Gerry Khouri on how Bufori Motor Car Company develops and exports luxury out of Kepong, Malaysia
Car aficionados would likely already know the name Bufori and the various models the carmaker produces. Those still in the dark would be delightfully surprised to learn about this Malaysian company that has set its roots in Malaysia since 1994, and has operated out of Kepong, to deliver custom-made luxurious cars and more, since 1998.
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The company initially started out in Sydney, Australia, with its founder Gerry Khouri building his first car out of his garage in 1986. The Bufori Madison made its debut in 1987—the same year that he opened a small factory, in Merrylands, Sydney, with the intention to make a couple of cars for his brothers. The only problem was that the cars he produced kept getting snapped up by others. “Each time I built a car for my brothers, somebody would buy it; then I’ll try again, try again... only 16 years later did my brothers finally own their own Buforis. It’s the only Bufori they own, and they still drive it around. They wanted other models, but you know what it’s like to be family, unfortunately they are last priority,” jokes Khouri.
Hailing from a conservative Lebanese family, which was involved in the construction sector, Gerry learnt a lot from his two elder brothers, Anthony and George, whom he looks up to for being creative, smart and hard-working. And while he was likely expected to follow in their footsteps with the family business, his passion for building cars overtook that of building structures.
“While most people finished work at the building site around 3pm and would head off to the pubs, go and play football, I went back to tinker with cars, and started to make my own car. I was just passionate about it and truly wanted to pursue that dream,” shares Khouri about his first foray into car-making.
“People thought I was mad when I initially told them I’m building a car. They would think or say, ‘Who the hell do you think you are?’ Then when the first car was completed, everyone wanted to be a friend again. Though, by then you realise, do you really want everyone to be your friend? Of course, my family would never leave me, nor I them, but that situation made me realise and understand the importance of friends when you need them,” he says of the emotional hardship one would likely go through when making the unthinkable happen. Khouri was after all only
in his early 20s when he built the Bufori Madison.
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