Many have seen photos, but not many know the full details behind this special project. Built for the famously known Royal Family of Brunei, this is the 1996 Bentley Buccaneer, one of just six specially built examples for the royal family. To begin, it’s important to know that the ‘Buccaneer’ naming convention refers back to the 17th century in the Caribbean Islands where the term ‘Buccaneer’ referred to pirates who attacked Spanish shipping. This special model was designed was designed by Geoff Matthews Design (GMD) from Coventry, and was subsequently built by France Design (FD-Heuliez) from Le Pin in France. An interesting note about the special built Buccaneer model is the VIN numbers of each of the six cars. Numbers four & five in Bentley VINs indicate the actual model of the car itself, however, many of the Royal Family’s Bentley VINs feature the letters ‘ZH’, which don’t indicate any specific model from Bentley whatsoever. Interestingly, although it’s not public as to what ‘ZH’ stands for, the ZH chassis was the basis for a number of other coachbuilt cars (mostly Bentley & Rolls Royce) that were delivered to the royal family of Brunei. The letter ‘H’ in the VIN does reportedly represent a ‘non standard’ model used only for cars built for special customers, mostly in Brunei. As for the six Buccaneer models created, they follow chassis (SCBZH16C3TCH00434-SCBZH16C2TCH00439) & while we don’t have actual documentation to prove this to be true, I do think the design of this car did have a lot of influence on the well-known Continental GT model. In terms of the Sultan of Brunei & the royal family as a whole, we’ve barley scratched the service with their collection, but the Buccaneer is definitely a car that easily earns it’s spot on RareCarsOnly!
How many made? At least 6 total cars were produced.
Engine: 6.75 Litre V8, single Garrett turbocharger, non-catalyst engine producing an undisclosed amount of power
Debut: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
0-60mph: N/A
Photo Credit: RRsilverspirit.com
Research: @rarecarsonly