We were directed to this documentary video by a friend who lives in Saudi Arabia. Keen-eyed observers will realise that it was made in the United States, but while it delves on many stereotypes, it is wholly inaccurate on two counts — Saudis don’t dress like that, and Saudis wouldn’t ever want an Audi.
Anyone who visited the 2010 Sharjah Auto Show last week would’ve got a look at the gaudy bodykitted Lexus LX570 at the “Invader” stand. The so-called Invader is a tuning and customisation programme for the Lexus 4×4 by Japanese tuners ASI. Who else besides the Japanese can come up with something this cheesy.
So General Motors went bankrupt, and part of its effort to save itself was to sell loss-making Saab to any schmuck who’d buy it. Spyker came along and bought it, so now they have a handful of new models with GM platforms that the General had pretty much finished developing before selling off the brand. Now the Swedish firm is debuting the new 2012 Saab 9-4X, based on the Cadillac SRX platform, at next month’s 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Mitsubishi held its GCC launch event for their all-new 2011 ASX sub-compact crossover at the Dubai Autodrome racetrack a couple of weeks ago. To make things interesting, they even had a few 2010 Nissan Qashqai crossovers at hand for comparison. Incidentally, the Qashqai has been facelifted for 2011, though changes are minimal.
Fans of the Toyota Yaris have leaked Japanese brochure shots of the 2011-2012 model of the subcompact hatchback. And yes, there are fans of the Yaris.
The 2011 Infiniti M was launched earlier last week in the UAE, and displayed for the first time at the 2010 Sharjah Auto Show. Just before its launch, we asked for a test-drive whenever possible, and surprisingly got an answer that we can have it that same weekend. And so, here is a look at the GCC-spec Infiniti M56 for the first time ever.
Specs for the updated 2012 Nissan GT-R have hit the net, and it looks like the GT-R gets a power boost to go with that facelift, and a quicker ‘Ring time.
Xenatec, the German car customiser and armouring outfit that recently set up an facility in the UAE, has unveiled a custom-built coupe version of the Maybach 57S.
The 2010 Sharjah Auto Show is running from the 14th till the 18th of October, and this year was a better outing, with new model displays such as the BMW 316i, the Infiniti M, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Sterling Moss Edition, the Cadillac CTS Coupe, the Mitsubishi ASX, the Nissan Qashqai and the Audi R8 Spyder. Also special were a tuner car section, a classic car section, a remote control car section, a drifting show and an off-road demo. And the Middle East Motor Awards, the first such event to span the region, was concluded with an awards ceremony for the judges as well as the winners.
Better late than never. Launched late last year, we were offered a test-drive of the 2010 Land Rover LR4. The blocky 4×4 formerly known as LR3, and still affectionately known as the Discovery elsewhere, is now almost well-dressed enough to be called a Range Rover.