A 22-year-old playboy has paid a £45,000 premium to become the first person in Saudi Arabia to own a Lamborghini Aventador – thanks to a businessman in Somerset.
Wealthy Dhiaa al-Essa didn’t want to put a deposit down at his local dealership and join an 18-month waiting list for the 217mph supercar.
So he contacted Shaun Williams who, 4,100 miles away in Weston-super-Mare, goes around quietly sourcing supercars for the richest people on the planet.
And the engineering graduate paid a hefty price for the privilege – forking out £290,000 for a £245,000 supercar.
But a 45k premium is loose change to someone like Dhiaa, whose grandfather is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of more than £1.5 billion.
For the past two years Shaun has been running BestPriceCarBuyers.com and dealing with mega-rich petrolheads who want the car without the wait.
Shaun, 41, said: “Some people have the money and the interest but are too busy to keep an eye on the market.
“The problem is that by the time someone sees a new car debut at a motor show it is too late.
“They will then have to contact a dealer or the manufacturer and register their interest or put a deposit down and they’ll find themselves way down the waiting list.”
The Somerset-based businessman has spent the past 20 years in car sales, assembling a little black book of wealthy individuals fortunate enough to be at the top of the waiting list for the latest supercar.
He makes between £2,000 and £10,000 on a supercar deal depending on rarity and cost of the vehicle with his company turning over £12 million last year.
The auto expert will find out a potential customer is interested in selling and how much they’ll sell for – whether it is because they no longer want the car or they are looking to speculate on their 200mph-plus investment.
He said: “We get in touch with potential clients 12 – 24 months ahead of a car launch as we know what’s going to be on sale and when.
“All the time we keep ourselves abreast of what’s available.
“We source vehicles which are really hard to get hold of. People who are fortunate enough to get on the list for one of these exclusive cars may decide they don’t want to go through with the full purchase.”
Dhiaa’s bright orange Lamborghini was sourced in Europe with Shaun finalising a deal between both parties before shipping the 217mph supercar to the UK and then flying it over to Riyadh in a Boeing 747.
It joins a collection of cars which includes Ferraris and Rolls-Royces spread across the four corners of the globe.
Dhiaa said: “It’s amazing the Lamborghini has arrived – I wanted to be the first in Saudi Arabia to get the Aventador.
“Of course there is competition but for me personally it is not a competition, I just love cars – and if you want to be first you have to work hard and pay more.”
Wow! What car and what the craziness of that youngster for the supercar. Just unbelievable. I know everyone would become crazy for the car but it is something extraordinary craze.