Lifestyle
This M'sian Tycoon Has So Many Cars That He Needs a Museum to Keep Them
Revealed back in 2018, there are only 40 units of the Bugatti Divo in the world and will set you back about US$5.7 million or about RM25.3 million.
KL-born Chin Jit Pyng or JP Chin is possibly the only person to own this extremely rare hyper car in Southeast Asia and he is no ordinary car collector –– he boasts what may be Malaysia’s largest private car collection and has such an abundant number of vehicles that he must house them in a private museum.
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JP Chin’s museum is located in Kota Damansara, but unfortunately, the museum is not open to the public except on for his personal connections, special occasions, and upon special request. The Bugatti is stored in a special warehouse in Singapore, the Wearnes Automotive’s Bonded Gallery along with a Porsche 918 Spyder.
The tycoon is unlikely to find himself without a car to drive though, as the JPM Museo contains between 60 to 100 classic cars, sports cars, and supercars as well as 30 to 40 motorcycles, bicycles, and toy cars at any given time.
If you are wondering how he manages to afford it all, he is the founder of the Silverlake Innovation Partners, an IT solutions company which counts KWSP Malaysia, Affin Bank, and Bank Islam among their clients.
The 66-year-old’s fleet now includes Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and McLarens but he doesn’t come from an affluent background. Growing up, his father could only afford second-hand cars.
This gave birth to a dream of owning as many cars as he wanted once he made it. In his teens, he started collecting three to four bicycles and went on to motorcycles. He bought his first car in the UK while working for IBM –– an Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti 1200. As he climbed up the ladder at IBM, his appetite for cars also increased and he started changing cars every year.
JP Chin also shared on a YouTube page dedicated to his vehicles that he was the first person in Malaysia to own the fastest motorcycle in the world at the time –– a Kawasaki ZZ-R1100.
He has an evident need for speed as he started off with jet ski racing and only moved onto cars when he suffered an injury. Together with his sons, he has participated in the annual Sepang 12 Hours endurance races under their JPM Motorsport team for the past decade.
Despite his wealth, JP Chin still washes his own car, a Land Rover Defender 90 P300 which was a preferred brand by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Another rare car that JP Chin counts as part of his fleet is the Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670 SuperVeloce of which only 186 units were ever made.
Known as an icon of sorts in the auto world, only 954 units of the American classic sports car, the 1965 Shelby Cobra were produced.
One of the crown jewels of the collection is a McLaren P1, known as a superhero amongst supercars. Only 375 units were made, and JP Chin owns only one of two in the entire country.
Watch his full story here:
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