Today marks a major milestone for Bufori Motor Car, as the company flies its first batch of cars to China, an important market in the brand’s plans. Three units – two units of the La Joya and one MK II – are now over two hours into their journey to Pudong on board MASkargo flight MH6162. We were there to send them off, giving yours truly a chance to step in a cargo plane for the first time :)
The 120-tonne capacity Boeing 747-400F freighter is scheduled to touch down at 1905 local time, and the cars will be then sent to Bufori’s new dealership located in Shanghai’s posh Xintiandi district. The Malaysian based company, which hand builds cars at its Kepong factory, has been working very long and hard to seal the deal with the Chinese importer and distributor, so today is a sweet day for Bufori boss Gerry Khouri.
It’s an emotional day for Khouri, too, since he will be parting with the first ever Bufori MK II that was produced in Malaysia – it’s the black car with MME stickers you see in the pics. Apparently, one Chinese customer saw the car in Malaysia, and wanted no other but that unit itself. On the other hand, the two La Joyas you see here are the freshest, most recent cars that rolled out from the factory. The lucky cars get nice “front row seats” with plenty of legroom!
It’s crucial that the cars get first class treatment, as they will be on show at Top Marques Shanghai 2011, a luxury show parading toys for big boys such as yachts, supercars, private jets, antiques and fine watches, among other things millionaires like. Bufori is the official car of the show. Participating in such a show is a smart move for Bufori – the rich in China like to show off and stand out, and few other cars get you as many stares as a Bufori. I can already imagine it cruising down the Bund!
The gold La Joya you see here is an example of how every Bufori is unique. The owner, a wealthy lady, gave Bufori her own pearl to be encrusted into the gear knob, and her signature is engraved in the cabin as well, so anything is possible.
Currently, there’s a waiting list of half a year for a hand made Bufori, which sells 50 to 60 cars per year. They have a target capacity of 300 units per annum though, which is only limited by capital. With sales from China, this should be taken care of, providing funds for more projects and models. By the way, the Geneva limo that was unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show has garnered six orders so far. Click here to read all about it.
Their cars may not be for everyone, but the perseverance, passion and spirit behind Bufori deserves the support of everyone. Good luck guys!
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Thumbs up.. Good to see good things happen on someone deserving.
i second that.
What is the NCAP rating for this car?
so plastic looking…not up to the price its asking for
the body is made from carbon fibre and kevlar, the material used in bullet-proof vests. and remember, the cars are hand-made!
expat, in case you don’t know… usually, only mass-produced cars are tested in Euro-NCAP, ANCAP and IIHS. cars like Ferrari, Porshe, Lambo, Bugatti and this Bufori are not mass-production cars.
Just to be pedantic, Kevlar is simply a brand name for woven carbon fibre fabric. For rigid panels, Kevlar is not used as is, as it is a fabric (cloth) and is very flexible To make stiff panels, the woven carbon fibre fabric is laminated between layers of polyester, epoxy or some other “plastic” binder that is baked/cured till this binding material solidifies. The combination of the carbon fibre’s flexibility (but high tensile strength) and the rigidity of the binding material is what gives the eventual composite laminate its, in layman’s terms, “strength”. As several layers of carbon fibre fabric are required (trust me on this), each separated by a baked binder, carbon fibre composite parts are costly to produce because they are highly labour intensive. Just the right requirement for Malaysian production.
Hmm, looking at the specs, I see the cars have a “space frame” construction (welded tubes make up and provide stiffness of the chassis) so the carbon fibre body panels aren’t much part of the strength/stiffness of the whole. This is unlike an F1 car, in which the carbon fibre composite Unibody IS the chassis. So we can assume that much of the Bufori’s use of carbon fibre is pure “specmanship”.
Carbon fibre is not kevlar and kevlar is not carbon fibre. They are two different materials with two distinct properties. In fabric form Kevlar is flexible yet incredibly strong in tension while carbon does not have the same flexibility. Bufori uses black carbon fibre interweaved with yellow kevlar fibre as the composite cloth.
The model you see above is the Mk3 model and yes there is a stainless steel chassis that bears all the load. However in 2 of their other models the composite body forms a monocoque with it’s steel chassis thus the body is load bearing. So no, they don’t use composites for the sake of ‘specmanship’. The use it for specific need. Neither is Bufori trying to be an F1 car. Composites are used in a lot of cars especially sports cars these days. Think of it along those lines.
just go to their official website….u will know everything yo!
i thought he(expat) knows everything~ what a silly question~
hey expat, do you know what is Lamborghini Aventador NCAP rating? ;P
Mofaz, Sorry to burst your bubble if you own a Porsche and think it is “hand-made” but with production in the 100k per annum range, the Porsches we see on the road are definitely mass produced.
To put that 100k figure in perspective, Proton has sold about 100k-150k per year for the last 10 years or so (more previously, before the MyVi arrived and spoiled their party).
sorry man, i do not own a Porsche, and I know it’s not a hand-made. what i wrote above is about Bufori.
only on 2nd paragraph i wrote about mass production cars. AFAIK, by definition, mass production cars is any model that has production of at least 25,000 unit a year in respective area (US/Euro/etc). 911, Boxster, Cayman, Cayyene are all different model and each model doesn’t even reach 15k unit per year in US since 2006.
only 5700 unit of Porsche 911 sold in USA last year, out of 12mil cars in total, that’s just 0.0475%. that’s probably the main reason why IIHS wasn’t even bother to put 911 to test.
