Have you ever wondered what the garage of a billionaire looks like? Then there is the Adar Poonawalla Car Collection which is located in India and one which ranks among the best car collections in the world.
Adar Poonawalla is the CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine producer, and the man who played a key role in distributing the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine, as well as helming one of the biggest pharma companies in the world. But he’s nothing more than a car enthusiast in this world role, when he’s not at board meetings or international health conferences.
Really, really expensive cars hidden in the family home called the Adar Abad in Pune, Maharashtra. It’s a collection so exceptional that it operates less like a garage and more like a world-class museum. The fleet is also shared by his cousin Yohan Poonawalla, and as a duo, they communicate a passion for automotive craftsmanship that transcends centuries of history to bleeding edge modern engineering.
The Supercars Give Pure Thrills
McLaren 720S
Adar’s pride and joy is a McLaren 720S dressed in a menacing black. But this is not your usual 720S. It was the first right-hand drive McLaren 720S to be permanently registered in India – a landmark that demanded deft weaving through India’s labyrinthine import regulations. After the CBU import duties doubled the price, the car went for about ₹4.5 Crore. It’s worth every rupee, if you ask any car enthusiast.
With a 4.0L twin-turbo V8 making 720 horsepower, the 720S is a technological wonder with a 212 MPH top speed and 0-60 time of 2.8 seconds. The car’s carbon-fiber tub makes it extraordinarily light and the hydraulic suspension system feels at once road-compliant and track-accurate.
Even inside there’s a driver display that physically folds down in Track mode to reduce distractions. So when you now find yourself not moving, it’s this kind of thoughtful engineering thing which is good enough to make you smile.
Ferraris—360 Spider, Aperta, and Pista Spider
Then there are the Ferraris, not just one but more than one. The family has a physical timeline of sorts throughout Ferrari’s mid-engine V8. There’s a Ferrari 360 Spider with a very rare open-gate manual gearbox (one of only two such cars in India), a car that was bought, sold and then bought again, which is pretty much tells you all about the emotional pull it commands.
Yohan’s Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta has his initials stamped on the nose. Also mounted on a Ferrari 488 Pista Spider is a plaque that says “Made exclusively for Yohan Poonawalla.” These are not cars. The signatures are coming in.
Daily Life at the Top With Bentley Bentayga
When you’re making billion-dollar vaccine deals and going into high-stakes corporate meetings, you want something that surrounds you with calm and comfort and that doesn’t give away too much, in the way of presence.
The deep blue grand tourer is powered by the enormous 6.0-liter W12 engine that produces 626 PS (615 hp) on the road and is finished off with a bespoke chrome-dipped grille. That’s the Bentley here to Adar, after all.
But the real instrument of Bogdan’s day-to-day is the Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase Azure, and this thing is really something else. Valued between ₹5.87 and ₹7+ Crore, it’s essentially a luxury apartment on wheels. The extended wheelbase features what Bentley calls an “Airline Seat Specification” — a seat that autonomously tracks your body temperature and humidity, makes invisible micro-adjustments to alleviate pressure points, and keeps you fresh regardless of the length of the journey.
There are massage zones. There is air filtration. There’s even a 48-volt active anti-roll system that keeps the enormous SUV perfectly flat through corners. Adar also secured the VIP plate “111” for it — because of course he did.
Matte Black and Menacing Land Rover Defender 110 X
The Adar convoy is the ultimate power and utilization. The Land Rover Defender 110 X dressed in matte black, this is a situation of substance over style. It still produces a healthy 518 bhp from its 5.0-litre supercharged V8, so that’s enough for it to hold its own against the Bentley Bentayga it’s travelling with.
With the air suspension that can be raised for a ground clearance of 218mm (8.6 inches) or 290mm (11.4 inches), this car is a natural in the wilderness, be it in hot pursuit or flee. This is tactical luxury at its most practical, where design meets function with no compromises.
The Rolls-Royce Fleet: Twenty-Two Strong
The family has a jaw dropping collection of 22 Rolls-Royces, a testament to not only their extraordinary wealth but also the colours of their taste. Among them, is Yohan’s Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII Extended Wheelbase, a true masterpiece and the priciest car in India at ₹22 Crore. This luxury car comes with a Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament made of solid gold and a Bohemian Red customized exterior.
It comes with the legendary Starlight Headliner, an illuminated grille and the extremely rare Privacy Suite, an electro-chromatic glass panel that can be made opaque at the push of a button. Significantly, Rolls-Royce had taken that feature out worldwide but re-introduced it for this car, at the family’s request, again highlighting the extraordinary clout and buying power of the family.
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A Garage That Doubles as a Museum
The family’s garage is not just a storage space for exotic cars, but an evolving OCD-dream version of the history of the automobile. Some are extraordinary cars of historical significance including a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL previously owned by Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, a 1939 Derby Bentley belonging to the last Nizam of Hyderabad, and a 1979 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth II’s royal fleet.
Perhaps the most thrilling sign of the company’s commitment to maintaining this legacy came at an international event in the UAE, where Yohan boasted eight generations of Rolls-Royce Phantom models, covering a history that spans nearly 100 years.
This included a 1928 Phantom I previously owned by the Maharaja of Kashmir and a 2024 Phantom VIII. That was the first time such an entire gamut of the collection holding type was brought together from a single collector.
To put this in perspective, a couple of these legendary rides were even enlisted in a rally across the Emirates, a very strong indication that the family want these masterpieces to be not only preserved but run and duly celebrated.
Conclusion
The Adar Poonawalla Car Collection is not just a wealth issue, it was about the vision, legacy, and a near poetic value of history in the automotive world. From state-of-the-art hypercars and custom luxury SUVs to 100-year-old royal classics, the garage embodies a philosophy that holds both innovation and heritage in high regard. For Adar Poonawalla, cars are not just trophies but living art, drawing tales of engineering and a legacy that is forever preserved.
