VIN: the Brunei Royal Family Jaguar XJR-15 chassis 009
History of chassis 009
Chassis 009 was one of two XJR-15s supplied to the Brunei Royal Family, both of which were completed in road as opposed to race specification.
This first example was configured in the only colour scheme officially available: XJR Blue with Grey leather upholstery. By contrast, the second XJR-15 destined for Brunei (chassis 046) was uniquely painted Yellow.
In addition, the Brunei Royals ordered no less than 18 XJ220s from Jaguar to include a one-off Pininfarina-bodied example; the XJ220s and XJR-15s were among a batch of nearly 200 high end cars dispatched from Jaguar to Brunei during the 1990s.
The Jaguars joined a huge fleet of high end cars ordered by the Brunei Royals during the 1990s. The family’s seemingly unlimited funds came as a result of vast natural gas and oil reserves which, as head of state, absolute monarch and head of government, the Sultan (Hassanal Bolkiah) was in total control of.
In late 1986, the Sultan’s younger brother, Prince Jefri, became Brunei’s Minister of Finance and by the early-to-mid 1990s the two men were spending nearly £200m per year on luxury and high performance automobiles.
Upon arrival in Brunei, chassis 046 was registered BN618.
It has remained part of the Royal collection ever since.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
