Prince Albert of Monaco

[runsgrateasanut]

Looks like the Prince prefers to be driven in a Lexus rather than a Mercedes Benz.

Last nights programme on Monaco.  Not sure myself which model it was. Didn't see the gaping mouth grill so perhaps not so current?

 

[PRT68]

Also noted that in one scene there were two Lexus, same colour. Looked fabulous. I suppose they must have a fleet. Good illustration of Money Shouts, Wealth Whispers....

[Malc]

I think I mentionjed this before on an earlier post .........  Ls600 Landauette or something

Malc

[runsgrateasanut]

I think you may have, Malcolm.  First time I've seen one. A LS600h Landaulette- googled it and got a better view of its vast back window.  Maybe a one off by Lexus at the Princes request or are they avaliable in Japan?

Must rent that €40,000 a night, Princess Grace room to see it in the flesh some time!

[MotorDevil]

Seems that it was built by a coachbuilder but with Lexus input, nice. Would be a pretty cool car to pick up when the Prince is done with it. 

https://www.motor1.com/news/27177/a-very-royal-lexus-ls-600h-l-landaulet-revealed-video/

 

[BigBoomer]

In Monaco that is going to be a Sauna in the summer, even with the air-con on full whack!
Must be nice to be so rich that you can afford a different car for each day of your life.
Jeez, I struggle to choose between 2 motorcycles and an LS430 when i head out. 

[Malc]

c'mon everyone, it's just some old messed around with 9 year old ( low mileage ) Ls600 ...............  who else would want it at that age .......  secondhand values drop even for these classy mobiles  ...............  base cost of car plus 2000 hours labour must have put the likely initial cost at @ £350,000 or more

The Prince probably won't use it too much into the future

Anyone going to make a bid on it's value ?  maybe a wedding car for the UK  ......  be nice to drive it back from Monaco for sure

Malc

[Cotswold Pete]

21 hours ago, Malc said:

be nice to drive it back from Monaco for sure

 

IMHO the only good thing about Monaco is driving back (in other words leaving).  Went there one for a sale conference back in 2000, stayed in some s****y hotel next to Casino, paid $15 for a bottle of (330ml) Heineken, paid £30 for a taxi ride, when I could have walked to hotel in 5 minutes. Thank heavens my company was picking up the tab for 3 days.

It was kind of like Torquay with stupid amounts on money and a darned sight hillier, but I guess if you want to pay Zero tax then the price is being stuck in such a place.  

No disrespect to Torquay, it is a million times nicer than Monaco and a lot more affordable, and way better beaches

[Garth-1]

Quite a few years ago I was in Monaco for a weekend company conference.  One lunchtime I was walking round the harbour with one of our invited guests.  We gazed in wonder at a giant motor yacht complete with helipad.  My companion turned to me and said he didn't know how anyone could afford it.  Nothing remarkable there, except that my companion was the CEO of the largest software company, at that time, in the world.

[dutchie01]

Monaco is propably one of the strangest places on earth. Ever seen - supercars in monaco - on youtube? Guaranteed to give you a brainfreeze. Super and hypercars driving cricles in the center never ever leaving first gear and the only goal seems = to be seen = Bizarre. Btw not so sure if owned by the prince of monaco is a an advantage as he is not really known for his sober lifestyle to put it mildly. I find him more a mercedes benz man, the biggest most opulent and armoured Maybach of course with plenty of room for girlfriends behind the blacked out windows?  

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, Garth-1 said:

Quite a few years ago I was in Monaco for a weekend company conference.  One lunchtime I was walking round the harbour with one of our invited guests.  We gazed in wonder at a giant motor yacht complete with helipad.  My companion turned to me and said he didn't know how anyone could afford it.  Nothing remarkable there, except that my companion was the CEO of the largest software company, at that time, in the world.

A rare person indeed Garth-----A C.E.O.with his feet firmly planted on the ground.

I do hope (seriously) that he has gone on to achieve great things.

