Bufori

Bufori began with Gerry Khouri's personal challenge to build a roadster in Sydney, Australia. Inspired by Packard, Duesenberg and other American classics of the 1920s and 1930s, he completed the first car in 1986; brothers Anthony and George immediately requested their own. The six-letter name was assembled from Beautiful, Unique, Funtastic, Original, Romantic and Irresistible, and the first model became Madison. Demand from onlookers encouraged the Khouri brothers to establish Bufori Motor Car Company and a workshop in Merrylands. Madison's Volkswagen-powered simplicity evolved into the door-equipped MKI in 1988. From 1989 Bufori developed its characteristic woven carbon-fibre/Kevlar hybrid composite body technology. First exports reached Southeast Asia in 1991. Two divergent 1992 programs followed: the rear-engine Subaru-powered MKII Roadster and the larger front-engine 3.8-litre General Motors V6i. The latter was suited to motorsport, while the MKII developed through two- and 2+2-seat forms and later represented Bufori in the 2000 Merdeka Millennium endurance race. Between 1994 and 1997 the company incorporated a Malaysian operation and trained Malaysian craftspeople in Australia. Full manufacture moved in 1998 to Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, where cars continue to be hand built through a multi-stage process rather than an automated line. The 2003 show prototype for MKIII La Joya led to production in 2004. This rear-mid-engine 2.7-litre coupé was Bufori's first closed car and first clean-sheet design meeting international type-approval requirements; it remained a bespoke product through 2024. Motorsport also incubated a new performance lineage. The BMS R1, created with Axle Motorsports, raced at the 2009 Macau Grand Prix and preceded the roadgoing CS program. Bufori unveiled the MKVI Luxury Saloon at Geneva in 2010 and named it Geneva for the city and show. Serial production began in 2014. Its rear-hinged coach doors, individualized rear lounge, stainless-steel structure and carbon-Kevlar body brought Bufori into chauffeur-oriented luxury cars, first with a 6.1-litre V8 and later current 6.4-litre V8. Three complete CS prototypes were finished in 2016, tested extensively and used as Malaysian MSF safety cars. Bufori expanded beyond customer road cars with aircraft-interior craftsmanship in 2019 and EViE, a standardized student-assembled 36-volt electric race-car program whose first school cup ran in 2024. On 28 August 2025 Bufori launched the CS8 production grand tourer in Kuala Lumpur. Its front-mid-mounted supercharged 6.4-litre V8 produces a claimed 810 hp and drives through an eight-speed transmission, closing a decade-long development cycle. Ten catalog records preserve Madison, MKI, V6i, MKII, La Joya, BMS R1, Geneva, three-car CS prototype series, EViE and CS8. Engine options, seating layouts, roofs, bespoke commissions, race preparations and annual specification revisions remain variants. The brand is Australian in origin and Malaysian in present manufacturing identity; neither dimension is erased.

Text adapted from “Bufori” on Wikipedia ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