SEAT has fully restored a 1986 Ibiza SXI that was given to Spain’s King Felipe VI for his 18th birthday in 1986.
Commissioned by King Juan Carlos, King Felipe VI’s father, the Ibiza SXI was built specifically for the 18-year old member of the royal family and it was equipped with fuel injection as well as air conditioning two years before those features were available on the standard model. Seats tailored to King Felipe VI’s height and a custom shade of gold paint added a finishing touch to the future king’s car.
SEAT did not reveal what happened to the Ibiza over the course of the 1990s, saying only that its classic department picked it up with 152,000 kilometers (about 94,000 miles) on the clock after it sat – presumably indoors – for sixteen years. As shown in the video below, the car was almost entirely dismantled and the restoration work included fitting a new fuel injection system, new cloth upholstery on the seats, a new coat of paint and a new set of alloy wheels.
The King was shown his old Ibiza during a visit to SEAT’s Martorell, Spain, factory but he did not drive home in it. Instead, the like-new Ibiza will join the 250 cars that make up SEAT’s private Historical Collection.
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