Reskinning a Cat: Sultan of Brunei's Jaguar XJ220 Pininfarina

The Sultan of Brunei is our kind of monarch, having spent considerable sums of money from his country's vast oil revenues on his extensive car collection. Stories are told of special cars made just for him by the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG. The extent of his personal garage has remained a secret for years, but as details have been emerging recently we bring you this shining example: a special Jaguar XJ220, customized for his royal highness by Pininfarina.

During the XJ220's heyday in the mid-90's, it was one of the fastest cars on the road: the XJ220 hit 60 in 3.8 seconds on its way to a top speed of over 212 mph, motivated by a 550-hp twin-turbo V6. At nearly five meters long, though, the XJ220 was an absolute boat of a supercar, so Pininfarina crafted a shorter body for the sultan's car, which also helped it shed a few pounds off its 3025-lb curb weight. Pininfarina also replaced the pop-up headlamps with fixed units, and affixed a double-vane rear wing. Curiously, while the wheels are usually the first to go when customizing a car, the sultan's specials usually retain their rolling stock, making it easier for drooling car nuts like us to identify their roots. You can bet it underwent extensive wind-tunnel testing and development, much like the famous Italian design house did for its latest custom supercar, the Ferrari P4/5.

We don't know much else about the XJ220, but you can bet he paid a few million, and probably ordered at least two. Other custom rides in the royal motor-pool include the Ferrari FX based on the F512M, the Venice Estate station wagon based on the Ferrari 456GT, the Ferrari Testarossa F90 Speciale, several custom Aston Martins, the Bentley Dominator SUV, and road-going copies of the Pininfarina Mythos and Bentley Java concept cars, not to mention a host of "ordinary" supercars including eight McLaren F1s, six Dauer 962 LMs, a unique right-hand-drive Mercedes CLK-GTR, and dozens of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches. With a garage like this, who needs a flying carpet?

Click here for the full jaw-dropping list of the Sultan's complete 5000-car collection.

[Source: Supercars.net via Jalopnik]