The Sultan of Brunei got the ex-Design Chief of Pininfarina to build six custom Ferrari F90s that even people at Ferrari didn’t know existed
- The Sultan of Brunei owns six secret Ferrari F90 sports cars
- These six cars were designed by his brother Prince Jeffri
- Built in 1989, Ferrari wouldn’t know of their existence until 2005
Published on Mar 04, 2025 at 12:33 PM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Mar 04, 2025 at 12:33 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
The Sultan of Brunei has a car collection that would make even Jay Leno jealous. His collection is the largest in the world, with up to 7,000 vehicles worth up to $15 billion from the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and more.
But just owning a huge amount of cars wasn’t enough for the Sultan.
He actually had Ferrari build six secret Ferrari F90s for his private collection.
Not only that, but these extraordinary cars are so secret that not even Ferrari’s higher-ups knew they existed!
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How the Sultan’s Ferrari F90s were built
The F90s story began with the Sultan’s brother, Prince Jeffri, who approached Pininfarina Design in 1989 to commission the supercars.
Then design chief Enrico Fumia was given the task of basing these around the legendary Ferrari Testarossa.
The only condition of the build was that the car must be built from the ground up and not use a design from a Ferrari already in existence.
The price of the cars was enough to keep Pininfarina afloat at a time it badly needed it.
The project cost more than all of their direct work with manufacturers combined.
The hope was that Prince Jeffri’s design, which he created in his spare time, would be enough to convince the Sultan to order more than one F90.
As a result, he would order six of these radical new Ferraris.
The whole process was kept a massive secret, even from Ferrari
Pininfarina, Jeffri, and the Sultan were sworn to secrecy throughout the entire process.
Every part of the design, testing, and production process was done away from Ferrari and prying eyes.
Images of the F90 did not leak until 2002.
Yet the Italian manufacturer wouldn’t know of the car’s existence for another three years.
By that point, there was nothing that Maranello could do, as the cars were already in existence.
What the company did do, however, was to recognize them as their own product in 2006.
This without even seeing them, as they were hidden away in the Sultan’s collection.
Despite the leak, images of the F90s are incredibly scarce.
All six, though, are reportedly still in the Sultan’s incredible collection.
They may have used the Testarossa as their basis, but they look nothing like the sports car.
Given how difficult it is to keep secrets in this digital world, it’s unlikely that a project like this will happen again.
Henry is a content writer with nearly ten years experience, having written for various publications since 2017. Qualifying with a Sports Journalism degree from Staffordshire University, Henry loves all things automotive but has a particular soft spot for classic Japanese cars and anything Lancia. He also has a curious passion for steam locomotives.
