21yo Saudi Arabian Millionaire Takes Delivery of 33rd Supercar

Actress Bo Derek once quipped, "Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping." Someone who would most likely agree with her is 21-year-old Dhiaa Al-Essa, a Saudi Arabian Engineering student and millionaire playboy with a collection of over 30 exotic supercars worth more than £4.5 million (US$7.3 million).

Al-Essa has recently taken delivery of his thirty-third exotic, the first Ferrari 599 GTO worth £345,000 (US$557,000). In his own words:

"I've been so excited about the Ferrari 599 GTO – I have had to wait six months for it to arrive. It's a limited edition car with more technology that pretty much any other car in the world – and it's the fastest ever Ferrari. My favourite car used to be the Mercedes McLaren SLR but now it's the 599. It's the best ever, simply amazing – I love it."

His collection includes a £350,000 (US$565,000) Ferrari SA Aperta and a £255,000 (US$411,700) Ferrari F430 Scuderia Spider 16M; both the last of the line. Al-Essa also owns several other Ferraris as well five Porsches, three Lamborghinis, two Rolls-Royces and a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.

This latest acquisition is a stop-gap measure until he receives his 22nd birthday present: a Koenigsegg Agera and a Bugatti Veyron, both worth £1.6 million (US$2.6 million) a piece. Al-Essa concludes:

"I love speed, but the limit in Saudi Arabia is 75 mph (121 km/h) so I'm pretty limited. When the Bugatti arrives I hope to take it to Germany where you can drive as fast as you can on parts of the autobahn."

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Swsn & Metro / Photos: Ferrari

Bugatti Veyron Replica Crafted from BMW 6-Series Coupe [Video]

Discovered by one of our regulars on Youtube is this walk-around video of a Bugatti Veyron replica. Even though we've seen a ton of Ferrari and Lamborghini replicas, for some reason, the VW Group's flagship supercar hasn't been a hit among enthusiasts of the sort, so it's not very often that we stumble upon generic Veyrons.

The poster of the video claims that this faux Bugatti is based on the BMW 6-Series Coupe. While we can't be 100 per cent sure about the claim due to the low quality of the video, the interior of the replica does indeed look like its sourced from the Bavarian model. Watch the video right after the jump.

Hat tip to Ed!

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VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron Driver Backs Into Toyota

Yes, we know: this video is almost three months old, which for the Point-and-Click Generation is practically ancient history. We're like your Grandpa, buying you a NWA CD and being all like, "Your Mom says these guys are 'hip'!"

Now to the video. Back around August, a man in the U.S. took a Bugatti Veyron for a test drive and as he was backing out, he bumped into what appears to be a Toyota Corolla (correct us if we are wrong).

Well, we're not 100% sure of all that, but since a) that's when this video was uploaded, b) when was the last time you heard a woman talk about the Veyron outside of Fifth Gear and c) there's a Ford Crown Victoria in the background, we're at least 70% certain (and, uh, 100% sexist). *Ahem*

According to the comments, he also scrapes the Bugatti's chin on the curb as he reverses out and scrapes it again as he drives back in. Riveting, I know. Honestly, this isn't even half as impressive as that video of Bumblebee colliding with that police car we showed you a couple of weeks back. I suppose what makes it of interest to us here (and you out there) is that this is one of the world's fastest, most expensive cars.

Just think about that for a moment. It'll probably cost upwards of US$10,000 to sand down and repaint the Bugatti. We're talking Nissan Versa money, not chump change. And yeah, me too: I'd rather have a damaged piece of Veyron front bumper than a perfectly intact, drivable Versa.

To each his own, I suppose.

By Tristan Hankins

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Halo Intersceptor Design Study is a Bugatti-like Flying / Swimming Car for Billionaires

I wasn't aware of this, but apparently billionaires absolutely despise leaving their cars to board other modes of transportation. You can just imagine Donald Trump sighing heavily in the back of his Maybach, "Do I really have to open the door and climb up those five little steps to board my Gulfstream V?"

No doubt feeling deeply for these disheartened millionaires, U.K. concept designer Philip Pauley has come up with the Halo Intersceptor [sic], a futuristic study for a car that can be transformed into a plane, a helicopter and even a boat.

It's pure flight of fancy, of course, with a 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) time of just 2.3 seconds and a top speed of 311 mph (500 km/h). It features a Bugatti Veyron rear end and a front that looks like it was stolen from Aptera's three-wheel electric car. Oh, and that concept car essential: gullwing doors.

The party piece though is the so-called Halo attachments which, when strapped on to the Intersceptor's body, allow it to be a private jet, four-seat helicopter or a 36 ft (11 m) power boat with a top speed of 63 knots (73 mph / 117 km/h).

It's very impressive, of course, but is it original? Not really.

In 1949, an engineer named Moulton Taylor designed and built a "roadable aircraft" called the Aerocar. Imagine this: you land your single-engine airplane at the airport, reverse the rear section / tailplane onto a trailer, detach it, fold the wings back and in less than 5 minutes you're ready for the road.

He built six of them and there are still a couple road/airworthy examples around today. It wasn't fast and it wasn't pretty, but it worked. Sort of.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Fastcodesign , Designer: Philip Pauley

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