Rides of Heads of State (Part 10)

Welcome to the tenth installment. A few surprises with New Zealand and Botswana are in store. The others...not so much.

57, 58, and 59. Belarus, Denmark, and Trinidad & Tobago. Mercedes S-class. The Stuttgart brand continues its lead as the car of choice for world leaders.

60. Egypt. In a commercial and P.R. coup, BMW somehow got Mubarak, a Mercedes fan since his ascendancy as dictator-in-chief in 1981, to switch sides. That's like getting McQueen to switch to an AMX or Camaro for a remake of Bullitt.

61. New Zealand. Since I began researching this list, I was convinced that Helen Clark rode in a Holden Statesman. But alas, I could not find any confirmation of such. Yesterday, I accidentally found a debate going on in New Zealand about ministers riding in gas guzzling Ford Fairlanes, one of which belongs to Clark. The Green Party suggestion for a replacement vehicle-- the Toyota Echo.
62. Brunei. The Sultan has the largest collection of cars in the world, nearing 5,000. Rumor has it that when he ran out of room in his five airplane hangars, some cars were simply dumped into the ocean. His collection includes: Ferrari and Bentley station wagons, 500 Rolls-Royces, a Porsche Carrara GT, a 959, six Ferrari FXs, the only right hand drive Benz CLK-GTR, and seven McLaren F1s. What is most impressive is that he owns an F1 car as driven by every F1 World Drivers Champion since 1980. Astounding. My favorite has to be his Ferrari shooting brakes. But for his 60th birthday celebration, he dusted off one of his Rolls-Royces.

63. Botswana. Bentley Arnage. No, it's not what you think. President Festus Mogae is different. Unlike other African nations, many of Botswana's government officials drive locally assembled Hyundais. Mogae is an unassuming man who is often seen grocery shopping by himself. When he took office, he continued to use two 1970s Daimlers which had been used by his predecessors. But when both broke down simultaneously, news photos showed poor Festus on the side of the road like an urchin. After much outcry by the populace, Mogae reluctantly accepted a Bentley. For once, this is an African leader who deserves his nice ride.

CKY