Inside the World’s Greatest Classic Car Collections – Part 7: William Heinecke

For the American collector William Heinecke — by now Thai by adoption, and known to everyone simply as Bill — classic cars are not merely a passion or a badge of prestige, but a way of preserving memory and culture. Founder of Minor International, the group behind major hotel chains such as Anantara, Avani, Tivoli Hotels & Resorts and NH Hotels, along with restaurant brands and luxury retail, he has become one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Asia. William Heinecke has built his success in business with the very same discipline that, over the years, has shaped one of the most important automobile collections in the world. Having moved from the United States to Thailand — where his vision gave rise to his business — he has kept the bond with his Western roots alive through automobiles too, turning a passion born in his youth into an extraordinary gathering of Ferraris, Jaguars, Mercedes-Benzes and Porsches.
William Heinecke at Cavallino Classic 2026, awarded the Platinum Award, First in Class and the distinction of Most Unique Car at the recent Cavallino Classic Palm Beach for his 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC Speciale.
At the heart of it all, however, remains the Prancing Horse — the marque that best embodies the most emotional side of his passion. Among the most important pieces stands the 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC Speciale, one of the rarest and most fascinating grand tourers ever to leave Maranello, acquired by Heinecke at the 2018 Pebble Beach auction held by Gooding & Company, where it sold for 3,410,000 dollars. More recently, the car was honoured at Cavallino Classic Palm Beach with the Platinum Award, First in Class and the Most Unique Car distinction, confirming its place among the most significant cars in international Ferrari collecting.
The splendid 1952 Jaguar XK120 Ghia Supersonic Coupé, winner at Pebble Beach 2022 of the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy, the award reserved for the most important British-built car at the event.
Alongside his Ferrari passion emerges a refined taste for the great coachbuilt specials, as the magnificent 1952 Jaguar XK120 Ghia Supersonic Coupé so clearly demonstrates. This car — one of the most iconic of the entire collection — claimed the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the prize reserved for the most important British-built automobile at the event. The Jaguar represents the perfect encounter between English engineering and Italian style: the celebrated Supersonic body by Ghia transforms the sporting XK120 into a true aerodynamic sculpture, a child of the jet-age aesthetic of the 1950s.
William Heinecke’s extraordinary collection is divided between the United States and Thailand, home to several of the Minor Hotels group’s properties.
Today, Heinecke is the man who chose to bring a great international concours d’elegance back to Rome. With Anantara Concorso, hosted in the setting of the Anantara Palazzo Naiadi, his aim was to create an event worthy of celebrating the most extraordinary Italian automobiles in the very heart of the Eternal City. After an initial postponement prompted by the passing of Pope Francis in 2025, the dream finally became reality: Rome once again became the stage of a great Concours after 60 years, with masterpieces of Italian motoring on display between Villa Borghese and the historic centre, in a setting unmatched anywhere in the world.
Men like William Heinecke deserve praise, for they share their passion with the public — bringing their cars to events and giving voice to models of great historical significance. Magnificent, too, is the Lamborghini Miura he has recently treated himself to, restored to perfection and presented to the public for the first time in Rome itself, on the occasion of Anantara Concorso.
William Heinecke, on the left, posing for the photograph that celebrates the first Best of Show of Anantara Concorso Roma — the first Concours d’Elegance in the Eternal City after 60 years.