Words By: Glaiza Seguia
Photos By: Daniel Birkhofer
The fanciest, priciest and fastest cars took centre stage once more as Dubai rolled out this year’s edition of the International Motor Show. From November 5th to 9th, the World Trade Centre hosted the largest motoring event in the region—putting the spotlight on the leading and rising brands in the automobile market.
Petrolheads from all over the world were at full attention with the busy goings-on during the biennial Motor Show, which included grand unveilings and over 100 global and regional launches. The local community was especially excited to see the first Arabian supercar from the new Lebanese carmaker W Motors. The Lykan HyperSport is decked with advanced digital dashboard and navigation, plush interiors of carbon fibre seats and it is the first car to have diamond-encrusted LED headlights. Of course, it comes with a heavy price tag of 12.4 million AED and is currently the second most expensive car in production in the world.
The luxury car brand Rolls-Royce first introduced the Celestial Phantom at the Frankfurt Auto Show last September, but they kicked it up a notch for its Dubai debut by adorning the dusk-coloured saloon with 446 diamonds on the door cappings, centre console lid and rear privacy divider. According to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos, “The Middle East is the largest market for bespoke in the world. In celebration of this, we sought to create something truly special for the Dubai Motor Show. The use of the very finest materials is central to the marquee’s unique brand promise, extending the Celestial Phantom’s starry night theme with one of the rarest and most precious commodities in the world therefore felt most appropriate.”
Not to be outdone, Lamborghini showcased its Aventador LP 700-4 in red and blue, along with its 25-inch prototype made from solid gold, platinum and precious stones. This work of art ringing up to 3.1 million AED is looking to break into the Guinness World Record for the most expensive scale model in the world.
The fastest hypercar in the world, the Hennessey Venom GT, that can go to a record-breaking speed of 0 to 300km/h in 13.63 seconds also made its regional launch. Another speed fiend was the UAE-built supercar, Devel Sixteen, which looks like it could have been teleported from the far future and boasts of 5000hp that can reportedly go 62mph in 1.8 seconds and can reach a staggering top speed of 348mph.
Meanwhile, Toyota showcased its eco-friendly Prius Hybrid and the sleek FT-86 Open Concept convertible; while Ford wowed with their Atlas Concept that aims to redefine people’s notion of a pickup truck with its massive and tough body, next-generation EcoBoost® with Auto Start-Stop, a 360° point-of-view camera Review by car bibles and all-terrain tyres.
On Friday, the crowd gathered on the sidelines of the Sheikh Zayed Road to witness the inaugural Dubai Grand Parade on their way to the venue. The Dubai Police supercar fleet, now with the latest addition of an Audi R8, Mercedes SL 63, Mercedes G, Brabus and Nissan GTR, led over 500 shiny high-end and vintage vehicles to the venue, while the proud owners behind the wheels hammed it up for the cheering crowd and photographers. The Red Bull Car Park Drift Regional Finals came to a climactic end with Lebanese drifter Jad Himo crowned as the new “King of Drift.”
The Senior Vice President of Dubai World Trade Centre and organiser of the show, Trixie Loh Mirmand said, “The recognition of the Dubai International Motor Show as a truly international event has never been more evident, with an exceptional number of manufacturers choosing Dubai as the global stage for the unveiling of their new marquees and models. This highlights the importance of the MENA region as well as the show’s success at reaching the key customer audiences being targeted.”
It was also OutdoorUAE’s first time to join and to make things more interactive, we set up our “fast, furious and fun” photobooth sponsored by Kawasaki. See you at the next Motor Show in 2015!
