These days, paddle shifters are on everything from hatchbacks to luxury sedans. But not so long ago, they could only be found on certain exotica and racing cars. Some love 'em, but a lot of enthusiasts would rather have a good ol' fashioned third pedal and a stick. So who do we have to blame for this virus of sequential gearboxes? The man at fault may very well be the Sultan of Brunei. Back in the early '90s, his specially-designed Ferrari FX was the first road car to use a modern paddle-shift setup.
Based on a Ferrari 512M, the FX keeps the 440 HP 5.0-liter flat-12 engine, but nearly everythng else has been redone. The body was made by Pininfarina, and utilized aluminum and carbon fiber. All very well and good, but the really impressive upgrade was the gearbox. Keep in mind that Ferrari did not yet offer an F1-style gearbox for their road cars. So, the Brunei royals went to the Williams Formula One team to supply a F1-spec sequential transmission. That meant, in 1994, the Sultan's road-going supercar had a 7-speed flappy-paddle gearbox — four years before the Ferrari 355 F1 would debut as a '98 model. And it was all downhill from there. [via Supercars.net]











Comments
Whats with the nose off of a Saturn SC Coupe????
I'll be sure to punch him next time he visits my yacht, Vag I
green means go and red means stop!
maybe the Sultan should do Top Gear America with Jay Leno.
proof positive that no matter how much money one has, taking an decent car and turning it into a one off rolling pile of shit, can always be one upped by some one else
I call the interior colour "failure slate" if the guy's other stuff wasn't so freakin awesome.
So when do we invade Brunei?
I appear to have dumped an apostrophe-d.
@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: We can't: he has an army of cyborg/orangutans. Or something.
Pontiac Firebird, meet Ferrari F430.
Is it just me, or did they actually manage to make a Ferrari look kinda like a rear-engined F-body with a hint of the Pontiac Banshee concept car?
The paper floormats and plastic sheeting on the seats is a nice touch. Gives it a real classy look.
@B: Hey... ease up, he just had the oil changed at Jiffy Lube and he didn't want the interior sullied...
@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: If we did the army would just blow them all up like Hussein's kid's Lambo LM002. Got to do the explosives testing.
The Ferrari 456 wagon was sweet, but the other imagine-a-cars prove that it takes a lot of time and effort to get a car to look cohesive and slick.
Is it just me? It looks as though Pininfarina hired designers from GM and said, " have at it, boys!" The front looks like camaro or a saturn, the rear looks like the front of a firebird, and the interior looks like piece of shit from any old GM products from the '90s.
Proof that money cain't buy class, yo.
@Ω βгåғғ™ ۞: Doesn't the full Road King package (inc. Stem Lube) come with Interior Sullying free of charge?
I say if it's free, take it.
@B: "Thanks for coming in!" Yeah, you say that to all the dragons, don't you?
@P161911: I'll be happy to volunteer for the pre-invasion "fact-finding" mission.
I already have my ride:
@B:
[jalopnik.com] dad uses the same ones at his body shop. I never knew Dad was so classy! [jalopnik.com]
@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: Word. There are a few facts I would very much like to collect myself.
I wish I had the money to buy F1-spec parts for my custom cars.
@Dick Bento: Exactly what I was thinking. Put the flip-ups back.
take a sharpie
take those paper floor mats
add "your pants"
done.
legend has it the sultan spent an extra $1mm to have a F1-derived sequential gearbox fitted to his FX, making it the first road car with a flappy paddle gearbox. However, this flappy paddle was better then, than most are today because it is connected to a genuine sequential-shift gearbox instead of the traditional automatic transmissions in todays road cars.
One X makes all the diff. One, a modded Enzo, the other, a kit car.
Yeah he was a pioneer in that and spending money like a fiend. I just don't get it, but I suppose some people never have enough. No matter how much money I made there would be a moment of zen when I said "yeah that's enough I don't need more objects". It's not like it's a museum he has, it's all privately owned vehicles that nobody gets to see or drive.
Comment on this post
Reply by EmailLogin with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?