[runsgrateasanut]

Slightly off topic with apols:

For those of us who love the thought of the Grand Tour and I imagine several forum members have done it, I watched Brian Sewell’s Grand Tour DVD second part of the two part 2005? DVD last night.

Love him,  hate him, or both possibly, his Tour DVD was I quote “a masterpiece” and as I’m unlikely to watch it a third time it will go onto eBay where I find that there are no copies for sale, other than two from the USA probably unfit for Region 2.   

This is a Classic collectable series.

I don’t think Monaco was on the trip, presumeably a backwater of no note in the Seventeenth Century,  but I did enjoy seeing that wonderful Mercedes Benz 500SEC which is an E reg and still MOT’d today with under 50k miles on the clock.  I was sure he had a Blue one and perhaps its seen in the other trip he did? "The Naked Pilgrim" being mainly a walk to Santiago?. Or was that on reflection a 560SEC. I’ll have to view that DVD sometime. 

This reminded me of the love I had for my own Azure Blue with Cream Suade interior SEC.  A handsome Coupe and nice that my Lexus almost matches the Colour of his Gold Car . Oh, to be driving on the Grand Tour!  Unlikely now I fear.

If a Member would like this DVD two part set covering this 10 episode series then please PM me. It will be £20 and available for the next seven days, before I offer it to MBOA.  First to ask, gets.

[Paul Brooksbank]

3 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

Monaco is propably one of the strangest places on earth. Ever seen - supercars in monaco - on youtube? Guaranteed to give you a brainfreeze. Super and hypercars driving cricles in the center never ever leaving first gear and the only goal seems = to be seen = Bizarre. 

A bit like Lytham-St-Annes on a Sunday? But without decent fish and chips. We sat there one day and watched a bloke park up a perfectly restored Austin Healey 3000, until his son tried to show off and slammed the door so hard that the handle fell off. Not Monaco I know, but affordable and amusing. 

[runsgrateasanut]

Update on my DVD's.  Now Sold.

[Malc]

17 hours ago, runsgrateasanut said:

walk to Santiago?

camino de Santiago  ?  a buddy of mine from Singapore did this last year ...... a long long walk, tiring but exhilerating he says

Malc

[runsgrateasanut]

Santiago de Compostela - yes.  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Naked-Pilgrim-The-Road-to-Santiago-DVD-2004-Brian-Sewell-cert-E/301853173553?epid=30486219&hash=item4647d9e731:g:RUUAAOSwCgBeutOu

 

[runsgrateasanut]

Watching the second part of the series on Monaco the other night,  looks like they are going to have to accomodate the nouveau riche.  Got their first Tattoo parlour!  Pole dancing at the Casino, next!

Wonder if old money will find it all a bit degenerate and start leaving the place before they croak it?

Can't compete with the high rollers from Eastern Europe who I read make Billions here in the UK from a certain business. 

Guess the Grey Pound will just stay offshore with Mama in its 150 metre Yacht, or the copious dolly birds on the look out for a bright future.

Might get a bit (more) tacky but thats progress for you, init!  (hope I'm not letting my envy show? lol)

The latest Lexus in those final images, or was it?  You tell me as I don’t really follow Car design, other than knowing about the Rad grill which developed after Audi’s Bull Grill advert some years back. What is it they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?  

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, Greer said:

https://tinyurl.com/ycqpeulw

Thanks Alan.Most enlightening.

[runsgrateasanut]

That £23m new property in Moncao had all the appeal and appearance externally of a Grotto on Great Yarmouth Sea front.  

Can't imagine how they got permission to build it.   Ugly or what?

One thing is for certain the Builders would have had to have been a lot more careful than those in the  UK where to use a Stone cutter little thought is given to where the dust and grit will blow!     

[JohnAvery]

I guess Prince Albert enjoys driving in lexus. By the way I think lexus is the softest car I ever driven.

[Phil xxkr]

On 6/24/2020 at 1:38 PM, runsgrateasanut said:

That £23m new property in Moncao had all the appeal and appearance externally of a Grotto on Great Yarmouth Sea front.  

