The 'best-selling' car heiress to throne Princess Leonor will inherit from King Felipe VI of Spain

The day of 31 October 2023 was one of the most important for the Spanish monarchy. Princess Leonor turned 18 and took the oath of allegiance to the Constitution before the Cortes Generales. With her coming of age, the heir to the throne said goodbye to her youth and welcomed adulthood.

At this age, there are many new things that the Princess will be able to do. One of them is driving. In fact, it has been reported that she passed the driving test just a few days ago, something she achieved while undergoing training at the Zaragoza military academy.

It is possible that this summer in Mallorca, where the royal family spends its holidays, we will see the future Queen behind the wheel. But of what car? There is already talk of a car which holds a very special meaning for Spain's reigning monarch King Felipe VI.

Telecinco programme Fiesta exclusively revealed that Felipe VI will give her his first car. But not just any car; it is the car that the monarch had as soon as he came of age in 1986. It was a gift from Don Juan Carlos to his son and successor.

Specifically, it is one of the best-selling models in Spain. We are talking about the gold-coloured SEAT Ibiza SXI. At the time, the car was made to measure as the King "is very tall" and the upholstery was modified to his liking.

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The journalist of the Mediaset show who revealed the news pointed out the monarch lent it to several friends where it "almost ended up dismantled". "It was a lot of work, but in the end ended up in a garage in Barcelona, where it has been hidden all these years," he added.

Isidre López, head of historic cars at SEAT, told El Español the car was fitted with a 1.5-litre petrol engine with 100 hp, which means it has more power than the 86 hp that came with a standard vehicle.

The journalist confirmed on Fiesta that Don Felipe has gone "personally" to Barcelona to collect the car. He also pointed out that "he is going to give it to his daughter this summer at the Marivent Palace".