What is a lot of money for? I don't know if the coffee tycoon Trung Nguyên has found the answer, but the fact that he owns 700 luxury cars worth about 3 trillion VND shows what he uses his money for. Notably, after 10 years of owning 700 cars that many people envy, the coffee tycoon leaves them exposed to the sun and rain in garages. Is this just a refined hobby of Mr. Nguyễn Vũ or is there a deeper reason?
Entrepreneur Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ, the owner of Trung Nguyên coffee brand, is currently the largest car collector in Vietnam with 700 cars, valued at about 3 trillion VND.
It can be said that Cường Đô La or billionaire Minh Nhựa are just names when compared to Mr. Nguyễn Vũ. According to many sources, in September 2022, Mr. Vũ had 500 cars, and by March 2024, he had 700 cars, meaning that in just over a year, he acquired 200 cars. It is known that in the early days of establishment in 2023, car enthusiasts spotted a Ferrari F355 Binetta supercar appearing in Mr. Vũ's garage in the Central Highlands.
After photos of this parking lot were shared on social media, it caused great surprise among most car lovers. In 2023, Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ also purchased two more Ferrari supercars of the same version, the 488 GTB, and a convertible supercar, the Ferrari California F12. In 2023, Mr. Vũ also received a limited edition 2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic, with only 1250 units produced worldwide. In Vietnam, there are only two Porsche 911 Sport Club Classics imported, all under official distribution. Not stopping there, in 2023, Mr. Vũ also acquired an Aston Martin DB11 V8 sports car in a unique color, which is different from the first Aston Martin DB11 V8 that this entrepreneur owned.
Not only in color and equipment but also a slight upgrade in the drivetrain and a brand new car. Along with that is an old Maserati Grus Simo and a supercar Audi R8 V10 Plus, Aston Martin DBX707. Among them, the high-performance SUV Aston Martin DBX707 is the second that Nguyên Vũ owns out of a total of three cars present in Vietnam. Notably, the collection includes 30 JDM electric cars from Japan, in 2023, Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ decided to build this car collection with the motto "as long as there is someone selling, buy them all." Among them are cars like the first-generation Toyota Celica produced over 50 years ago, the fourth-generation Toyota Celica, the fifth-generation Toyota Celica, Toyota Supra MK3, 1985 Toyota Corolla 2G, Toyota Corolla AE92, Toyota Corolla Wast Gun 1990, Toyota Cida, Nissan Skyline R13, Datsun 280 ZX, or notably the Mazda RX8.
Not only does he have a passion for collecting many unique cars, but the coffee entrepreneur also enjoys owning cars in pairs, such as the Porsche 911 Turbo and Turbo S, Porsche 911 GT3 manual with automatic transmission, or Aston Martin Vantage 007 Edition and F1 Edition. Let's take a look at the most unique cars in Vietnam owned by Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ, the hypercar Bugatti from France is the most notable name in the collection of the owner of Trung Nguyên Legend. The car was imported to Vietnam in 2012 as a returning overseas Vietnamese with its first owner, businessman Phạm Trần Nhật Minh, also known as Minh Nhựa. The Ford GT 67 Heritage Edition first appeared in Vietnam in 2021, belonging to the second generation and only 1350 units were produced worldwide. This is known as the hardest supercar to buy in the world. In Vietnam, there are only two Ford GTs, both owned by Mr. Vũ. However, one of the two is the 67 Hitch Edition, which was only produced in 39 units worldwide. Among the brands that Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ owns, Ferrari is perhaps the name he loves the most. Although he has never confirmed, the number of his prancing horses reaches 40, including the 458 Spider, which is considered a gem as there is only one in Vietnam.
Lamborghini Gallardo LB 5704 Spider Performante, while Ferrari is favored by Mr. Vũ, its competitor Lamborghini is somewhat at a disadvantage, as the garage of the Trung Nguyên Legend group owner has only three cars bearing the bull logo, among which the Gallardo LB 574, Spider Performante is the most outstanding. The Mercedes AMG SLS GT Final Edition is a grand car with a unique gullwing style that made waves when it first appeared in Vietnam in 2010. Currently, in Vietnam, there are only four SLS cars owned by Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ, among which the most notable is the GT Final Edition version. The Honda Civic FK8 is no longer a strange model in Vietnam as it is sought after by many enthusiasts.