Can't imagine how they got permission to build it.   Ugly or what?

One thing is for certain the Builders would have had to have been a lot more careful than those in the  UK where to use a Stone cutter little thought is given to where the dust and grit will blow!     

Interesting how Essex and Monaco conjure up diametrically opposed images. 

[Malc]

13 hours ago, Phil xxkr said:

Interesting how Essex and Monaco conjure up diametrically opposed images. 

I guess Southend seafront has better parking than Monaco 

Malc

[Phil xxkr]

23 minutes ago, Malc said:

I guess Southend seafront has better parking than Monaco 

Malc

You pose some interesting questions there Malc; do you mean better valet parking, or, better discipline when parking, or, more parking spots, or, when you park outside of the equivalent to the Hotel de Paris it makes your car look better? 🚙🚙🚙

[BigBoomer]

Monaco has always been about Nouveau Riche, at least since WW2 anyways. It's a tax haven so those with enough money to buy into it go there. As for the posers, that's because people read the trash magazines/websites that glorify wealth and the rich, so there is always a whole gaggle of Paparazzi on hand to photograph the wannabes in their latest ego extension. I've visited a few times and the biggest pain is getting in and out and that's more due to geography than anything else. Once in, the parking is adequate, mostly underground, and not that expensive, but no you can't park on the harbour front so cruising is de-rigueur the same as Southend. The speed limit in all of Monaco is 50kph and in a few spots lower. However, you'll be lucky to hit 50kph for more than a few secs.

Southend-on-Sea on the other hand has to cope with 1 million Londoners whenever there is a sunny weekend (watch the press this coming weekend) so lots of parking is a must, as is plenty of pubs, fish & chip shops, gambling establishments, and entertainment for the hordes. It's a much nicer place during the week. We often drive down, get fish & chips, and sit on the seafront. The Southend equivalent to the Hotel de Paris is Gentings Casino 🤣🤣

[Phil xxkr]

2 hours ago, BigBoomer said:

Monaco has always been about Nouveau Riche, at least since WW2 anyways. It's a tax haven so those with enough money to buy into it go there. As for the posers, that's because people read the trash magazines/websites that glorify wealth and the rich, so there is always a whole gaggle of Paparazzi on hand to photograph the wannabes in their latest ego extension. I've visited a few times and the biggest pain is getting in and out and that's more due to geography than anything else. Once in, the parking is adequate, mostly underground, and not that expensive, but no you can't park on the harbour front so cruising is de-rigueur the same as Southend. The speed limit in all of Monaco is 50kph and in a few spots lower. However, you'll be lucky to hit 50kph for more than a few secs.

Southend-on-Sea on the other hand has to cope with 1 million Londoners whenever there is a sunny weekend (watch the press this coming weekend) so lots of parking is a must, as is plenty of pubs, fish & chip shops, gambling establishments, and entertainment for the hordes. It's a much nicer place during the week. We often drive down, get fish & chips, and sit on the seafront. The Southend equivalent to the Hotel de Paris is Gentings Casino 🤣🤣

"As for the posers, that's because people read the trash magazines/websites that glorify wealth and the rich, so there is always a whole gaggle of Paparazzi on hand to photograph the wannabes in their latest ego extension. I've visited a few times". Hoisted by ones own petard methinks George 😅. And I don't think you fully appreciate the downsides of living in Monaco compared to say the Becontree Estate in Dagenham Essex. Monaco is a fifth of the size yet has 40% of the population, it suffers an average annual temperature of 19 degrees and has to somehow manage on a GDP of around 8 Billion and is 86% Christian. And who would ever choose Le Terrace at the Hotel de Paris overlooking the harbour eating Bream ceviche, avocado, grapefruit & sweet pepper Agria gnocchi with preserved lemon shellfish and brocollini over cod & chips on Southend Sea front? And finally you don't have suffer the angst of watching people use Blue Chips in the casino when there are so many poorer people who can only manage a 2 quid bet in Gentings. 😱