On a recent business trip to Singapore, I had the pleasure to chat with the very nice sales responsible for Bugatti in South East Asia, who has this year sold six Chirons across Asian markets (ex-Japan). We met in the very pleasant showroom of the family brand Bentley, and this was the occasion to learn some interesting facts about super cars in Singapore – and to admire the current Bentley collection (sidenote: the Bentayga feels like a Q7 with more metal and leather in it but still too much plastic given the price. Given its looks, not a very wise way to spend your hard-earned money!).

Singapore is a small, wealthy country trying hard to avoid congestion, so buying a car starts with buying the right to buy a car, basically a license entitling you to a purchase. The number of such licenses is limited and the price is set through a bid-ask process in an auction format. The latest took place during my visit and came out at around SGD 60.000 (USD 45.000), which is in other words the price of the right to buy four wheels…

Singapore authorities are not very keen on old cars either. Any car is taken out of traffic after ten years, irrespective of its condition, to be scrapped or exported. What mostly happens is that owners either directly or through dealers export the cars to surrounding markets and thus manage to get at least something for them – but it is surely not a great deal. It doesn’t get better when you know that should you wish to buy a new car again after you scrapped your old one, you’ll need to pay up again to renew your buyer’s license…

The final thing to know is far more positive: not only do Singaporeans drive on the wrong side of the road, it’s also impossible to have a left-hand drive car registered for road usage. Any supercar not built as right-hand drive (which notably includes anything by the Bugatti brand) can thus never be used in Singapore outside of a circuit – and as per the Bugatti salesman, Singaporeans don’t really like circuits. He has himself sold two Chirons that are kept in Singapore and that have never been driven. The same goes for Paganis, Ferraris, Lamborghinis etc. Should you actually be interested in driving (as apparently the local Porsche Owners’ Club is), you rent the Sepang track in Malaysia a couple of days and drive over the border.

Therefore, next time you’re thinking about a low-mileage supercar, don’t forget to check out the offer in Singapore!