F40, Silver / Black, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate: BM7878
Color: Silver (Resprayed, likely by Pininfarina)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive, Full leather interior with 512TR comfort seats. This car is not in the CarThrottle video inventory but shows up in this photo set and with specification similar to other Paolo Garella Era RHD cars.

F40 #7 – F40, Charcoal Grey / Black, LHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate: BM8686
Color: Charcoal Grey Matt (Resprayed by Pininfarina, Paolo Garella Era)
Modifications & History: Left-hand drive with red beltline stripe, Full leather interior with Testarossa comfort seats, power windows, and radio. This car is listed as

F40 #8 – F40, Matt Black, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate: Unknown
Color: Matt Black (Resprayed probably by Pininfarina)
Modifications & History: Left-hand drive according to CarThrottle and right-hand drive according to RADwood post inventory and photos. Full leather interior with 512TR comfort seats, power windows, and radio.

F40 #9 – F40 LM, Gloss Black, RHD

Specification: F40 LM
VIN: 88523
Registration Plate: KF7899
Color: Black (Resprayed by Pininfarina)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive with leather interior including Tesstarossa-style comfort seats, radio, and power windows.

F40 #10 – F40 LM, Rosso Corsa / Red Fabric, LHD

Specification: F40 LM
VIN: 92237
Registration Plate:
Color: Rosso Corsa (Original from Factory)
Modifications & History: Largely remained original from factory. This car was reportedly acquired by UK Ferrari dealer John Collins who sourced it for the Brunei royal family but it never made it to Brunei and was resold. We have no photos of this car at this time.

F40 #11 – F40, Matt Grey, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: 91283
Registration Plate: BM8383, (Unknown in UK)
Color: Matt Grey (Resprayed by Pininfarina, Prior to Paolo Garella Era)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive with red beltline stripe, grey leather interior with Testarossa-style comfort seats. It has since been exported to the UK by Ferrari dealer John Collins. In the early 2000s it was painted back to Rosso Corsa and fitted with LM seats in red fabric, then in 2018 was painted back to matte grey by DK engineering and retained the red cloth interior.

F40 #12 – F40, Yellow / Black, RHD

Specification: F40 Road Car
VIN: Unknown
Registration Plate:
Color: Yellow (Resprayed by Pininfarina, Prior to Paolo Garella Era)
Modifications & History: Right-hand drive, Full leather interior with unconfirmed specification comfort seats, power windows, and radio. It was never shipped to Brunei and kept in the UK for the use of the Brunei royal family when in England. This car was also later resold by UK Ferrari dealer John Collins and was later changed back to Rosso Corsa and fitted with red cloth interior as it would have come from the factory. It remains right-hand drive. We have no photos of this car at this time.