Muda Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, is one of the richest men on the planet and also owns one of the most impressive collections of automobiles in existence. It is estimated that he owns some 7,000 cars from brands such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz or Rolls-Royce. And, of course, Ferrari.
There is no doubt about the fondness of this unique character for cars: in his special garage there are about 600 Rolls-Royce, more than 500 Mercedes-Benz and about 450 Ferrari.
An exceptional client of the Maranello brand, he has a range of unique, unpublished Ferrari models, some created especially for him. They are rarities of a value difficult to calculate.
To understand what type of client we are talking about, it is enough to mention a single example: at the end of 1998 Ferrari delivered the last F50 to its wealthy clients and the Sultan of Brunei was the only one who was served six units of this exclusive model, in color white, yellow, silver grey, blue and red. Successor to the F40, the F50 was a limited edition on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the brand. 349 units were manufactured.
Coachbuilders of fame from Pininfarina and Michelotti have been commissioned to carry out special work on the Ferraris of the Asian sultan.
Manufactured between 1992 and 2003, the 456 GT was a 2 2 with a longitudinal front mid-engine and, of course, propulsion. An elegant coupe designed by Pininfarina, but did not have a convertible version. At least officially.
But that was not a problem for one of the world's wealthiest collectors, and the Sultan of Brunei cured it in his own way: he commissioned one of the rarest and most exclusive Ferraris in existence today, the 456 GT Venice Cabriolet.
In principle, the body of the 456 GT, with its very clean shapes, was too discreet. It did not attract attention, compared to other historical models of the Prancing Horse firm. And that, it seems, delighted the sultan.
So much so, that at the end of the 90s he bought not one, but twenty-one units of the 456 GT for himself and his family. But of course, they couldn't be serial copies. Too vulgar.
Thus, he ordered the modification of seven units that he had bought, all under the name 456 GT Venice. There is even a sedan version and a station wagon called the 456 GT Station Wagon.
Of all of them, the rarest and most extraordinary is undoubtedly the 456 GT Venice Cabriolet. Handcrafted and bespoke by Pininfarina, it is the only unit in the Venice range that is not in Brunei.
The work carried out by Pininfarina logically includes the removal of the roof, and the complete redesign of the rear of the car from the doors. The hood and its mechanism, curiously, is of Mercedes-Benz origin. From an SL, specifically.
But it was not an easy job, since all the engineering had to be recalculated again to locate the retractable roof. And to free up space in the body, the standard Ferrari gearbox was replaced by a Mercedes four-speed automatic gearbox, which had to be matched to the 442bhp V12 engine.
Likewise, the increase in weight caused by the modifications made it necessary to change the entire rear suspension and replace it with a self-levelling hydraulic type. It helped a little, for the engineers who participated in the reconstruction, to know that there was no limit on the budget. It's what it takes to collaborate with the rich and powerful sultan.
The entire interior was redecorated in sumptuous Connolly Green leather and the power seats were lifted from a 1990s BMW 8 Series. Nothing was left to chance. Even the rear seats had to be modified to accommodate the new roof.
The icing on the cake of this impossible-to-buy convertible is the exhaust system, also modified to enhance the experience of listening to the tune of a traditional V12 engine. Either with roof or convertible.
Another detail of the painstaking work done on the Venice Cabriolet is the taillights. Pininfarina swapped the oval-shaped 456 GT for Ferrari's characteristic set of four round units, each seamlessly integrated into the rear of the body. Finally, the body color is a Forest Green, naturally made exclusively for the Sultan.
This rare bird is currently in the Marconi Automotive Museum