However, the Civic Type A that appears on the S-shaped land all belongs to the seventh generation code FL5, which was developed from the 11th generation Civic with a starting price of 2.4 billion VND. The Civic Type A that Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ owns is notably different as it belongs to the sixth generation named FK8, which was developed from the 10th generation Civic. It can be said that after 10 years of playing cars, Mr. Vũ's garage has almost all the famous car brands in the world, from top supercar brands like Bugatti, McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari to sports cars like Porsche, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Ford GT, and then to luxury cars like Rolls Royce, Bentley, Maybach, and even Japanese models like Toyota, Nissan.
In addition to the passion for supercars, Mr. Vũ is also famous for his car modification hobby, the 2009 Porsche Cayenne modified in military style, upgrading many details to enhance off-road capability, or modifying the interior for a pair of rare Limousine variants of Mercedes-Benz. Images of Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ's car collection in Đắk Lắk province also attract attention. Unlike many people who treat their cars delicately, Mr. Nguyễn Vũ's garage is just a row of steel houses with a roof made of corrugated iron and a very simple cement floor compared to the huge value of the car collection. This garage is located separately in the 600-hectare farm of the chairman of Trung Nguyên group. In addition, Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ also has another garage at his private home in Ho Chi Minh City, where the indoor parking space can only accommodate a few cars, so many supercars are left outside in the rain and sun.
Every month, a professional team in Ho Chi Minh City is hired by the company to come here to maintain and service Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ's car collection. This is to avoid the situation where cars sit in storage for too long, causing some parts to potentially be damaged. For example, the Lamborghini Gallardo Spider was once infested with bees in the air intake in August 2022. In an interview, Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ stated that for him, cars are liabilities, not assets, and the coffee king cannot even remember how many cars he has bought.
The reason Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ buys so many supercars is that he plans to auction them to help young entrepreneurs in the future. Mr. Vũ believes that the supercar collection will bring in a significant amount of money to serve this plan.
It is known that the G7 coffee brand of Trung Nguyên Legend has made its mark on the international map, making its name resonate from Korea, China, the USA, the UK, France, Dubai to Japan and many other countries. Promoting Vietnamese coffee products to over 100 countries and territories worldwide is considered a significant success. However, Chairman Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ of Trung Nguyên Legend does not stop at bringing Vietnamese products to the world but also wants to help over 30 million young people start their own businesses, helping them become wealthy and united in building a prosperous Vietnam.
For the past 12 years, Chairman Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ and the Trung Nguyên Legend team have persistently implemented the "Journey from the Heart" program, aiming to inspire greatness and entrepreneurship for over 30 million Vietnamese youth, with the goal of providing the right intellectual foundation and comprehensive understanding for 30 million Vietnamese youth. Chairman of Trung Nguyên Group Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ has donated hundreds of millions of valuable books from thousands of great successful figures in humanity.
The cost of implementing the "Journey from the Heart" program to provide books and inspire entrepreneurship for 30 million Vietnamese youth by Trung Nguyên Legend includes the costs of book production, organizing inspirational entrepreneurship exchange events, and sponsoring entrepreneurship training programs. The startup project competition in the community has been organized by domestic and international media since 2012 to the present with costs exceeding 500 billion VND. Previously, Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ also believed that to teach people how to get rich, one must demonstrate wealth, which is why he chooses supercars.
According to him, if you teach people how to get rich but you are not rich, no one will listen, you must show it outward, and cars are assets that remain with the business. Although owning many billion VND cars, the chairman of Trung Nguyên Group is a person with a simple and approachable style. He often wears his familiar outfit: a white and yellow-black hat, a dark jacket, white pants, a white belt, a checkered scarf, and a cream-colored nylon travel bag. People often say, "Don't teach the rich how to spend money," and Mr. Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ's purchase of cars like vegetables in the market sometimes also helps the business create an impression of wealth and demonstrate the status of a coffee tycoon.