The case of a Ferrari FF driver with more money than sense
Last November, on my way to a lunch at The Stafford Hotel with The Steeple Times restaurant critic, Anthony Brown, I took a photograph of one of my favourite vehicles, a Ferrari FF, in Curzon Street, W1.
Emblazoned with a Westminster City Council parking ticket, this particular FF, baring an Arabic registration “66 C,” was especially noticeable as it was “wrapped” in orange and black and I took a photograph of it.
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After sharing the image on Facebook, I received, in Margaret Thatcher style fashion, the following reply from the renowned designer, Bruce Oldfield: “No, no, no!” Another friend, Anne Marie Legault added: “It doesn’t fit with the neighborhood.” Karen Ashworth, a Mercedes SL 500 driver and friend from my school days, summed up the thoughts of the majority though when she stated of the car: “I’m not a fan to be honest!”
I subsequently saw the car a few times in the months that followed but never imagined that I’d see it on the Mail Online website and would certainly never have predicted that it would have ended up as an advert against uninsured drivers outside New Scotland Yard.
The Steeple Times picture of the week, following on from this morning’s coverage of it, therefore, has to be of this particular FF. It turns out that it is owned by His Highness Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, the 28-year old son of His Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, the ruler of Ajman, and was recently impounded in South Kensington, London after he hadn’t bothered to insure it. Having paid £227,000 for such a magnificent vehicle, one would have thought he’d have the brains and finances to have done such. Plainly the age of excess and stupidity is still with us.
Read the Mail Online’s coverage of the story at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2209551/Going-fast–Ferrari-proudly-display-outside-police-headquarters-deter-uninsured-drivers.html
Readers have their say
12 comments
This car is owned by Sheik Ammar Bin Humaid Nuaimi , Crown Prince of Ajman in the UAE & his family. He has a fleet of cars , helicopters etc, with the same colour combination. and with his logo RRR , which stands for “Rich in Real-estate Resources”, which is a one of his companies or of his son.
http://www.nospeedlimit.com/cars-of-the-rrr-group-in-ajman-veyron-enzo-slr-bentley-etc
Thank you for this information. I’ve updated the article accordingly having also found His Highness Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi’s official Facebook page. There he displays an image of the Ferrari FF parked in his garage, which confirms that he owns/owned the vehicle. http://www.facebook.com/pages/HH-Sheikh-Rashid-Bin-Humaid-Al-Nuaimi-RRR/332726080101676
To add:
very few of the super-cars flown in from the gulf to Chelsea and Belgravia are insured. This is because they owners fail to realise (or don’t care) that this is needed. They also usually don’t pay parking fines etc. Its good to see that the police seem to be starting to do something about this by impounding their vehicles.
To The Spy: Not knowing is not an excuse. If you or I (I assume that you think like most ordinary people), went around behaving like this we wouldn’t last long. I looked at this Young Turk’s Facebook page and it is plain that he has plenty of advisors around him. These people plainly arranged for him to travel into the UK so they must have dealt with customs, etc. On that basis, they would also know that cars have to be insured. If they didn’t, they ought to be fired. I shall have to ask Mr Bone to raise this matter in the House.
The Sheikh might be onto a winner here. He realises they won’t crush such a beauty and having done his calculations, he probably realised that having the police store it for 6 months is cheaper than keeping it in a car park. He’ll pay up at the last minute which, no doubt, will be just in time for his next visit to the UK. Clever boy.
@David Jackson:
I think its more likely that he simply hasn’t realised the car is missing yet and might not for months, since he has around 100 super cars. For us its more traumatic to misplace a sock in the washing machine than for him to lose a super car or two. Its like the old saying goes:…
“To be rich is glorious” –Deng Xiaoping– leader of Communist China 😎
You are quite possibly right, Spy. I like the comparison of an FF to a sock.
What a load of old bull. They are just lazy, spoilt kids who don’t have any grasp or care as to what anything costs. Get real Mr McLoughlin.
Thomas McLoughlin, may I ask why you are so negative on every post? May I also ask why so many people seem to row with you and accuse you of such terrible things? You really ought to cheer up and say something positive. If you do such, perhaps people will be nicer to you. Just a thought. Best regards, Mrs Bone
You seem to have a stalker Mrs Bone. Each time you make a perfectly reasonable, considered post on STEEPLE TIMES, up pops Tom McLoughlin with yet another snide comment.
Why? One wonders.
He certainly has stirred things up on this site. Lashing out at all and sundry. Yet, I am told he wanders the Brompton Cross area, seemingly without a care in the world and indeed with a benevolent smile on his face as he buys his RACING POST from the local newsagent Mrs Josaiah (I hope he signed her petition – as all STEEPLES TIMES readers should do).
Also as he struts Walton Street in Knightsbridge’s in his splendid, colourful sports T-shirts on the weekends, an attractive Italian brunette on his arm – or when a business suited McLoughlin, IPad in hand, he goes door-to-door trying to sell to local architects, estate agents (how ironic!) and other businesses, financial and directory services. Odd behaviour one might think for an aviation entrepreneur.
Your kindness and compassion in extending a hand of friendship is commendable, Mrs Bone. But look at the arrogance of the man as he has updated his blog at http://thomasmcloughlin.blogspot.co.uk
Mr Juffali: Thank you for your kindness. Having spent a little time reading the link that you suggested I now understand Mr McLoughlin’s problem. My feeling is that he needs to be a little more careful as his actions have clearly not brought him the success he so aspires to. His lofty commentary about insurance is utterly irresponsible. In England, insurance is there so as to protect victims if one were to cause a car crash. “Self-insuring” is not only selfish, it is reprehensible. It’s not a surprise to me that he has made so many enemies. I don’t wish to be one of them but I genuinely wish he’d be a little politer in his commentary. Thank you and best regards, Mrs Bone
why do you use a FAKE FAMILY NAME. you are no way a member of the Al-Juffali Family. you are an Imposter! you can be sued for this behavior. you are a FAKE!