Flying cars have always been a fictional desire for many since time immemorial. It is a concept only seen in sci-fi movies, enthralling the car-crazy audience and leaving them with dreams which seem impossible this century. But the wait has now come to an end. With the latest invention of the “flying-car” dubbed as the Transition, it is only a matter of time before one may see cars ascend into the air to avoid the traffic snarls on land.
The all-new 2012 Ford Explorer, technically a 2011 model, is now on sale in the UAE. The dealers have been quietly taking orders for the new crossover since some time now. And we are probably among the first media people in the UAE to take an unofficial look at it in the showroom.
Cadillac, the premium luxury brand of General Motors, will enter the compact car segment; with the all-new model “ATS”. Designed to take on premium competition like the Mercedes C-class and BMW 3 series, the ATS is based on the new Alpha platform, which will simultaneously underpin the next generation Chevrolet Camaro.
So its summer time again – a period of nature’s harshness which is inevitable. And hence it was time for me to test one aspect of my Mondeo, which is actually a factor majorly considered when it comes to purchasing cars anywhere in the Middle East – the air-conditioner.
Some of you may have noticed that my brother Marouf does not write news articles for us any more. That’s because he is now a web editor at a sports newspaper in Abu Dhabi. And that means he has to drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and back everyday, a distance of 270 km daily. We’d already sold our Peugeot 307 2.0 last year, I wasn’t going to have him rack up miles on my fuel-hog Jeep or my exotic BMW, and our Renault Safrane is in use by the Old Man of the house. So he was doing the daily road-trip in our trusty old 1997 Toyota Corolla,
Oil prices are soaring and so is the greed of the local oil companies due to which fuel costs are rising. The massive impact from the recession has hit hard on the brains of the crowd; in fact so hard that their vision of the future is now so short term. As a result, this has led to many people playing “safe” by not falling prey to huge debts and its aftermath. They make more sensible choices and judge their financial stands way better. The recent increase in the number of econo-sedans and crossover jokes is a proof to this.
The Chevrolet Camaro has finally lost its top for the 2011 model year, as expected for years. We got our hands on an automatic 2011 Camaro SS soft-top, in pristine white.
So it’s been over two months and about 7500 km with the car. The experience has been a very good one indeed, so far. The car provides a smooth commute as always and has been functioning very well. There hasn’t been any niggles except for some slight squeaks from the gearbox area as mentioned in the previous updates, which has now been fixed.
The previous Dodge Durango was a dud on such a massive scale that it remained on showroom floors right up till 2010, even while production ended in 2008. That fullsize 4×4 is now dead, but its replacement, a stretched midsizer, might very well be among the best in its class.
The current Chevrolet Malibu made its appearance in Dubai not so long ago. And here we have the redesigned version already which has been unveiled as a 2013 model at the 2011 Shanghai International Motor Show.