Their cars meet German TUV safety standards which is the highest standards in the world. Something that our other local manufacturers don’t meet. Don’t be too fascinated with NCAP ratings as it is more for marketing these days
Diablo,
You sound like you know what you’re writing about, but actually don’t really…
TUV is a quality and safety standards organization, like our SIRIM, UK’s British Standards Institution and the USA’s Underwriter’s Lab (UL), while Euro NCAP provides, and I crib from their website,…
“Euro NCAP provides motoring consumers – both drivers and the automotive industry – with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe.
BTW, I do know that the fibre used for weaving Kevlar is an aramid, which is an organic (carbon based) polymer. Suffice to say to most people, and practically, it is more related to “carbon” than the other reinforcing fibres that “people” may be familiar with, like glass, asbestos and various rock-wools, which are inorganic ( mineral rather than carbon based,).
Smile,
Smartess
Hmm.. so which part of my writing, regarding TUV, is contradictory to what you wrote? or are you just trying hard to prove to everyone that you are a ‘smartAss’ :) ?
1st look…..OMG….i thought…..they are shipping with hundreds of snake under the car…..hahaha…silly me
snake in the plane? look carefully n u’ll probably see samuel L jackson there too!
I don’t get it with Bufori. Their cars don’t look classic, The grille, urgghhh… Mind you I like this kind of car but not from Bufori.
aiyoo~~! basher will always be a basher~ grill also give you problem? my advise, go buy the grill like they use to grill fish or chicken or satay just like the pasar malam one~ problem solve~ sigghhh~~~
If you don’t like the grill, just tell them during customization and they’ll gladly install whatever grill you want. At a price, of course, but when you are buying these kind of cars, money is not an issue, isn’t it?
I’m proud to see a Malaysian Hand Made Car to be sold to foreigners.
have looked the real one at subang, really fantastic
COBB, i think the one you are referring to in Subang is actually another car supported by EON called TD2000.
Bufori only has the one plant and showroom in Kepong.
They are 2 completely different cars, and almost cannot be compared.
Hard to sell this car…. Classic which not relavant to current market. Hand made like Rolls Royce…. expensive….. Only wealthy people interested. Bufori making money? Limited capital itself and maybe end up with bankruptcy. Logical thinking who want to buy antique design car Malaysian make instead Rolls Royce?
Emotional day for all Bufori employee…. see first car load to airplane, send Malaysian product abroad. That is proud…. happy… speechless. And you said plastic looking. Are you nuts?
There are still a number of people out there prefers hand-made cars rather than mass-produced cars, because they can feel and appreciate the craftmanship of the makers. Those cars are not merely made as a machine to carry you from point A to point B, but rather as beautiful machines to be appreciated and loved. That’s the reason why the feel between those two cars are different.
do anyone who is not their customer can pay a visit to their factory? can afford to be the customer to pay a visit… :P
and by pay i did not mean paying to see.. :P :P
wow it is great now lets hope proton n p2 shares similar fate wit bufori
its not carbon fibre..its a steel tube chassis with a fibre glass body and a hyundai engine…doesn’t look nice..just like a kit car.
Definitely not fiberglass, definitely Carbon-Kevlar
Hyundai?…I though scooby engine…saw the car few times it does sound like a boxer…
They used a sccoby in the older model. Thats discontinued. They;’re using V6 and V8 in current models
and the founder is an iranian aussie…
Aussie with lebanese roots lah
race does not matter… as long as he is good, then he is good
Between Lotus and Bufori
who sell more car?
p/s : just asking meh
Between Lotus and Bufori,
Who is earning more money currently.. My bet is on Bufori as Lotus has a loan from Proton which haven’t been paid back.. hahahaha
p/s: Just letting you know that selling more cars doesn’t equal to earn more money.
come on, Bufori doesn’t get involved in motorsports. they even spent less in marketing compared to Lotus. Bufori also didn’t go much to international motor shows.
Lotus in the other hand spent a lot in research & development of engines, prototyping and designing so many models to come out in 5 years.
even how hard Lotus spend in R&D, Prototype, Motorsport, Sponsorship or Motorshow bla bla bla…
they only manage sold less than 500 vehicle annually… what a joke
tell me how much is R&D cost for Bugatti Veyron. Tell me also how many unit sold.
Oh boy… that’s was a really nice car for a weekend drive around town… :)
Forget the car, I want to see the plane!
Bufori even sell less car than Lotus. So basher where are you?
whats wrong with you???
“…gave Bufori her own pearl…” hahahaha i like the way u put it.
But seriously, all the very best to Bufori. i hope their perseverance, passion and spirit will bear bountiful rewards.
All 3 cars arrived safely at 1922 local time Shanghai. I don’t get to drive these cars but I get to ‘drive’ the ‘transporter’ that brings the Buforis into Shanghai from KL. They were in safe hands, smooth flight throughout. Was a safe ‘wet landing’. Before I left the plane, many people were excited to see those cars. All the best to Bufori.
I don’t get to drive these Buforis, but I get to ‘drive’ the 390+ ton ‘transporter’ to Shanghai. We were greeted with a ‘wet’ welcome. The special cargos arrived safely at the gate at 1922 local time. All the best Bufori.
Sorry for the double postings. China internet trouble. ;)
Had to get trough the Great Wall to post?
:mrgreen:
Ya, for a superpower country, they seems to be blocking a lot of websites. Less info to public, less Bersih 2.0. Heh! :p
Next u will see the chinese make copies made out from these…with acteco engine under the hood
the very example, you dont need volume to be profitable….Lotus should look into this…lotus selling 300 car per year is good but that have to make that profitable 300….
hey! last nite we dont sleap finishing this car!! u all come here. another 3 we need to finish later end of next month.
At least …. something Made in Malaysia …. that is not Proton or Perodua ….