Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury

The Ford Crown Victoria, a long-running nameplate that was possibly the last remaining body-on-frame production sedan in a unibody world, has finally been put to rest.

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One of the largest auto shows in the world, the 2011 edition of the Frankfurt International Motor Show is yet again playing host to various debuts and a whole slew of concepts as well as a notable number of tuners. Of note are the 2012 Porsche 911, 2012 Volkswagen Up, 2012 Mazda CX-5, 2012 Hyundai i30 and the 2012 Ford Focus ST. Among concepts, there are the Cadillac Ciel, the Kia GT, the Ford Evos, the Fisker Surf and the Volvo Concept You. The tuners showed off the Eterniti Hemera Cayenne, the Brabus Zero Emission E-Class, the AC Schnitzer 1-Series M Coupe and the Alpina B6 Bi-Turbo Convertible.

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You might be wondering why we’re driving the new Ford Explorer again. Aside from still trying to figure out whether it is officially a 2011 or a 2012, we had some issues with our previous grey test vehicle due to earlier abuse. So Ford has now offered us a fresh new vehicle to play with.

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The Renault Safrane has a bit of an awkward history. It is essentially a rebadged Samsung SM5 built in Korea and based on a Nissan Altima platform. It was first offered in the GCC around 2008 and was on sale in that older form right until earlier this year as a 2011 model. And then it was replaced by this all-new version, while still labelled as a 2011 model. Interestingly, we recommended the older version as a value-packed family commuter, even went ahead and purchased one for our long-term fleet, and whether anyone admits it or not, helped sell a whole bunch of them thanks to our endorsement,

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Some daft people say American action movies are unrealistic. Obviously they’ve never lived in America long enough. Check out this news footage of a car chase in Texas. Well, less car and more truck. There are all the obligatory speeding-police-cars scenes, a cop-shooting-while-hanging-out-of-car-window scene, a cop-shooting-while-running scene, many explosions-with-stuff-falling-all-over-the-road scenes and even the school-bus-in-danger scene. Who says movies are fake?

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This prototype Mercedes-Benz was caught refuelling at a petrol station in Dubai. Mercedes-Benz prototypes have become a common fixture on roads in the UAE for hot-weather testing, which is probably a good thing considering how “well” European cars fair in the Middle East climate.

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The Porsche Cayman R does not need to exist. It is merely a stripped-down Cayman S with 10 extra horses and tighter suspension. Maybe we need to correct ourselves — the Cayman R does not need to exist as a car that the general public can buy. What Porsche should do is slap on some stickers and sell it only as a professional track race-car.

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Harley-Davidson Middle East and North Africa, maker of “heavyweight” motorcycles, is holding an Open House Day in every Middle East country on September 17 this year, under the name of “Make Every Day Count”. The Open House Day will introduce new 2012 Harley models in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and which will “allow both riders and non-riders to experience the true spirit of Harley-Davidson” at dealerships across the Middle East.

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It is rather odd that we’re having to depend on our readers for important car launches when it is us who should be hearing from carmakers. Nissan has already plopped the manual-gearbox version of the 2012 Nissan Patrol in some showrooms around the UAE, and these are the first photos.

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