
Private Maldives island comes with one-of-a-kind Ferrari - but it'll cost you
The Ferrari Testa Rossa J has been brought to the Maldives island for guests who exclusively hire Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi - but it will cost you a pretty penny
A private island stay in the Maldives, costing a whopping £55,000-a-night, has just upped its luxury game by importing a Ferrari for guests to drive around the resort.
The Ferrari Testa Rossa J is a 75% reproduction of the iconic Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa – a model that holds a significant place in the annals of Ferrari and motor racing history. This exclusive vehicle, the only car on the island, has been shipped over for the use of guests who hire Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi exclusively.
Only 299 of these £110,000 cars were ever produced. The full-sized version, which can fetch a staggering £28,000,000, famously became the first car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times.
The EV Ferrari Testa Rossa J will be available exclusively for private island guests to test drive during their stay - and is included in the price when guests hire the island. Ithaafushi, the largest private island in the Maldives, spanning over 344,000 square-feet, can ordinarily accommodate 24 guests.
However, those hiring the island privately can use the EV Ferrari to travel between private yoga sessions, the five pools and numerous restaurants. This comes after Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi, also known as Pearl Island in the Maldivian language Dhiveh, partnered with Hedley Studios - formerly The Little Car Company.
The scaled-down electric icon Ferrari will be there for a year. It was developed from the original drawings of the original - which conquered the 1000km in Buenos Aires and the 12 Hours of Sebring with the driving duo Phil Hill and Peter Collins.
In addition to the car, guests can also savour customised menus and have close encounters with wild turtles and whale sharks. The price for a night's stay on the island varies, but it is believed to be around £55,000.
The world of mega-exclusive holidays is a fascinating one, even if most of us can only ever dream of affording one.
Philippe Brown has been organising incredible trips for society's uber wealthy for decades, having spent 13 years as a location scout and then tour guide in some of the world's most exotic destinations.
During the past ten years he has been "challenging the status quo of luxury travel" at Brown and Hudson.
Incredibly wealthy people in search of something special contact the firm before Philippe and his colleagues attempt to work out their hopes, fears and secret dreams.
These are then used as the basis for weird and wonderful holidays they create by throwing huge amounts of cash at the issue, and using their connections to pull some strings.
We spoke to Philippe about the stranger trips he has arranged. You can read all about them here.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Times
27 minutes ago
- Times
A grand design — the watch that captures the spirit of Ferrari
'And this is Alain,' says Amanda Mille, the brand and partnerships director at the company her father, Richard, founded. We are in Paris at the Palais de Tokyo to see the unveiling of Richard Mille's new collaboration with Ferrari. And the Alain who has just been so insouciantly introduced is none other than Alain Prost, racing legend and winner of four Formula 1 world championships. Between 1990 and 1991 the Frenchman was a Ferrari driver, and this is why he is here today, along with a more recent alumnus of the team's school, the Brazilian Felipe Massa, who raced for Scuderia Ferrari from 2006 to 2013. Massa also has the distinction of being the first brand partner to sign up with Richard Mille, back in 2004 when the company was a fledgling business making only about 300 watches a year. He talks fondly of how he agreed to wear a watch as a test driver at a time before Richard Mille had any formal budget for such things. The relationship has endured, and Massa always raced wearing a Richard Mille. The RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari, POA, The luxury Swiss watchmaker launched in 2001 with the aim of crafting thoroughly modern timepieces. A fan of motors and motor racing, Mille described his supertechnical lightweight designs as being like 'a racing machine on the wrist'. His son Alexandre, the company's commercial director, says, 'For my father, this partnership with Ferrari is a dream come true.' Beyond the synergies of quality, technology and innovation that connect the two firms, both are also clearly about passion. Massa puts it well: 'It is a great pleasure to be part of [Richard Mille] history, being part of the family. It is like when you enter Ferrari — you are always a Ferrari driver from the beginning and part of the 'religion'.' The Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who now drives for the team, would surely agree. He has been supported by Richard Mille since 2009, when he was karting. Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari's chief design officer, sees the two brands as natural partners. 'A collaboration like this is as much predicated on similarities in values as it is on the visual similarities between a Ferrari engine or component and the elements in a watch.' The first Richard Mille and Ferrari joint effort, 2022's RM UP-01 Ferrari, is a 1.75mm-thin timepiece, a curious and distinctive design that references dials on a dashboard. But the new launch is more recognisably Richard Mille. The RM 43-01 has the firm's signature barrel shape and skeleton construction. But it is not a piece that has simply been badged with a Ferrari logo: the watchmaker worked closely with Ferrari's Centro Stile in Maranello, near Modena, for three years to express the spirit of the cars in the form of a timepiece. It is the beauty of the RM 43-01 as much as its performance that captures the attention. The oscillating tourbillon compensates for the impact of gravity and the chronograph can measure split times with its two seconds hands, but it is the crafted look and feel — and the echoes of the driving machines — that really set it apart. The clutch wheel of a Ferrari V8 engine inspired the barrel jewel setting, while x-shaped supports combined with screws in gold with hexagonal socket heads reference details on Ferrari crankcases and engine blocks. The pushers, case and indices take styling cues from the geometry of the bodies of Ferrari's SF90 Stradale, Daytona SP3 and 488 Challenge Evo models, while a titanium plate shaped to recall the rear wing of the 499P hypercar is engraved with the firm's famous prancing horse motif. 'In terms of performance, anything that has a technical purpose can also be beautiful,' Manzoni says. 'The concept of functional beauty is something that we really love.' And clearly Richard Mille loves it too.


Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Murray: I bought a Ferrari after split from Kim… only to get stopped 2mins later by the police
Heartbreak affects people in many different ways. But Sir Andy Murray has admitted he dealt with a breakup by buying a Ferrari – which he ended up getting rid of within weeks. The sporting great, speaking to a Glasgow audience about his career highs and lows, revealed he made the extravagant purchase in his younger days. He said the pressures of fame affected his personal life and, aged 21, he and his long-term girlfriend Kim Sears split up. In response, he bought a Ferrari because 'I thought that was going to be a cool thing to do'. The car, however, caused a headache. He said: 'When I first took it out on the road I was pulled over by the police. Not because I was driving too quickly but because the insurance hadn't gone through yet. This was literally within two or three minutes of driving on the road with it.' Sir Andy got rid of the car after a couple of months, and he and Kim reconciled, marrying in 2015. He also revealed that after a glittering career taking in two Wimbledon wins and becoming world number one and Olympic champion, he does not miss tennis at all. He said: 'Honestly, I don't miss it at all. And that was something that I was really worried about.' It is nearly a year since Sir Andy officially retired from tennis, and the 38-year-old is now taking part in a four-venue speaking tour of the UK. At the event hosted by sports commentator Andrew Cotter, Sir Andy spoke candidly about the highs and lows of tennis, including his well-documented hip and back problems. He said now he far prefers spending time with Kim and their four young children, with his sporting talents channelled into skiing and golf. Sir Andy said: 'I don't miss hitting a tennis ball. I'm happy just doing stuff with my kids and my family, and just doing normal stuff.' At the age of 15, having been scouted for Rangers, he had to choose between a professional tennis career and football. He chose tennis – but the path was far from easy. He said: 'Unfortunately, in Scotland at that time, there weren't many tennis players and you need to play against a similar level to improve.' At a junior competition with Rafa Nadal, he asked his Spanish rival what his training was like and he mentioned working with Carlos Moya, who was the former world number one. Sir Andy said: 'And I was like, you know, I've got my mum.' Speaking of the difficulties of being in the limelight, Sir Andy said he was ill-prepared and quickly gained a reputation as a 'grumpy teenager'. He added: 'The media in Great Britain can be pretty harsh and the mood changes fast. 'A lot of the pundits are people that you've looked up to ... It's hard. You take what they're saying to heart.' He spoke of the notorious incident when a reporter asked him which team he would support in the 2006 World Cup and he replied 'anyone but England'. Hate mail began to arrive and he was the subject of whispers from other players and their teams at Wimbledon. He said: 'I remember walking to the court for one of my mixed doubles matches and someone was on the phone and just went, ''There's that f***ing Scottish guy,'. 'I was 19 at the time. I was very miserable and I'm aware of that but it changed my relationship with the media.'


Top Gear
a day ago
- Top Gear
You could own this Ferrari Testa Rossa J sculpture for a cool £68,000
You could own this Ferrari Testa Rossa J sculpture for a cool £68,000 Only 19 of these special 3:4 models will be made available to buy from Hedley Studios Skip 15 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Turn on Javascript to see all the available pictures. 1 / 15 Check out this gorgeous Ferrari Testa Rossa J artwork, costing less than a painted Banksy, at a cool £68,000 (ish). It's the work of Hedley Studios – formerly The Little Car Company (yup, those guys that made the baby Bentley Blower Jr. and a dinky Aston DB5). It's a 75 per cent scaled reinterpretation, handcrafted from aluminium, and shipped ready to hang from a wall. Advertisement - Page continues below With permission from Ferrari itself, the bodywork has been embellished with a genuine Prancing Horse badge, front and rear light lenses and bonnet straps to give the artpiece an extra dollop of authenticity. We're told it took over 300 hours to get that fabulously polished finish. Founder, Ben Hedley said: 'The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa is a car steeped in history and magic, and with our stunning wall sculpture, we've aimed to capture the spirit of the original icon's creation. The legends of Maranello that masterminded and crafted the 250 Testa Rossa were meticulous and delicate in their technique, and our team of engineers have emulated this focus and dedication in their hours spent crafting our wonderful Testa Rossa J sculpture. 'A statement piece that simultaneously captures attention and celebrates heritage and automotive greatness, like that of Scaglietti, the sculpture has already been met with resounding enthusiasm from a selection of VIPs that were lucky enough to get a sneak peek.' Hedley plans to make a limited 19 examples, and customise on request - thusly, expect to pay more. Advertisement - Page continues below Maybe it sounds a lot for a car you'll never drive – but hey, at least it's meant to be that way. So, where are you hanging yours? Top Gear Newsletter Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. Success Your Email*